The Disintegration of Dick Diver in Tender is the Night
The exact nature of Dick Diver¹s descent throughout the course of Tender is the Night is difficult to discern. It is clear enough that his disintegration is occasioned by Nicole¹s burgeoning independence, but why or how her transformation affects him this way is less than obvious. Moreover, it is not at all apparent what is at stake, more abstractly, in this reciprocal exchange of fates. In this paper, I will propose a reading of this change that relates Nicole¹s strength to her naturalness, her identification with instinct and natural impulse, and Dick¹s strength to his civilization, his identification with the curtailment of natural impulse through psychiatry and prewar American civilization. The relationship between Nicole and Dick is such that what happens to the one must happen to the other. Both Nicole and Dick turn by the novel¹s end to impulse and instinct, but while Nicole does this by gaining an independent self-consciousness, Dick achieves this only through drinking.
Throughout the novel Nicole is identified with the childish and animalistic wildness of instinct. This is most obvious in the uninhibited expression of emotion which characterizes her episodes of madness. We see, for instance, her frenzied laughter as she rides the Ferris wheel and causes her car to crash. As the car finally comes to a halt, "she, [Nicole], was laughing hilariously, unashamed, unafraid, unconcernedŠ.She laughed as after some mild escape of childhood" (192). And as a patient at the clinic, after having her affection for Dick rebuffed, we are told, "Nicole¹s world had fallen to pieces, but it was only a flimsy and scarcely created world; beneath it her emotions and instincts fought on" (143).
As the story progresses, though, the expression of these impulses become less openly dangerous and abnormal and more linked to her growing sense of self. One more restrained way in which Nicole is identified with impulse is her use of money. Money in the story is a sort of materialized passion, the tangible expression of an appetite to possess and control. Money becomes more and more plentiful as the story moves on, such that by the beginning of book three, after Dick gives up his stake in the clinic, "the mere spending of it, [money], the care of goods, was an absorption in itself. The style in which they traveled was fabulous" (257).
Tender is the Night finally appeared on April 12, 1934. But despite Fitzgerald’s high expectations of hot reviews, the reception was, at best, luke warm. The novel sold only thirteen thousand copies and left Fitzgerald’s ego bruised and his hopes of its estimable success unfulfilled. Ernest Hemingway offered little praise. The characters, he believed, were “beautifully faked case histories rather than people” (Mayfield 209). Similarly unimpressed, Hal Borland of the Philadelphia Ledger remarked on April 13, 1934, “Most of the themes [of Tender is the Night] seem better fitted for clinical studies than for fiction. Fitzgerald’s novel is admirably done, and its dozens of cross-currents are well handled. But it is not the important nov...
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown,” and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” utilize character responsibilities to create a sinister plot. For Hawthorne, protagonist Young Goodman Brown must leave his wife at home while he partakes in a night journey. For Poe, ancillary Fortunato covets a pretentious manner towards his wine tasting skills, and after being ‘challenged’ decides to prove his expertise by sampling Amontillado. Hawthorne and Poe showcase a theme of darkness but differ in their approach to the setting, characters, and fate of entrapment.
Money can cause people to act selfish and arrogant, especially when they have so much money they do noteven know what to spend it on. In the novel,
Some people thought that the winner of the Civil War was determined by the side with the most guns, but the North's victory involved much more. The Civil War produced new technological advances and Lincoln used them to his advantage. One example is how he used trains and the telegraph to help him win the war. During the American Civil War the Union had a number of advantages against the South. Abraham took advantage of his knowledge of the railroad system to help him win the war. The invention of the telegraph allowed lincoln to communicate directly to the generals giving Lincon yet another advantage during the war. Also the size of the North's population instantly boosted the Norths odds of winning the war.
The mood established by Edgar Allan Poe in his short story, "The Cask of Amontillado," plays a crucial role in conveying to the reader his underlying theme. For example, when Montresor, the narrator, st...
Semantically fossil fuels are a renewable source of energy, however given that it takes millions of years for the organic materials to be broken down and converted, it is wholly unrealistic to consider them as renewable. As the demand for fossil fuels increases and source diminish faster than they are replentished, the United States must work towards a renewable energy independent state using truly renable sources, both technically and in practice. With changes in the home, as consumers in buying goods and with alternative fuel sources backed by public trust and governmental involvement, the United States could drastically lessen its dependence on fossil fuels, foreign and domestic.
The power to change is man’s greatest struggles, since a strong influence that lead them to where they are now. It is also the price and journey that both Montresor in Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Tell Tale Heart” and the narrator of the “The Cask of Amontillado”, another of poe’s story. In both story the narrators, both indicate that they want to get rid of an addiction they had that is driving them to madness, and in order to do so they, must do it at any cost. Both narrator clearly plan on their instincts and carefully plans out methods in which leads them to their satisfaction. These stories contain many similarities and differences in the use of tone, irony and symbolism, of the protagonist. Through these characters and their actions,
Kosmin, Barry A. "Atheist Demographics." The Atheist Scholar. The Atheist Scholar. Web. 16 May 2014.
Money is important to Tom and Daisey because it makes them feel superior to those who have less. All of these characters have been corrupted by their greed, but the one person that has not is Nick, Daisey's cousin. He is nice enough to help Gatsby with Daisey out of friendship, not for his money. In the book, money symbolizes a social evil as it destroys the lives of people corrupted by wealth. In the first chapter, Fitzgerald treats money as if it was a cookie cutter for social classes and tells how wealth divides the society into different groups.
WHO (2005). Preparing a health care workforce for the 21st century. The Challenge of Chronic Conditions. World Health Organization, Non-communicable Diseases and Mental Health Cluster, Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion Department. http://www.who.int/chp/knowledge/publications/workforce_report.pdf?ua=1 [Accessed 1/4/2014]
In Italy, after he begins his affair with Rosemary, Dick is disillusioned with her. He finds that Rosemary belongs to other people. In his disillusionment, his thoughts turn to Nicole, and how she is still "his girl - too often he was sick at heart about her, yet she was his girl" (213). Rosemary is no longer his possession solely and this cracks his surface. He returns to his love for Nicole like a guard, because he is weak without it. He refers to it as "an obscuring dye" (217). He is Nicole, and Nicole is he, and at this point the line between them has been blurred to bring them together. Dick does not realize that as much as he believes Nicole depends on him, he is dependent on her. He depends on her neediness to define him. Dick knows, however, that Nicole is important to him and that the thought "that she should die, sink into mental darkness, love another man, made him physically sick"(217). Not only is this excellent foreshadowing on Fitzgerald's part, but it gives us a measure just how dependent Dick is. Physical illness is uncontrollable. If even the thought makes causes him to have psychosomatic symptoms, it is imaginable what the actuality would bring. Dick needs Nicole badly, more so than ever at this point.
With the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D and the ending of the construction process, Titus formally dedicated the Colosseum in honor of his father and hosted a splendid show including 100 days of games. The Roman citizens were soon addicted to the gladiatorial shows, and the new age of entertainment began at that moment; the Colosseum was the center of all public entertainments and events. Unlike many preceding amphitheaters, Colosseum was the first free-standing architecture constructed purely out of concrete and stone. Supported by 80 arches on each story, the infrastructure was both innovative and seemingly indestructible. Despite its massive size, the building itself was meticulously build and designed; the amount of details and decorations was overwhelming. There were 4 floors and each decorated with different styles: Doric, Ionic, and finally, the Corinthian style. The Col...
All of the main characters in Tender is the Night are wealthy enough that they can lead a life of leisure. One of the main activities of this lifestyle is drinking. Drunkenness causes and is the result of many negative things that happen to the characters. This is evidenced the most by the actions of Abe North and Dick Diver. The first time we meet Dick Diver in Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night he is "going from umbrella to umbrella carrying a bottle and little glasses in his hands"(Fitzgerald, 11). From that point on there is alcohol involved in almost every scene.
It is generally accepted within healthcare that to understand mental health we must adopt the biopsychosocial model. This model assumes that an interdependent relationship exists between biological, psychological and social factors which are involved in all aspects of mental health (Toates, 2010, p. 14). To be true to the model research must be holistic and not investigate the factors in isolation.
Mrs. Linde, on the other hand, knows what it is like to not have money to spare. She values money, but for an entire different purpose. The looks at it for what it is worth, and how it can help her survive. Her entire life she has had to work hard for anything that she wanted or needed. “Well, anyway,” she responded to Nora’s remark on having stacks of money, “it would be lovely enough to have enough for necessities” (703). To survive, she “had to scrape up living with a little shop and a little teaching and whatever else [she] could find” (704).