A Reasonable Man with Reasonable Writing “The Reasonable Thing. ” by F. Scott Fitzgerald portions legion features with his other Hagiographas. Like many authors. his work was to a great extent influenced by his life. Published criticisms note similarities between attitudes of the Roaring Twenties. In order to construe “The Reasonable Thing. ” it is necessary to analyze F. Scott Fitzgerald’s life and work.
The mercenary. latitudinarian thoughts qualifying greatly influenced the Hagiographas of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Furthermore. his relationship with Zelda Sayer. like a roller coaster. went through many ups and downs. and this continued throughout his life. After “a wooing of a twelvemonth and a half. ” ( Bloom 83 ) Fitzgerald eventually thought he made “the luck that would convert the girl” to get married him ( 84 ) . Merely upon the publication of his first novel did Zelda assure a nuptials because she wanted fiscal stableness. Harmonizing to tradition. when a twosome marry. they become one. It is apprehensible that during Zelda’s “gradual impairment from schizophrenic disorder and eventual dislocation. ” ( Votteler 6:44 ) her coiling downward dragged Fitzgerald down every bit good ( Bloom 85 ) . Trying to get by with her schizophrenic disorder. Fitzgerald traveled often to be near his married woman. Pulling from his experiences of going around the universe. he created the scenes for many narratives ( Troskey 4:143 ) .
Furthermore. during this epoch. society’s construct of good and bad mattered greatly. The Fitzgeralds were “eager to take part in the monied society around them. ” and they both believed “the intent of money was to recognize the promises of life” ( Bloom 84 ) . For many of that clip. including the Fitzgeralds. money and popularity were precedences because these people were of shallow and conceited character. Finally. the life styles of the Fitzgeralds. go toing munificent parties and socialising with the wealthy appeared as common capable affair in his narratives. Believing that Fitzgerald. take parting in these societal maps would heighten his calling as a author by going well-known in the affluent society. he and Zelda aspired to be accepted as peers of the rich “flappers” ( Bruccoli 147 ) .
Stressing the contrasts between metropolitan qualities and rural artlessness characterizes the unfavorable judgment of puting in Fitzgerald’s Hagiographas. Robert Roulston considers that throughout the plants of Fitzgerald. two discreet attitudes are expressed toward the South. In “The Last of the Belles. ” glamor and love affair described the South. in contrast to the poorness and failure of the South in The Last Tycoon. Likewise East and West Egg. in The Great Gatsby. are characterized in footings of the rich side of town and the hapless side of town ( Bloom 158 ) . Frederick J. Hoffman believed it was of import for Nick Carraway. in The Great Gatsby. to be from the Midwest. “both the geographical and moral Midwest” ( Poupard 14:152 ) .
Carraway’s reactions to what he observes of Gatsby’s life are affected by wholesome and low Midwest values of his young person. Indeed. as the distinguishable attitudes toward the South noted by Roulston. the Midwestern values contrast with the natural state. immoral parties of Gatsby. Finally. Fitzgerald frequently used the Midwest scene to typify a certain artlessness and return to a person’s roots. Similarly. Robert Ornstein suggests that Fitzgerald wrote about the construct of coming back to the place topographic point after an escapade into town. “After Gatsby’s decease. Nick prepares to return to his Minnesota place. a topographic point of heat and digesting stableness. transporting with him a phantasmagoric dark vision of the orgy of East” ( Bloom 78 ) .
Critical analysis of the capable affair of Fitzgerald’s work focused on the subject of money. glamourous life. and beautiful adult females. Written “on the brink of phantasy. ” Alfred Kazin considers Fitzgerald excessively obsessed with “the love affair of glamour” ( Poupard 14:151 ) . That is. Fitzgerald’s composing demonstrates how extremely valued affluent societal standing and material ownerships were to society in general. Kazin farther analyzes Fitzgerald’s “treatment of tragic complex subjects in the context of romantic glamourous lives” . such as Jay Gatsby’s rise. dream. and physical ruin ( Poupard 14:151 ) . The “vanities add insecurities” of adult male from Robert Murray Davis’ position were frequently subjects in Fitzgerald’s plants.
Possessing excessively much or excessively small expressions. money. and position” created state of affairss conveying about the character’s jobs ( Hall 6:167 ) . In The Great Gatsby. Jay Gatsby must get the better of these factors in order to travel on in life. As Marius Bewley believed. the American Dream. included wealth attention deficit disorder felicity. and this was about ever a capable affair for Fitzgerald. “Scott Fitzgerald’s novels have been based on a construct of class” ( Bloom 23 ) . He knew that money played a enormous function in all countries of life. and he believes felicity can non be without money. Bewley. mentioning Fitzgerald’s acknowledgment that money burs the felicity of wealth. calls Fitzgerald the “first American author to detect that such a thing as American category truly existed” ( 24 ) .
Throughout Fitzgerald’s novels and short narratives. a familiar subject appears which is utilizing money and success to recover felicity or lost love. As Alfred Kazin notes. Fitzgerald’s chief characters repeatedly attempted to purchase felicity. From The Great Gatsby. Jay Gatsby “merely wanted to purchase back the felicity he had lost-Daisy. now the rich man’s wife-when he had gone off to war” ( Poupard 14?151 ) . Always throwing parties. Gatsby continuously was “reaching out to do out of glamor what he had lost by inhuman treatment of chance” ( 14:152 ) . The inability to recapture the yesteryear is Tom Burnam’s reading of the subject for The Great Gatsby. The green visible radiation at the terminal of Daisy’s dock represents the signal to try to salve what has already been lost ( 14:153 ) .
Until the really terminal of his life. Jay Gatsby tried to win Daisy back from her hubby Tom. but she did non win. Similarly. Roy R. Male concludes that “Babylon Revisited” reflects Fitzgerald’s belief that a affluent life style was desirable. In the terminal. Charlie. the supporter. declinations picks made in populating life in high manner ; for illustration. a halt in the Ritz Bar. which led to losing his girl ( Bloom 94 ) . Nevertheless. even though Charlie intends to win his girl back. he fails to make so. and he is forced to populate with this for the remainder of his life ( 96 ) .
Similar to The Great Gatsby and Fitzgerald’s ain life. “The Reasonable Thing” is a climbing nightshade love narrative of two realistic characters of the Roaring Twenties. George O’Kelley. a alumnus from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. was soon working as an insurance clerk. As a adult male “new to poorness. ” ( Bruccoli 191 ) O’Kelley loses the love of his life. Jonquil Cary because he is excessively hapless to get married her. and this would be seting excessively much emphasis on her love for him. ( Bruccoli 290 ) Alternatively. a twelvemonth subsequently. he returns with money and a promising hereafter. trusting to recapture his lost love now that he is more suited for her because they had done “the reasonable thing” . Though the fortunes for matrimony to Jonquil were eventually acceptable. the emotional fortunes were no longer right. “He had traded his first young person for strength and carved success out of desperation. But with his young person. life had carried away the freshness of his love” ( Bruccoli 191 ) . “There are all sorts of love in the universe. but ne’er the same love twice” ( Bruccoli 301 ) .
The Fitzgeralds’ life and George and Jonquil’s life procedure a infinite figure of similarities. With Zelda’s frame of head on how much money Fitzgerald would be raking in on his short narratives and novels. she was to be won over by his chequebook ( Martine 86:92 ) . When George was working as an insurance clerk. he was non doing adequate money to be suited for Jonquil to get married. and hence. money was for certain an issue among the two twosomes for stirring problem. Sing both love narratives occurred during the same clip period. their ruins were found to be related to one another.
The Fitzgeralds’ relationship. which ended in divorce. a fact which was kept secret due to society’s general disapproval of divorce. shared similarities with Jonquil’s rejection of George’s proposal because he had a lower societal standing. Sacrificing money and clip are what Fitzgerald and George did for their adult females. When Zelda became mentally ill. Fitzgerald traveled invariably to be at her side and prolong his calling as a author. Similarly. George quit his occupation as an insurance clerk to be with the adult female he loved at the clip. and he besides moved off to go successful and more suited for her.
Similar to The Great Gatsby. “The Reasonable Thing” besides consisted of two highly contrastive scenes. New York City and Tennessee of “The Sensible Thing”portrayed the East and West Egg of The Great Gatsby in that New York City was showering and capturing. while Tennessee represented averageness and obtuseness. From “The Reasonable Thing. ” the capable affair was centered on a miss. as all Fitzgerald narratives are. Because she was the love of his life George O’Kelley did everything centered around Jonquil Cary. George’s rise. dream. and downfall were concerned with how Jonquil was in his life because she affected the manner George lived and reacted. Therefore. she was the centre of attending in this narrative. Idolizing wealth is a clearly seen subject throughout “The Reasonable Thing. ” In peculiar. George’s lower societal position caused Jonquil’s superficiality to be brought out. and she would non get married him until he became financially stable because she felt it was non “the reasonable thing” ( Bruccoli 191 ) .
In decision. it is obvious that Fitzgerald identified affluent life as desirable. but he besides examined issues of recovering lost loves and lost chances. In “The Reasonable Thing. ” every bit good as other Fitzgerald plants. the thought of wealth. societal position. and love played a major portion in the subject. scene. and capable affair. Fitzgerald’s personal life is filled with many illustrations of these constructs. This scrutiny of the life and plants of Fitzgerald clearly shows these elements in “The Reasonable Thing. ”
WORKS CITED
Bloom. Harlod. Modern Critical Views of F. Scott Fitzgerald. New York: Chelsea House
