The Greatness Behind Gatsby
Topics: writing, literature, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Hi, my name is Tricia and I consider The Great Gatsby to be a defining personality trait.
Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald are my Roman Empire. I think about them all.the.time. Seriously, it’s a little obnoxious how hung up I am on a couple of people who died four decades before I was even born. What could I possibly find so appealing about people I’ve never met—and never will meet—to a point where Zelda’s lost engagement ring still personally haunts me to this day?
In a simple word: comradery.
It’s not an original reason. It’s stereotypical at best and hollow at it’s worst. There are thousands of other people just like me. I’m not cute, unique, special, or a Manic Pixie Dream Girl. I’m just a run-of-the-mill American gal who loves one of the Great American Novels.
But today feels extra special because Gatsby turns 100!
I could detail how I am the biggest Gatsby fan Michigan has seen since Hemingway himself was here (truth be told, Hemingway didn’t love Gatsby, especially the character of Daisy, and told Scott as much), but that would make me sound like an insufferable try-hard.
I could detail the way Fitzgerald wrote Gatsby, how it was edited, who edited it, and the major changes from the OG manuscript (titled Trimalcio), but I doubt any of you really care.
I could do a deep-dive into the romantic life of Scott Fitzgerald, the character inspirations he drew from his formative years, and how they impacted his worldview. But I think Ginevra King would like to rest in peace without another thinkpiece comparing her to Zelda or Daisy.
So instead I thought we could snorkel (the lighter version of a deep-dive, obvs) through some Fitzgerald factoids in celebration of Gatsby’s centennial. It’s part history lesson, part American Lit lesson, and part Tricia’s musings. Regardless, I hope you learn something (or at the very least, feel slightly motivated to grab some pearls and do the Charleston). Let’s get started, Old Sport.
Gatsby was not Fitzgerald’s first writing project. Or his second. Or his third. Fitzgerald made a name for himself through his debut novel, This Side of Paradise. He also wrote for newspapers and magazines. He wrote plays and screenplays. He wrote lyrics and limericks. He was a multidisciplinary writer, not simply a novelist.
Fitzgerald would be utterly shocked by the impact Gatsby has had on American culture. When Fitzgerald died, Gatsby was a novella in his catalogue. Now F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby are nearly synonymous. We have theme nights, brunch parties, slogans, songs, and pop culture goodness completely dedicated to the lore of Daisy, Tom, Myrtle, Jordan, Nick, and of course, Jay Gatsby. Somewhere Scott Fitzgerald is cracking jokes about the irony of it all. (Wolfsheim fixed it that way.)
The character of Nick Carraway was based on Fitzgerald’s own experience feeling “within and without.” Those conflicting emotions are a recurring theme in Fitzgerald’s writings.
On Scott and Zelda’s wedding day, Fitzgerald was so eager to be married that he told the priest to start the wedding immediately. The guests, mind you, hadn’t all arrived yet, but, you know, details.
Although Scott and Zelda were separated for quite some time, they remained intimately close, writing letters to each other constantly.
Scott moved to Hollywood (he took a writing contract with MGM) while he continued to work on his novel The Last Tycoon. He passed away before it was finished. A close friend used his notes, letters, and drafts to edit the novel and had it published posthumously.
Some of Scott’s most famous quotes are actually from letters between him and his daughter, Scottie: “Nobody ever became a writer by just wanting to be one,” and “Of course it’s hard. Nothing any good isn’t hard.”
Meanwhile, some of Scott’s most famous book quotes aren’t original at all, but taken directly from real life. The line in Gatsby where Daisy talks about how she’s glad she had a baby girl—I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool—yeah, Zelda said that.
Scott never finished college. He got kicked out of Princeton for having terrible grades.
If I had to define Scott’s romantic “type” it would be BBE—Big Brat Energy. His great loves were strong-willed women who were creative, charismatic, beautiful, and a teeny bit spoiled. Not as one-dimentional as Daisy, and not as reckless as Jordan, but somewhere in-between.
This one isn’t able to be proven, but let’s be honest, it should go without saying: F. Scott Fitzgerald is a Swiftie. I’ll die on this hill.
Happy Birthday, Gatsby. Happy pub day, Scott. Cheers to the roaring twenties and many more years of being lost among the whisperings and the Champagne and the stars.
~ Tricia
T’s Top Three Fitzgerald quotes:
Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.
Show me a hero, and I’ll write you a tragedy.
Don’t pluck your eyebrows.
