All humans have at least two selves: one who wants to set goals, work hard, and achieve success; and one who would rather sit around and have fun shopping or gossiping. To understand F. Scott Fitzgerald, the man and the writer, one must be familiar with the idea of doubleness. Fitzgerald was quoted in “The Crack-Up” to have said that “the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed id

Fitzgerald and Gatsby both went through much turmoil just to make it seem as though he had enough money to do as he wished. Both characters’ parents had less money than their children, but this was typical in the 1920s. As Robert Douglass wrote in an article in 1938, he described how people took so much for granted. “The people living in the little town have a richer life than their parents did. They can reach a motion-picture theater by a twenty-minute drive, they have radios, and they think nothing of jaunts to Atlantic City, Boston or Canada that many of the old residents never made in an entire lifetime” (19). People throughout the Twentieth Century have thought nothing of the modern day conveniences they now have. The same is still true in today’s society, but people seem to be more aware of luxuries than people of the 1920’s.

After sending his second version of “The Romantic Egotist” to the publishing company named Charles Scribner’s Sons, Fitzgerald believed he could finally achieve monetary success. To his disappointment, he was rejected once more and told to forget about publishing the novel at all. World War One ended just before he was to be sent overseas; after his discharge in 1919 he went to New York City to seek his fortune in order to marry. Unwilling to wait while Fitzgerald succeeded in the advertisement business and unwilling to live on his small salary, Zelda broke their engagement. In a similar fashion, Daisy Fay was not prepared to wait for Jay Gatsby who would eventually return

Some topics in this essay:
Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald Gatsby, Princeton University, Zelda Sayre, World War, Jay Gatsby, Robert Douglass, York City, Gatsby’s Fitzgerald’s, Sons Fitzgerald, scott fitzgerald, jay gatsby, courted officers camp, life zelda, american dream, daisy fay, fitzgerald lived, officers camp, courted officers, fitzgerald gatsby, world war,