F. Scott Fitzgerald

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Writing Style
1. Word Choice
  1. Sophisticated vocabulary used in moderation
    1. Winter Dreams: "It offended him that the links should lie in enforced (fallowness)" (Fitzgerald 1).
    2. Benjamin Button: "He would have to introduce this-this (septuagenarian)" (Fitzgerald 6).
    3. The Great Gatsby: "Gatsby believed in the green light, the (orgastic) future that year by year recedes before us" (Fitzgerald 189).
  2. Latin Roots
    1. Benjamin Button: "'Because if you are,' went on the old man (querulously)" (Fitzgerald 6).
    2. Winter Dreams: "He was beyond any (revulsion) or any amusement" (Fitzgerald 8).
    3. The Great Gatsby: "...and he gave out incessantly his high horrible call" (Fitzgerald 146).
  3. Uses vocabulary to describe characters voice when speaking
    1. The Great Gatsby: "'Oxford, New Mexico,' snorted Tom (contemptuously)" (Fitzgerald 129).
    2. Winter Dreams: "'No, sir,' said Dexter (decisively)" (Fitzgerald 1).
    3. Benjamin Button: "'Talk sense!' said Doctor Keene (sharply)" (Fitzgerald 1).
2. Narrator
  1. Past Tense
    1. Winter Dreams: "She wore a blue silk afternoon dress, and he was disappointed at first that it was not something more elaborate" (Fitzgerald 4).
    2. The Great Gatsby: "'I am, though,' she said with a visible effort" (Fitzgerald 140).
    3. Benjamin Button: "Mr. Button stood there upon the sidewalk, stupefied and trembling from head to foot" (Fitzgerald 4).
  2. Fitzgerald's narrators are unbiased
    1. Winter Dreams: "He slammed the door. Into so many cars she had stepped--like this--like that-- her back against the leather, so--her elbow resting on the door-- waiting" (Fitzgerald 7). Although narrator says Judy has been with other men the narrator does not give the impression of whether it is right or wrong.
    2. Benjamin Button: "The matter was distasteful to him, and he wished to avoid it" (Fitzgerald 24). The narrator never weighs in the opinion if Roscoe is a bad son for not being supportive of his father's situations.
    3. The Great Gatsby: "'That's true,' I said uncomfortably" (Fitzgerald 176). Nick understands that Gatsby had flaws as shown in this scene where Gatsby's father is praising him, but Nick does not judge Gatsby in the book.
  3. Follows one characters life
    1. Benjamin Button: Narrator follows the life of Benjamin: "On the life of Benjamin Button between his twelfth and twenty-fifth year" (Fitzgerald 13).
    2. The Great Gatsby: Nick narrates the story, and it follows his life and what he sees: "There was music from my neighbor’s house through the summer nights... And on Mondays eight servants including an extra gardener toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears, repairing the ravages of the night before" (Fitzgerald 43).
    3. Winter Dreams: The narrator follows Dexter's life: "It is not so simple as that, either. As so frequently would be the case in the future, Dexter was unconsciously dictated by his winter dreams" (Fitzgerald 2).
3. Character Development
  1. Develops Characters by Action
    1. Winter Dreams: "A sort of dullness settled down upon Dexter. For the first time in his life he felt like getting very drunk" (Fitzgerald 9). This action shows that Dexter is feeling miserable due to hearing the news about Judy.
    2. Great Gatsby: "i called up Daisy from the office next morning and invited her to come over for tea" (Fitzgerald 88). This quote shows how Nick is helpful, because he had his hands full, yet did a favor fro Gatsby.
    3. Benjamin Button: "But mr. Button persisted in his unwavering purpose... declared that if Benjamin doesn't like warm milk, he could go without food altogether" (Fitzgerald 10). This action shows that Roger Button is strong headed.
  2. Develops Characters by Dialogue
    1. Benjamin Button: “... and repeated in a firm voice: ‘I am eighteen years old’” (Fitzgerald 14). Through this use of dialogue, Fitzgerald depicts Benjamin’s determination and integrity.
    2. The Great Gatsby: "and he added hollowly,' '...old sport'" (Fitzgerald 89). Gatsby’s repetition of “old sport” shows that he is friendly towards others.
    3. Winter Dreams: "'No sir' said Dexter decisively, 'i don't want to caddy anymore.' Then, after a pause: 'I'm too old'" (Fitzgerald 1). This dialogue shows that he is a dreamer and wants more out of his life.
  3. Develops Characters by Physical Description
    1. The Great Gatsby: "He smiled understandingly - much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you come across four or five times in life... and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey" (Fitzgerald 52-53). Gatsby's smile is said to be extremely kind, which also shows that Gatsby is friendly.
    2. Winter Dreams: "She was arrestingly beautiful. The color in her cheeks was centered like the color in a picture... balanced only partially by the sad luxury of her eyes" (Fitzgerald 3). This description shows how beautiful and perfect Judy is on the outside.
    3. Benjamin Button: "The girl was slender and frail, with hair that was ashen under the moon... glittering buttons on the hem of her bustled dress" (Fitzgerald 15). Fitzgerald also describes Hildegrade to be very beautiful, and the woman of every man's dreams.
4. Figurative Language
  1. Heavy use of imagery in the form of paragraphs
    1. Winter Dreams: "The little girl who had done this was eleven--beautifully ugly as little girls are apt to be... shining through her thin frame in a sort of glow" (Fitzgerald 1).
    2. Benjamin Button: "A grotesque picture formed itself before the eyes of a tortured man: a picture of himself walking through the crowded streets of the city with this appalling apparition stalking by his side" (Fitzgerald 6).
    3. The Great Gatsby: "“We walked through a high hallway into a bright rosy colored space, fragilely bound into the house by french windows at either end. The windows w\e ajar and gleaming white against the fresh grass outside that seemed to grow a little way into the house. A breeze blew threw the room, blew curtains in at one end and out the other like pale flags, twisting them up toward the frosted wedding cake of the ceiling-and then rippled over the wine-colored rug, making a shadow on it as wind does on the sea” (Fitzgerald 12).
  2. Use of similes
    1. The Great Gatsby: “...men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars” (Fitzgerald 43).
    2. Winter Dreams: "His heart turned over like the fly-wheel of the boat" (Fitzgerald 4).
    3. Benjamin Button: "his jealousies and anxieties melted from him like a mantle of snow" (Fitzgerald 16).
  3. Use of metaphors:
    1. Winter Dreams: "But do not get the impression, because his winter dreams happened to be concerned at first with musings on the rich, that there was anything merely snobbish in the boy" (Fitzgerald 2). Winter dreams is used as a metaphor for Dexter's ambitions throughout story.
    2. The Great Gatsby: “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” (189).
    3. Benjamin Button: “There was only one fly in the delicious ointment-he hated to appear in public with his wife Hildegarde” (Fitzgerald 22).
Theme
1. Objectifying women and looking down upon them
  1. Winter Dreams: "“‘My God, she’s good-looking!’ Said Mr. Sandwood, who was just over thirty.” (page 3, paragraph 16). This quote is explaining how older men (in their 40s) were eyeing Judy (21)
  2. Benjamin Button: “He hoped it would be a boy so that he could be sent to Yale College in Connecticut” (Fitzgerald 3). This quote shows how women aren't found capable in comparison to men
  3. The Great Gatsby: “I hope she’ll be a fool -- that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (21). This quote shows how people only care about how beautiful a woman looks like, and not how smart or capable she can be
2. Mad Love
  1. Winter Dreams: "He had wanted Judy Jones ever since he was a proud, desirous little boy" (Fitzgerald 5). Dexter constantly chases after Judy, despite her not being interest in him.
  2. Benjamin Button: "But when his own time came, and he drifted with her out upon the changing floor to the music of the latest waltz from Paris, his jealousness and anxiety melted from him like a mantle of snow. Blind with enchantment, he felt that life was just beginning" (Fitzgerald 16). Benjamin is mesmerized by Hildegrade and is madly in love with her
  3. The Great Gatsby: "'Well, I tried to swing the wheel —' He broke off, and suddenly I guessed at the truth. 'Was Daisy driving?' 'Yes,' he said after a moment, 'but of course I’ll say I was.'" (Fitzgerald 154). Gatsby is madly in love with Daisy, so he takes the blame for Myrtle's death even though she kills him.
3. Social Classes and Reputation
  1. The Great Gatsby: I lived at West Egg, the — well, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them" (2). The location of the novel is divided by social class and richness of people on either side.
  2. Winter Dreams: ""You're not. I like you. But I've just had a terrible afternoon. There was a man I cared about, and this afternoon he told me out of a clear sky that he was poor as a church-mouse. He'd never even hinted it before" (Fitzgerald 5). Judy cares about the wealthiness of the man she his interest in and this defines her relationship with him.
  3. Benjamin Button: "He was to make a better attempt to play with boys of his own age. He was not to wear spectacles or carry a cane in the street" (Fitzgerald 12).
Characters
1. Female Characters
  1. Fitzgerald's female characters are jealous
    1. The Great Gatsby: "'Well, first Daisy turned away from the woman...-it must have killed her instantly'" (Fitzgerald 151). Fitzgerald leads the reader to believe Daisy killed Myrtle in the car accident on purpose because she was jealous that Tom was having an affair with her.
    2. Benjamin Button: "She sniffed. 'Do you think it's anything to boast about?'" (Fitzgerald 21). Hildegarde is jealous that she is no longer the young and beautiful one in her relationship with Benjamin.
    3. Winter Dreams: "'I wish you'd marry me.'" (Fitzgerald 7). Judy comes back to Dexter only after finding out he is engaged to Irene.
2. Disloyal Characters
  1. Benjamin Button: "Benjamin's discontent waxed stronger" (Fitzgerald 20). Benjamin is no longer interested in his wife and does not want to be with her anymore.
  2. Winter Dreams: "He should have told her now that he was going to marry another girl, but he could not tell her" (Fitzgerald 7). Dexter does not tell Judy about Irene when he sees her and goes off with her even though he is engaged.
  3. The Great Gatsby: "'Tom's got some women in New York'" (Fitzgerald 19). Tom cheats on Daisy with Myrtle throughout the novel.
3. Male Characters
  1. Fitzgerald's male protagonist characters are usually want money
    1. Benjamin Button: "The wholesale hardware business prospered amazingly" (Fitzgerald 19). Benjamin is very involved in work and is proud of his earnings.
    2. Winter Dreams: ". He wanted not association with glittering things and glittering people--he wanted the glittering things themselves" (Fitzgerald 4). Dexter starts a laundry business because as described in this quote he wants to be rich.
    3. Great Gatsby: "'I carrry a little business on th eside, a sort of sideline, you understand'" (Fitzgerald 87). Jay Gatsby wants to live a lavish life style and reveals to Nick that he partakes in illegal activity to do so.
Autobiographical Elements
1. F. Scott Fitzgerald was an alcoholic and he talks about drinking throughout his stories
  1. Winter Dreams: "'Oh, Lud Simms has gone to pieces in a way. I don't mean he ill-uses her, but he drinks and runs around'" (Fitzgerald 8). Similar to Benjamin Button, alcohol and drinking is referenced in a bad way.
  2. The Great Gatsby: "'Open the whisky, Tom,' she ordered. 'And I'll make you a mint julep. Then you won't seem so stupid to yourself...'" (Fitzgerald 136). Drinking is refrenced many times in this novel, especially during Gatsby's lavish parties.
  3. Benjamin Button: "'Young men are so idiotic. They tell me how much champagne they drink at college and how much money they lose playing cards.'" (Fitzgerald 16). In this piece, alcohol is referenced in a negative connotation in contrast to his other texts.
2. Fitzgerald's wife refused to marry him until he was financially stable
  1. Winter Dreams: "' But I've just had a terrible afternoon. There was a man I cared about, and this afternoon he told me out of a clear sky that he was poor as a church-mouse.'" (Fitzgerald 5). Judy cannot be with someone who isn't rich, and wealth is her priority in a man
  2. Benjamin Button: "'I've always said," went on Hildegarde, "that I'd rather marry a man of fifty and be taken care of than many a man of thirty and take care of him'" (Fitzgerald 17). Hildegarde want a life in which her husband is stable, and is able to take care of her
  3. The Great Gatsby: "'We heard that you were engaged.' 'It's a libel. I'm too poor'" (Fitzgerald 24). Nick cannot get a wife since he is too poor for any woman liking
3. Fitzgerald went to Princeton University, and the characters in his novels also have access to quality education
  1. The Great Gatsby: "I graduated from New Haven in 1915, just a quarter of a century after my father" (Fitzgerald 5). Nick graduated from Yale.
  2. Benjamin Button: "So his father sent him up to Connecticut to take examinations for entrance to Yale College" (Fitzgerald 13). Benjamin is applying to Yale
  3. Winter Dreams: "His winter dreams persuaded Dexter years later to pass up a business course in the State University... attending an older and more famous university in the East" (Fitzgerald 2). Dexter would rather go to an Ivy League school.

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