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. This wealth lived on West Egg. Those who inhabited East Egg were those who had established families and wealthy family lines. The social structure of St. Paul supplies this contrast between the East and West.
             Fitzgerald was born into a family, like many American writers, with a strong mother and a weak father. “Fitzgerald was acutely aware of the embarrassing contrast between the genteel but impoverished and the crude elements in his background, which always made him feel like a parvenu.” (Meyers 3&4) As a boy, he was troubled by his father’s failure in trade and ashamed of his mother’s eccentric and peculiar behavior. The most influential event of his childhood took place before he wa...