The Role Of Money And Power In Fitzgerald's Tender Is The Night

Where there is success, money and power follow right behind it holding it in place and if one oth these loses balance the entire foundations slowly crumbles. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel Tender is the Night we begin in the perspective of Rosemary Hoyt for her trip to The French Riviera in Paris where her life takes a turn. Later we follow other characters in the novel who she has crossed paths with. Some of the people we are introduced to early in the novel are Mrs. Elsie Speers, Dick Diver, Nicole Diver, Abe North, and Mary North. Mrs. Elsie Speers is Rosemary’s mother who put Rosemary into the movie industry, Dick Diver is a psychologist that married his patient Nicole Diver who is born from a wealthy family, Abe North used to be a successful

In Tender is the Night the role of money and power play a very important part in many of these people's personal lives as consequences that can either benefit or destroy their careers and relationships. Our first character Rosemary Hoyt is a young woman who has gained her wealth and power through her acting career which her mother put her into. Because of her success in acting they are able to travel to Paris where Rosemary meets new people and even Dick Diver who she falls in love with– “‘I fell in love on the beach,’ said Rosemary. ‘Who with?’ ‘First with a whole lot of people who looked nice. Then with one man.’” (Fitzgerald 19). Access to wealth and money can lead you to have connections and experiences that may not have been possible before. There is a moment during her trip in Paris where her new social standpoint directly affects people that are not in her social class. When Rosemary takes a bus she rides with a pair of waiters and is “embarrassed by their deferential silence,” and thought to herself “wanting to urge them: ‘Go on, talk, enjoy yourselves. It

From the outside Dick is a very charming person who can attract many groups of people and is in most cases the center of attention. He brings joy and excitement everywhere he goes, he is married to his loving wife Nicole, and even has a career he actively pursues but behind all that is a man who is grabbing too much he can’t carry. In book two we see that Dick is a psychologist who married a patient who is none other than Nicole herself. Dick’s motive to marry Nicole was for his work to help Nicole with her past trauma and to “‘be a good psychologist— maybe to be the greatest one that ever lived.’” (Fitzgerald 195). Dick wanted to improve his career, but marrying Nicole also came with her wealth she was born with which conflicts with Dick as their relationship develops. Now that Dick is with Nicole, her money overshadows his line of work when originally he is with her to aid her and benefit his career. This causes a shift in the relationship where he has to choose his profession or succumb to the temptation of personal love and wealth making his relationship with Nicole questionable. There is a moment where Dick’s friend named Franz Gregorovius tries to persuade Dick to purchase a clinic for the both of them when in reality Franz states “‘There we have it! Money!’ he bewailed. ‘I have little money.’” (Fitzgerald