Dick Diver

Paper Summary:

This essay looks at how F. Scott Fitzgerald's character Dick Diver from "Tender is the Night" takes on characteristics of both Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway from Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby." The author compares and contrasts the characters and shows that all three men learned that the reality of the past is something that cannot be avoided, only delayed.

From the Paper:

"F. Scott Fitzgerald was a mosaic of the characters he created. Fitzgerald, himself, can be found in Jay Gatsby, Nick Callaway, and Dick Diver. His own personal history reflects those he gave his characters, drinking habits, social status, and affluence (Brief pg). The life style of the 1920's in Paris is one that Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda experienced and is woven into his novel "Tender is the Night." Fitzgerald's stories often reveal the lives of the "have's" and "have nots," the lifestyle and near decadence of the rich compared to the common middle classes (Brief pg). Moreover, Fitzgerald always seems to distinguish between the "old money" and the "new," the aristocrats and the nouveau rich. His writings reflect his awareness of his own middle class status and his struggle to overcome humble beginnings. Fitzgerald seems to model his "old money" characters after Zelda's family and acquaintances, the comfortably rich, accustomed to protocol for all occasions (Brief pg). A theme that rings in most of Fitzgerald's work is one of inevitable truth. That no matter how successful one becomes, no matter how much money one may earn, no matter how well one learns to use the power of money and status, the true self inevitably surfaces sooner or later. Jay Gatsby, Nick Callaway, and Dick Diver all experience this moment of truth when they can no longer deny who and what they are."

More papers on Dick Diver:

• Book Review # 110416 : "Tender is the Night"
• Analytical Essay # 53718 : "F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Tender is the Night"
• Book Review # 98071 : "Tender Is the Night"

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