It is possible to read the texts of Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night (1934), The Last Tycoon (1941) in the context of the "reintegration from collapse".
Tender is the Night
The event of which Nick in The Great Gatsby returns to the Midwest is parallel to that of which Dick in Tender is the Night moves back to America. After the death of Gatsby, Nick sees the "distorted" aspect of the East, and the loss of the “old warm world”, and returns to the Midwest. On the other hand, Dick has returned to America after the separation with his wife.
However, the perspectives after the loss of dreams are different in those works. In The Great Gatsby, Nick narrates the detail of Gatsby’s unfulfilled dreams and the pathetic end. In Tender is the Night, on the other hand, a vista for new pespective is suggested.
There are two versions of this novel: one is the 1934 version and the other is the 1951 one. As for the plot of the novel, the chapters have been completely replaced. The 1951 edition begins with Dick's marriage to Nicole and the history of his marriage. Meanwhile, the 1934 edition begins with the viewpoint of Rosemary who met Dick at the beach in the French Riviera.
In a graduate class, I was asked by the professer which version I like better. So I answered that I like the 1951 version better because I could find Dick's inner conflict in his marriage at an earlier stage. But now I think that the 1934 version is also good.
It is because that the 1934 edition begins with a scene at a beach in the French Riviera. It is important that this work begins on the French Riviera scene in comparison to the work of Hemingway depicting Americans heading to France.
Behind Dick's setbacks in the social chaos of the end of the good old days, the light of the dawn of new civilization and culture is in and out of the shadow. Thus, this turning point, from darkness and confusion to the new vista, can involve the aspect of the reintegration from collapse.
The Last Tycoon
This work is Fitzgerald’s unfinished novel which was posthumously published. The novel depicts the Hollywood movie industry. The film producer and protagonist, Stahr, falls in love with Kathleen because she looks like his late wife.
Moreover, she is more similar in appearance to off-screen Minna than on-screen Minna. This work provides an important theme for examining the issue of identity in terms of the difference between the real and its mirror image.
As a film producer, Stahr lives in two worlds: the real vs. movie set.
As for similarity to The Great Gatsby, James Gatz has created the brand Jay Gatsby: the real vs. the fictional image. For Stahr, there are two images of his late wife, Minna: the real and the icon. Despite Kathleen resembling a real Minna, she is still “Beautiful Doll (Ch.5)”. It is because she is merely a substitute for his late wife.
