Biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald

Biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald
A life of brilliance, excess, and the American Dream — told through the pages of The Great Gatsby.
Biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Fitzgerald was born in 1896 in St Paul, Minnesota in the Mid-West. He went to Princeton, which was, and still is, one of the three old and exclusive American universities — Harvard and Yale are the others, and all three are in the East. In 1917 he joined the army but never got to France.
Many of his short stories were printed in various magazines and he became rich and famous early in his life. He published the novels This Side of Paradise (1920), The Beautiful and the Damned (1921), The Great Gatsby (1925) and Tender is the Night (1934).
He and his beautiful wife Zelda spent money extravagantly, travelling and partying throughout America and Europe. As a result, he was constantly in debt, and, in later years, developed an alcohol problem. Zelda became the victim of serious mental illness and was eventually permanently hospitalised.
Fitzgerald ended up in Hollywood screenplays but here he suffered the humiliation of seeing them rejected or mutilated by less talented writers.
He died in 1940.
Background to the Novel
America in the twenties was thought by the masses of immigrants from Europe to be "The Land of Opportunity" — the land where they would be free of persecution and prejudice — a land where they would not be shackled by political and religious belief or economic situation, as had been the case in many of their native countries.
The reality was, in fact, very different: the America of the twenties was a very class-conscious hierarchical society riddled with prejudice.
Rich felt superior to poor; those with inherited "old" wealth felt superior to the newly rich
Third, fourth or fifth generation Americans felt superior to new or recent immigrants
Anglo-Saxons felt superior to immigrants from other countries
Educated people — especially from Yale, Harvard, Princeton or Oxford — felt superior
Those who made money from legal business felt superior to those from show business or crime
East versus West
The West (Mid-West)
Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota — people who liked to think of themselves as the real Americans: down-to-earth, decent, hardworking and solid folk, who didn't get carried away by the foolish fashionable ideas of the East.
The East (New York City)
Seen by Mid-Westerners as more likely to be mixed up in shady dealings. The glittering, corrupt world of New York stood in sharp contrast to the wholesome values of the heartland.
This was how it was in the twenties and, to be honest, probably still is today.
The "Jazz Age" and Prohibition
The Jazz Age: 1919–1930
A time when many people rejected the moral standards of the older generation and set out to "have a good time", without bothering too much about what others might think. Many Americans were making colossal fortunes, spending them on huge houses and wildly extravagant parties.
Prohibition: 1920–1933
The drinking of alcohol was made illegal in the USA. This didn't stop people drinking — it merely forced them to buy their alcohol from criminals, who often hid their activities behind the façade of respectable businesses.
Bootlegging & the Underworld
Some of the era's greatest fortunes were made out of bootlegging — the illegal distribution of alcohol. Words such as "bootlegger" and "speakeasy" became part of the language. Men like the infamous Al Capone rose to prominence.
The Twenties
"Everything for which America has fought has been accomplished. It will now be our fortunate duty to assist by example, by sober friendly council and by material aid, in the establishment of just democracy throughout the world." — President Wilson, November 1918
The Allies could not have won World War 1 without American intervention — 2 million soldiers had fought on the battlefields. Americans now saw themselves as something akin to the saviours of the Western world.
Yet by early 1919, disturbing events at home demanded attention. Fear of revolution gripped the country. Anglo-Saxon groups including the Ku Klux Klan dedicated themselves to the harassment and lynching of "foreigners." In 1919 alone there were 70 recorded lynchings of Negroes. In Chicago, after one week of riots, 38 were dead and 537 were wounded.
The "Twenties" was a time of mass idiocy and frivolity — nightclubs and the Charleston, bobbed hair, no corsets and scandalously short skirts. Then, in late October 1929, the party balloon burst. The Wall Street stock market crashed and for millions of Americans the dream had ended — even in 1938 there were still over 10 million unemployed.
Chapter Summaries
The Great Gatsby — a chapter-by-chapter guide
1
Chapters 1–3
Introductions, affairs, and Gatsby's grand party
2
Chapters 4–6
Secrets revealed, reunion, and obsession
3
Chapters 7–9
Confrontation, tragedy, and aftermath
Chapter One
Chapter One
We are introduced to Nick Carraway the narrator. Nick is portrayed as a nice honest person who listens to everyone's problems.
Tom and Daisy Buchanan are introduced. Nick does not like Tom too much. Jordan Baker the woman golfer is introduced.
Hints are given about problems between Daisy and Tom. Tom is having an affair under Daisy's nose.
Gatsby is seen for the first time.
Chapter Two
Chapter Two
Myrtle Wilson
Myrtle Wilson is introduced — she is the woman having the affair with Tom.
Violence
Tom and Myrtle fight. Tom breaks Myrtle's nose.
Class Divide
We find out that Myrtle is in a different social class than Tom — she buys the tabloid at the news-stand instead of a classy magazine.
George Wilson
Myrtle's husband is intimidated by Tom — a telling sign of the power dynamics at play.
Chapter Three
Chapter Three
Gatsby has a huge party. Gatsby does not socialise though. Rumours are going around about Gatsby. We see Jay and his Mansion for the first time.
Chapter Four
Chapter Four
Gatsby's Backstory
We find out about Gatsby's life — how he went to Oxford, inherited his fortune from his family, and constructed the persona of the mysterious millionaire.
The Criminal Connection
Gatsby introduces us to Mr. Wolfsheim, who is involved in organised crime. This indicates that Gatsby could be involved too.
Gatsby and Daisy
We learn about Gatsby and Daisy for the first time through Jordan. Their history is slowly revealed — a romance from the past that Gatsby has never let go of.
Nick's Role
Nick will set up a meeting between the two — becoming the unlikely architect of Gatsby's long-cherished reunion.
Chapter Five
Chapter Five
Daisy and Gatsby are reunited through Nick. Gatsby shows Daisy that he now has more wealth than he used to.
Everyone is materialistic, except Nick.
Gatsby is a little disappointed because Daisy is not as perfect as he remembered — the dream, so long nurtured, cannot match the reality.
Chapter Six
Chapter Six
Another Party
Gatsby has another party — the extravagance continues, but the cracks are beginning to show.
The Full Revelation
Gatsby's life story is completely revealed — the truth behind the myth of Jay Gatsby is laid bare.
Obsession Exposed
Gatsby's obsession with Daisy is also revealed more clearly — it is all-consuming and increasingly dangerous.
Confrontation
Tom and Jay have a confrontation — the tension between the old money and the new reaches a breaking point.
Chapter Seven
Chapter Seven
1
Nick meets Daisy's daughter
2
Tom figures out what is going on between Gatsby and Daisy and becomes very upset
3
Gatsby tells Daisy to tell Tom that she never loved him
4
Wilson discovers Myrtle's unfaithfulness and locks her up — but she escapes
5
Myrtle is hit by Gatsby's car while escaping and killed
Chapter Eight
Chapter Eight
We find out that Daisy was the one in the driver's seat of Gatsby's car at the time of the fatal accident.
Wilson goes nuts because he can't take what Myrtle did to him. Wilson kills Gatsby because it was his car that killed Myrtle.
Wilson commits suicide.
Chapter Nine
Chapter Nine
The Funeral
Nick makes plans for the funeral. Only three people show up to Gatsby's funeral — a devastating final comment on the emptiness of his world.
Return to the West
Nick returns to the West — disillusioned with the East, its corruption, and the careless people who inhabit it.
A Final Meeting
Nick meets with Tom Buchanan one last time, confirming his low opinion of him.
The Last View
Nick gets a last view of Gatsby's house — a haunting image of the dream that was, and the dream that never could be.