How Tender is the Night?

One of the pervading themes of Tender is the Night is a theme that is shared by the other novels by Fitzgerald that I have read: that of the natural unhappiness that comes with the human condition. Though I have yet to finish this novel, it seems as if each page I turn brings me deeper into the characters’ psyches and gives me glimpses into fresh reasons for their underlying unhappiness. Whether it be from a faltering career like Dick Diver or Abe North’s, a changing relationship like the one Rosemary Hoyt has with her mother, or for some other deeply embedded personal issue like Tommy Barbar, as Fitzgerald develops each significant character, he seems to layer him or her with significant sadness.

I am curious to see whether the conflicts that Fitzgerald has thus far introduced in the book will be resolved, or whether the message to be gleaned from the novel will come from its characters’ inability to overcome their obstacles: whether Dick will be able to manage his newfound relationship with Rosemary, whether Abe will drink himself to death, and whether Rosemary can truly make a life for herself without her constant influence. Regardless of the means that he takes to do so, I am certain that Fitzgerald will be able to teach me just as much about human nature and the lives of the privileged as he was through his other novels. I am only waiting to find out the lesson behind Rosemary’s foray into life on her finally unveils itself: either through the resolution or the deepening of the significant sadness in the lives of Rosemary and her new friends.