F. Scott Fitzgerald: Creator of the Jazz Age
... during his sophomore year. She was a young debutante from Chicago and became representative of the beautiful women Fitzgerald used in his novels (Jones 89). All of the new people and activities he took on at Princeton occupied a great deal of Fitzgerald’s time, and in January 1916, he withdrew from the university because of low grades. He returned the following year but did not graduate because World War I interfered (“F. Scott Fitzgerald” 1014). In the late 1910s, young men all across America enlisted in the army to get in on the European war. F. Scott Fitzgerald was no exception. He applied for a U.S. Army commission and was appointed second lieutenant in October of 1917. During his service he completed the draft of his first novel, “The Romantic Egotist” (“F. Scott Fitzgerald” 1014). At the age of 21, he submitted it to the publishing house Charles Scribner’s Sons. Although the story was rejected, Fitzgerald did receive positive comments on his work (Willett np). He was discharged from the army in 1919, and eventually returned to St. Paul to rework his novel. Fitzgerald changed the title of “The Romantic Egotist” to This Side of Paradise (“F. Scott Fitzgerald” 1014). Though it may seem immature by today’s standards, at the time it was an apocalypse of the new moral code flourishing among young people (“Fitzgerald, F. Scott” 806). It was published on March 26, 1920 (“F. Scott Fitzgerald” 1015). His most autobiographical work, This Side of Paradise is closely related to many of Fitzgerald’s own experiences. The protagonist, Amory Blaine, who was modeled after Fitzgerald, attended Princeton and came across much of what Fitzgerald did: unsuccessful romance; low grades as a result of more appealing options; and the influence of friends, who were based on Bishop and Wilson (Jones 90). The success and popularity of This Side of Paradise opened a new chapter in Fitzgerald’s life. Earlier, while stationed at Camp Sheridan in Alabama during the war, he met and fell in love with eighteen year old Zelda Sayre. However, their relationship was put on hold at the time because he could not marry her on his low salary (“F. Scott Fitzgerald” 1014). But after the public acceptance of This Side of Paradise, Fitzgerald was able to take Zelda’s hand in marriage on April 3, 1920 (“F. Scott Fitzgerald” 1015). Also as a result of the success of his first book, Fitzgerald could find markets for almost everything he would produce from then on (Bennet 340). He wrote short fiction works in between novels, some about the new woman – the blooming, individualistic “flappers”, for magazines of prestige (Willett np). In 1922, he earned $25,000, mostly from short stories – at $4,000 per story from the Saturday Evening Post (Jones 91). Although he was making a considerable income, the newly weds spent the money faster than it was earned (Bruccoli, Matthew. A Brief Life of Fitzgerald. np). After the publication of This Side of Paradise, Fitzgerald had to struggle to maintain the life of luxury to which he had grown accustomed (Bennet 339). F. Scott Fitzgerald’s married and social life had obvious impacts on his writing. He and Zelda divided their time between the United States and Europe, Paris and the French Riviera ( Bennet 340). The first two years of their marriage were filled with heavy drinking and partying, habits the two would carry throughout the next decade (Jones 91). They became one of America’s most celebrated couples of the time period; known for their spontaneity, charisma, and exquisiteness (Bruccoli, Matthew. A Brief Life of Fitzgerald. np). Their first child, Frances Scott (“Scottie”), was born in 1921, but this event had no effect on the Fitzgeralds’ frivolous lifestyle (Bennet 340). Somehow, Fitzgerald still found time to turn out his second book entitled The Beautiful and the Damned in 1922, in New York, despite his shallow existence (Bruccoli, Matthew. A Brief Life of Fitzgerald. np). He and Zelda’s roles as prince and princess of their generation were clearly portrayed in the novel (“Fitzgerald, F. Scott” 806). The book was followed by an unsuccessful play Fitzgerald wrote, The Vegetable (Broccoli np). The significance of The Beautiful and the Damned and The Vegetable were the themes explored in both that would become imperative to Fitzgerald’s later works: the negative consequences of superfluous money, and the misfortune of valuing what doesn’t truly matter (Jones 91). In 1924, the family moved to the French Riviera where Fitzgerald completed his most brilliant work, The Great Gatsby. Narrated by Nick Caraway, it is the story of Jay Gatsby, who met and fell in love with Daisy Buchanan during World War I. To his own dismay, Gatsby could not have her because he was penniless. After the war, he made his money bootlegging liquor, and four years later he returned to win Daisy’s heart. However, she was already married to an arrogant, brute of a man named Tom Buchanan and she was seriously blinded by his wealth. Published in 1925, the book is deeply American in theme and tone (Jones 93).Gatsby himself is the embodiment of the “American Dream” (“Fitzgerald, F. Scott” 806). The setting is New York during the 1920s, a decade known for the possibility of “getting rich quick” – appropriate because Gatsby needed to do just that. It was also a decade that brought about the idea of organized crime as an accessory to Prohibition. Though his criminal activities were kept ambiguous, it was obvious Gatsby was a bootlegger at some time (B...