F. Scott Fitzgerald

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, who earned his name from his great-great-grandfather’s brother who wrote the “Star-Spangled Banner”, wrote novels that portrayed the restless American middle and upper classes in the early decades of the century. These views, along with his views on life and love, are derived from many experiences in his life. The three areas that had the most effect on his writing were his youth and family, his school days, his marriage.

Fitzgerald grew up in St. Paul Minnesota. His parents were both Catholic and of Irish descent, but came from extremely different social backgrounds. Between 1919 and 1936, Fitzgerald recorded everything that could possibly define him as a person in his Notebooks and his Ledger. In one section of these books, Fitzgerald noted the social structure of St. Paul. St. Paul modeled itself after the East and Europe. The older established families considered themselves superior to the self-made businessmen and those who had gained their wealth by chance (Meyers 2). This is portrayed in The Great Gatsby. Jay Gatsby is looked down upon because of his “new” wealth, and it is even investigated as to how he acquired it. New wealth was considered tacky and gaudy. Th

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After a summer in Connecticut, the Fitzgeralds lived in an apartment in New York City; there he wrote his second novel The Beautiful and the Damned. Fitzgerald’s two older sisters died in an epidemic at the ages of one and three, while his mother was pregnant with him. Scott Fitzgerald used his life as this basis for most of his novels. Daisy is the greatest tribute to Ginevra. A week before their wedding, This Side of Paradise was published and became an instant success. Dick Diver “was born several months after the death of two young sisters and his father, guessing what would be the effect !

on Dick’s mother, had saved him from a spoiling by becoming his moral guide. During this period, Fitzgerald became concentrated on his work and discovered his tone, voice, and style. Several of his friends became the basis for his characters in this novel. In February 1921, Zelda discovered that she was pregnant, and they decided to take a trip to Europe while she could still travel. Fitzgerald enjoyed himself in Venice but absolutely hated France. In order to support himself, Fitzgerald wrote several short stories and sold them. !

Before his reunion with Ginevra, Scott told his daughter with a mixture of nostalgia and regret: “She was the first girl I ever loved and I have faithfully avoided seeing her up to this moment to keep that illusion perfect, because she ended up by throwing me over with the most supreme boredom and indifference. ” (Meyers 5) After his father’s furniture business failed, the family moved to Buffalo so that he could become a salesman for Procter & Gamble. ” (Meyers 30) Ginevra supplied the basis for several characters by using lost love as imaginative inspiration.

Approximate Word count = 1673
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

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