Alcoholism In The Great Gatsby

The life of F. Scott Fitzgerald was deeply divided, in that his early successes in the 1910’s and 1920’s contrast noticeably with the years full of personal happenings and

Authors who are addicts use their writing in many ways to reveal their thoughts and feelings of their addictions. Fitzgerald is an example of these people as even claiming to have “not tasted so much as a glass of beer for six months,” (“America’s Drunkest Writer”). This is most likely false as this was during his lowest times and when he would often be in denial that he was drinking. In Fitzgerald's writing, The Great Gatsby, the Owl-Eyed man says “I’ve been drunk for a week now, and I thought it might sober me up to sit in a library”(50). This is similar to the way that Fitzgerald would often go and be drunk for long periods of time and say that he attempted to be sober. In the end, Fitzgerald never had a book like, The Great Gatsby, as he would often

F Scott Fitzgerald used the narrative and the characters’ actions to communicate the two-edged nature of

"A Few Words about F. Scott Fitzgerald." The Public Domain Review. Web. 2 July 2015. .

—F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Life in Letters, ed. Matthew J. Bruccoli. New York: Scribners, 1994. pg. 352.

Throughout two of F Scott Fitzgerald's books, ‘The Great Gatsby' and ‘Tender is the Night', comparisons can be made between the themes that are dealt with in each book.

Throughout his novel Fitzgerald shows the reader that love is essential to a fully functioning relationship through portraying the failure of relationships based on materialism. All the major relationships presented in the novel were doomed to an extent based on differences in social class/status and obsession with wealth and success. The overriding theme of moral decay in America of the 1920’s determined the nature of society and its relationships, most of which were doomed to

Nick describes watching endless parties going on in Gatsby’s house every weekend. Guests party day and night and then on Mondays servants clean up the mess. Everything is about excess and a sense of overkill. Each weekend, guests are ferried back and forth to Manhattan by Rolls-Royce, crates of oranges and lemons are juiced, an army of caterers sets up tents and lighting, food is piled high, the bar is overwhelmingly stocked, and there is a huge band playing. It's an even bigger deal than it sounds because all this is happening during the Prohibition, when alcohol was supposedly unavailable.

In 1920 the 18th amendment to the U.S. constitution went into effect, banning alcohol and beginning prohibition in America. Its supporters vilified alcohol; they claimed that alcohol was an ineffective way to escape pain, that drinkers were slaves to the drink, and that alcohol causes men to revert back to a brutish state. Fitzgerald, however, uses The Great Gatsby as an argument against prohibition. It defends alcohol, condemns the institutions which support prohibition, and encourages those who are willing to break the law.

Despite these admirable qualities, he dies alone, drunk, and betrayed. Through Dan Cody, Fitzgerald suggests that 1920s society manipulates its visionaries, milks them for their hard-earned money, and then, promptly forgets them.

Fitzgerald is a member of the Lost Generation and his life is portrayed through the character Gatsby. Both of these individuals experienced the pain of lost love and crushed expectations because “both Fitzgerald and Gatsby seem to ‘preserve a romantic state of mind’ in order to escape the painful reality that they had lost the women they love” (Sanders 109). Psychological and spiritual

F. Scott Fitzgerald had many influences to become a writer. The biggest one being the Triangle Club, he was in when he was at Princeton, and Princeton as a whole. He also played football at Princeton, but his club convinced him that football is not what he wants to do (Petry 1). However, in Fitzgerald’s second year at Princeton, “academic disqualification from his extracurricular activities, the Triangle Club, and football, failed to lessen the pleasure Fitzgerald took from the performance of Fie! Fie! Fi-Fi!” which won first place in the Triangle Club’s annual competition (Doreski 3). Alcohol was also a huge, negative influence on him when his career started going downhill. His aspiration to succeed along with his wife’s support, allowed him to overcome the violent verbal and written criticism he faced. The influences Fitzgerald faced had a major impact on his career positively and negatively, while still helping him become a better writer.

Fitzgerald’s success came along with the roaring 20s, also known as the Jazz age. His fame and fortune skyrocketed during this era with his first novel, This Side of Paradise being a hit. However, the lifestyle of the rich and famous during the Jazz age would prove to provide an insurmountable heartbreak. Fitzgerald claims that the Jazz Age “flattered him and gave him more money than he had dreamed of” (qtd. In “Broken Dreams” 42). With this new fame and money, he began living very recklessly. He threw extravagant parties and “rode on the roofs of taxi cabs and jumped into fountains... and got drunk at countless parties.” Fitzgerald said, “I had everything I wanted and knew I would never be so happy again.” (QUOTE). He finally had a taste of the glamor of the American Dream, and he absolutely loved it. However, this lifestyle was expensive, one that Fitzgerald, even with all his money could not afford. He lived so irresponsibly that he was often in debt. He wanted more of this lifestyle, but it was the lifestyle of the American Dream that eventually lead him away from the American Dream. He began chasing the American Dream just so he could

There are different types of experiences that Fitzgerald had throughout his life. Some experiences could be happy, exciting or some could be sad, disturbing. F. Scott Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896 in St. Paul, MN (“F (rancis)”). He died on December 21, 1940, in Hollywood, CA (“F (rancis)”). Fitzgerald’s father’s name was Edward Fitzgerald, and his mother’s name was Mary (Mollie) McQuillan (Matthew). When Fitzgerald was a child, he did not get the chance to make childhood friends because his parents moved different places before he started his school. “Fitzgerald attended the Newman school in Hackensack, New Jersey and while he was in school; he continued to write for school publication” (“F (rancis)”). After he graduated high school, he attended Princeton University class of

him. So on the third of April of 1920 in St. Patrick's Cathedral New York City