Fitzgerald Observations A&E Video Part III
After viewing third installment within the A&E Fitzgerald video,
what do notice about Fitzgerald and his life as a writer? Other
observations? Please complete this blog response by 2:30p.m. on Monday, April 16th.
posted by Greg T at Sunday, April 15, 2018
26 Comments:
His life seems to be tragic especially after Zelda had an affair with another man that shook Fitzgerald to his core causing him extreme sadness that effected his writing and life. His social life was hard to because of Ernest hemming way always giving Fitzgerald a hard time. Then Zelda goes crazy and her health gets really bad which doesn't help his writing and mental health either.
The dynamic of his and Hemingway's relationship, their rivalry is such a fascinating concept, them being competing writers. His life really did fall apart at the end, especially when Zelda had her breakdown and tried to kill both of them. I think that the documentary blows up how important both of the fitzgeralds are as historical figures. He failed to remain relevant given the depression and developing cultural changes going into the 30's.
Zelda had an affair during her marriage with Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald was not as successful as his friend who he was envious of and vice versa. Scott had to deal with Zelda's mental instability. Scott's subject matter became outdated. He was busy trying to help his wife, and then later became an alcoholic, but through this he used his pain as inspiration.
After watching the third part of the video on Fitzgerald's life, it is hard to hear about all of the struggles in his life. Sometimes it seems like most things that could go wrong in his life did. I think sometimes he took the struggles as things to get stuck in and didn't use it to motivate him to be the best writer and person he can be.
One of the things that I noticed about this part of Fitzgerald's life was that he seems to have his own idea of what life should be like even though his life wasn't anything like that. This was shown in the way that he reacted when his wife had an affair with another man as well as when his wife started to go crazy. He reacted to this by trying to fix the problem without realizing that sometimes he needs to deal with life differently.
His wife had an affair at the beginning of their relationship which caused a sadness in him which he never really recovered from. He later published the Great Gatsby, which would en dup being a multi-million dollar movie. Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway became drinking buddies. They both envied in the other what they didn't have in themselves. The idea fo having money became a conflict between the two of them too. Fitzgerald was seen as a suck up to the rich. Once the roaring 20's crashed, F. Scott watched Zelda gradually lost her mind. One day she grabbed the wheel when Scott was driving and tried to drive the two of them off a cliff. At this time Scott was struggling with his next book, "Tender is the Night". The subject matter in his novel when published was a little outdated. The failure of this novel was a major setback for him. He was an alcoholic who was trying to support his wife who was having many medical issues. Even at his low points he used his life as inspiration. Later he wrote "The Crack Up" which showed that he was emotionally bankrupted. At 40, he was depicted as a low life has been. After this he was offered a job dn later went to Hollywood to be a screenwriter.
Fitzgerald writing near the end wasn’t doing as great. His wife, Zelda, became crazy and turned into a distraction. Fitzgerald’s fourth book took over 9 years in the making and it did not sell well. He became a bad alcoholic, soon to be taken to the hospital. After reflecting his life, he got a offer to work for hollywood. It seems that when Fitzgerald hits rock bottom, he always comes back up and becomes great again.
I think it was surprising that Zelda cheated on him. I think that plays a big role in his writing and how he felt while writing.
Fitzgerald's life went downhill after his wife was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Even though he became an alcoholic and got extremely depressed, I find it impressive that in all the destruction he was still able to work hard and create "masterpieces".
Zelda seemed to have a lot of problems. For example being schizophrenic. This has deemed to cause a lot of stress on Fitzgerald and has definitely proved that he loves her. From having to deal with almost driving off a cliff due to her, to watching her flirt with other men.
Fitzgerald has seemed to really go through a lot in his life. It seems he was always doing his best to take care of the people around him, like his wife when she had health problem. This affected him being able to do what he wanted like his writing but he sacrificed it for the people he cared about. I think that his life really did affect his writing, it served as inspiration or just gave him something to think about.
I have realized in more depth, how hard his life was. How Zelda had an affair and went crazy, how much trouble he had with alcohol, and how he had that degrading article written about him. However, I also saw how strong of a person Fitzgerald was. He used his hardships as inspiration to deepen his written. Also, he had very successful books but also ones that didn't succeed, yet he didn't give up on his love for being an author. His life is a great example of how you shouldn't give up on your dreams no matter how bad life may get.
After Zelda had an affair and then kind of losing her mind then passing away, Fitzgerald has was a mess. He was binge drinking to no extent and was struggling to wright. He did get a movie but he wasn't exactly happy. I think Fitzgerald was going through so much at the time and all the social changes in the 30's caused him to become a huge bigne drinker. This all effected his weighting, but he did use his story to help him wright some stories.
After the second installment we find out that Fitzgerald had a very destructive personality. He didn't really adjust well to the world after the stock market crash and he maintained the same style and topics for his writing when the people reading are having such a hard time in life that they don't want to read. he was also a large drinker that wrecked his reputation.
I think it's kinda cool that his stories are representing how his life is. The book titles Tender Is The Night. That is about the doctor treating the ill patient. The doctor and the patient fall in love with each other. This is similar to his own home life with his wife. She fights the same struggles. It is sad that Zelda did cheat on him, that defintelly changed his views on her.
Fitzgerald's early life was very much dined by-and a definition of-the roaring 20's. As soon as the beginning of the Great Depression Fitzgerald's life of leisure was doomed to fail. His happy life was as fake as the "greatness" of the 20's. Wasting money and time like they were unending, how else was their happiness to end?
I think that it is very important to note that his personal experiences and grievances were incredibly influential on his work. Many of the themes and events in his novels directly reflect that of his actual life. Fitzgerald's experience in the gradual loss of a partner as Zelda slowly lost the sanctity of her mind, his increasing troubles and consequences of his alcoholism, and his own depression and negativity that stem from these problems shaped how his writing continued and formed the themes therein.
This installment of the documentary reveals that hardship didn't distract Fitzgerald from his writing but instead inspired him to continue while reflecting upon his troubles and involving them in his writing. This shows an element of perseverance in him. The video also described one of the hardest hits against Fitzgerald: criticism against him by the newspaper. Zelda's descent into madness reflects Fitzgerald's own, showing his attachment to her.
This part of the documentary really hits hard. It shows Zelda's descent into madness and elaborates on Fitzgerald's continuous drinking problem. Throughout these hardships, as shown throughout his life, this particular tragedy didn't stop his passion for writing. As the stock market crashed and The Great Depression began, the declining economy and quality of life didn't halter his writing. If anything, it fueled it.
After watching part three and reading part of the great Gatsby, I've been able to draw a lot of similarities between his characters he creates and his life. He himself seems to be much like a mixture of Zach and Gatsby himself, with the hard working attitude of Zach and the solemn but pleasant aura of Gatsby. His wife Zelda reminds me of Daisy. Later in Zelda's life, she starts to become oblivious to the hardships in their life and almost a bit ignorant. These same aspects come up in Daisy's character.
Fitzgerald draws a lot of the plot of his novels from his life. The great gatsby is a lot about his loss and how he feels that life is corrupt. He draws an exaggerated form of corruption into his books but it does show how he truly felt about his life and successes. He felt in his life the loss and the power that other people's view have on it.
After Part 3 of the video I noticed that Fitzgerald uses his own life experiences in his novels. He has gone through a lot in his life and I think that is what makes his books good. He has gone through a lot of loss in his life and he shows that through his novels. I think he uses writing as an escape from his life and he loves it because of that.
Right as Fitzgerald's life started to appear to take a turn for the better, Zelda had an affair with another man which devastated him. Zelda goes insane almost and tries to kill them both. This toxic relationship is impacting is writing and mental health. Meanwhile, he appears to be having social anxiety, especially around Hemmingway, a rival author.
When I read The Great Gatsby, I feel like I'm reading some kind of diary. Fitzgerald does an excellent job of writing his life and his experiences. His characters match characters from his life, and I think every character he writes about is another piece of himself.
After watching this part, I feel bad for Fitzgerald, because everything that could go wrong, went wrong. His wife had an affair with another man and he envied his friend for being more successful than him. It seems as if he can never come up for air and get a breath with his twisted life. Within his literature, he draws a lot of feelings and events from his own life and experiences and streams it through his plot and characters which makes us, the readers, feel as if we are going along his journey of life with him.
After watching the video, Fitzgerald seems to have an awful life after he has been taken advantage of by his wife. He seems to be doing worse than all his friends and seems to be failing in every way possible. He struggles a lot from his alcohol addiction and has a rough life.
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