Alexis Smith

Dr. Miller

ENG 6576

6 December 2016

Reaching for the American Dream: How the Introduction of Credit in the 1920s

Consumes the Life and Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald

The connection between F. Scott Fitzgerald’s life and his works is a theme scholars have

long researched to better understand both sides. The biography of Fitzgerald so closely

parallels his stories that it is often difficult to differentiate between the two. From his first

novel, This Side of Paradise, until his unfinished Love of the Last Tycoon, Fitzgerald’s life

bleeds through the pages of every story. This transparency is arguably the reason so many

Americans relate to Fitzgerald’s writings; as he changed, so did the stories he wrote, and

because many of his experiences were affected by a changing nation, the theme of his work

quickly became associated with the American Dream. Fitzgerald’s writings became a mirror

that reflected a man constantly reaching for “something” of which the reader is never quite

sure. In the early 1920s, the introduction of credit in the nation’s economy made a way for

Americans to spend money they did not have, leaving people constantly wanting more than

they could afford. The short stories and letters of Fitzgerald during the 1920s reflect the

economic high of the nation, but also the overwhelming responsibility that accompanied it

and consumed Fitzgerald’s life and three of his short stories, “The Diamond as Big as the

Ritz,” “Winter Dreams,” and “The Rich Boy.”

The “American Dream” is not easily defined, and has been the topic of debates when

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discussing Fitzgerald’s works. However, Fitzgerald produces a concept in his narratives that

humanity, as a whole, understands—the sense of ambitiously reaching for a goal, but

consistently fighting outside elements and distractions along the way. For Fitzgerald, the

theme that consumes his writings and reflects his personal life is reaching—a constant

wanting of more than could be obtained. Throughout Fitzgerald’s life, he repeatedly fought

against the currents of life that tried to take him under, one of the biggest being the

economic change that took place in the 1920s. Numerous scholars, including one of the most

recognized Fitzgerald scholars, Matthew J. Bruccoli, address the change in American

economics during the 1920s and specifically how it affected the life and works of F. Scott

Fitzgerald. The end of World War I ushered in an economic high for America, and in the

1920s, “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz,” “Winter Dreams,” and “The Rich Boy” reflect the

new economy, and the new “abundance” of cash through credit.

Recent scholarship surrounding Fitzgerald’s work focuses on the theme of money, race,

and masculinity, and although race and masculinity seem unrelated to the economy of the

time, these themes reflect how closely related Fitzgerald’s personal life is to his writings. As

understood and argued by many Fitzgerald scholars, reading Fitzgerald’s stories is almost

equivalent to reading his biography, so it is imperative for researchers to look at both.

Scholars, such as Robert Bell and Barbara Will have pieced together events in Fitzgerald’s

life and show how they correlate to his stories so readers have a basis to work from in

studies of Fitzgerald and the 1920s. Bell gives specific instances of the Fitzgeralds’ life and

quotes Fitzgerald saying, “I don’t know whether Zelda and I are real or whether we are

characters in one of my novels” showing the reader how closely related reality and fiction

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were for the Fitzgeralds (316). This reality had the backdrop of the 1920s economy, which

inevitably became the backdrop of the stories Fitzgerald told.

Barbara Will explains in her article, “Gatsby Redux,” that Fitzgerald’s stories are the

stories “of all Americans” (342). She further explains that a recent surge in Fitzgerald

scholarship expresses Americans’ interest in his stories and how they relate to “all

Americans.” Both Bell and Will encompass the “big picture” of Fitzgerald scholarship so

that others are able to delve into more specific areas of his life to better understand his

literature. The major point both make in their arguments is that Fitzgerald’s life affected his

work in such a large way that it is sometimes impossible to separate the two. Accepting this

argument, scholars must look more specifically at distinctive aspects of Fitzgerald’s life that

appear in his writings.

Critics cannot fully understand the life and times of Fitzgerald without first

understanding the economics of the era. Fitzgerald scholars have long looked at his

connection to money and how his life seemed to have always been associated with the

money he made or did not. This connection to money appeared in several of his stories, and

looking at the economy of the 1920s and Fitzgerald’s connection to it will help readers

understand the context of the stories. The end of World War I in America left the nation

with a soaring economy. According to the Economic History Association and Hugh

Rockoff, “although the United States was…involved in [the war] for only nineteen

months…the mobilization of the economy was extraordinary” (Rockoff). Countries that had

bought from Europe before the war, stayed with America after the end of the war and having

entered the war as a debtor country, the United States emerged as a net creditor (Rockoff).

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Along with this surge in the economy came the end of the war and a celebratory mood. The

introduction of consumer credit into America would again change the face of the nation, and

more specifically how quickly individuals began consuming products.

According to an article put out by the Boston Federal Reserve on the history of credit,

the idea of credit was not a new concept in the 1920s, but a new concept for middle class

Americans. Before this decade, large purchases that would pay for themselves—such as land

for farmers—was frequently bought on credit. However, small conveniences than

Americans would soon consider necessities—such as a second car or radio—would soon be

available to buy with money made later (Boston Federal Reserve). This advantage for the

middle class to buy on credit changed the face of America, but also presented a

responsibility to consumers to have the money to pay off the expenses consistently being

made on credit. This new face of Americas consumers left many with the constant desire for

more—it was easy to become unsatisfied with what one had because it had become easy to

obtain what could not be afforded. The 1920s consumer decade is the decade in which

Fitzgerald became popular as a writer and because of his transparency in his stories, this

reaching to obtain beyond what one could afford consistently shows up in his work—and

thus becomes associated with the American Dream.

It is important for scholars reading Fitzgerald to not just understand the context of the

economy of the 1920s, but to also consider the connections this economy had to his writings.

To do this, taking a look at what recent scholars have said about the two is important. As

discussed, the 1920s was a time of economic high in America and critics have long

considered the Fitzgeralds to be big spenders and party goers like the characters in his

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stories. Though the latter is not agued, William Quirk has recently questioned the idea that

Scott and Zelda did not know how to manage their money. With the discovery of

Fitzgerald’s tax returns, Quirk asserts that even though he was not frugal, he did try to save,

but somehow life always got in the way, such as Zelda’s mental sickness and admittance

into an asylum (96). This assertion is in direct opposition of many scholars such as Laura

Key and Richard Godden who conform to the popular belief that Fitzgerald was a huge

spender with no regard to frugality. Both have written recent articles specifically dealing

with Fitzgerald’s novella, “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz” and how Fitzgerald views an

America that was becoming more “strained by the dollar sign” (Godden 589).

Understanding both arguments concerning Fitzgerald’s spending habits, one can conclude

that Fitzgerald was a spendthrift, but not to the point of disregard of frugality. Looking at

this scholarship about Fitzgerald helps readers understand how closely his life is associated

with his writings, and how his struggle with attaining wealth can easily be depicted in his

stories.

Taking a look at three of Fitzgerald’s short stories, “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz,”

“Winter Dreams,” and “The Rich Boy,” readers can see how the economic change

Fitzgerald was experiencing in the 1920s, is paralleled in his stories. In both stories, the

characters are reaching for an ideal—one for wealth, the other for wealth and a woman—

however, it becomes evident to the reader that the happiness or “dream” is most fulfilled

with reaching rather than obtaining. In “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz,” wealth is

obtained, but the end is destruction for Mr. Washington, because there was nothing left for

him to reach. For Dexter Green in “Winter Dreams,” he reaches for multiple things,

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remaining happy until he too loses the ability to reach. Two of these short stories were

published in 1922 and the third in 1924, so looking at Fitzgerald’s writings during these

years compared to the stories he was producing, scholars can see how they reflect the

economic changes taking place in America and how the American Dream that would

become associated with Fitzgerald’s name became more of a desire than an obtainable goal.

As noted previously, the American Dream is difficult to define, and the term was not

coined until 1931 in James Truslow Adams book, The Epic of America. Adams describes the

American Dream as:

“[It] is a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with

opportunity for each according to ability or achievement … It is not a dream of motor

cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each

woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable,

and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances

of birth or position.”

With this description, one can assume that the dream is something attainable and it should

provide opportunity for all Americans to gain of what they are “capable.” However, with the

introduction to credit, this gave consumers the opportunity to gain more than what they were

capable of affording, and had the potential to leave them wanting more. Because

Fitzgerald’s writings parallel so closely with his life and what consumers were experiencing

at the time, readers came to associate this reaching with the dream instead of what Adams’

book expresses the dream to be.

Fitzgerald’s life seemed to always be associated with money or exist or not exist

because of it. He was turned down by a young Ginevra King, “who matched his dreams of

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the perfect girl: beautiful, rich, socially secure, and sought after” (Bruccoli 54); she is

arguably the inspiration for many of Fitzgerald’s characters, including Judy Jones in “Winter

Dreams” and Kismine Washington in “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz.” She broke

Fitzgerald’s heart because of his lack of money, and it has been suggested that her father

told Fitzgerald “poor boys shouldn’t think of marrying rich girls.” However, it was money

that won him his future wife, Zelda Sayre.

After becoming engaged to Zelda, she told him she could not marry him, but she did

not say the reason was money. A heartbroken Fitzgerald went home to St. Paul, Minnesota

to finish writing his first major success, This Side of Paradise. In September of 1919,

Fitzgerald wrote to his editor, Maxwell Perkins, about his book asking for the book to be

published by Christmas because so much was dependent on its success, “including of course

a girl” (Life in Letters 32). He wrote this because he believed his economic success would be

what won Zelda—he was right. This Side of Paradise was published on 26 March 1920—an

overnight success—Zelda and Scott were married eight days later (Bruccoli). This early

success in Fitzgerald’s life was just the beginning of a lifelong marriage to the economy, and

using it as a means to reach for more. The availability of credit only provided more than

what was affordable, and fed Fitzgerald’s dream of constantly reaching for a better life. Two

stories, published in June and December of 1922 reflect this “dream” and the overwhelming

feeling the economy had given to Americans.

In June 1922, The Smart Set magazine published “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz,”

and the seemingly “abundance” of American wealth is an evident theme in the story.

Perhaps the most “economic” of Fitzgerald’s stories, “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz” tells

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the story of an American family—the Washingtons—and their discovery of wealth—“a

diamond bigger than the Ritz-Carlton Hotel” (Fitzgerald 78). John T. Unger is a young man

who comes from a poor family, but he meets Percy Washington at school, and Percy informs

John that his father is “the richest man in the world” and invites John to come see for

himself. When John sees what all the Washingtons have done to obtain their wealth,

including enslaving people, he discovers that they do not plan to let him leave now that he

knows their secret. The Washington family, not including Kismine (with whom John has

fallen in love), is destroyed when the diamond mountain blows up at the end of the story.

There are many parallels to the American economy and reflections of Fitzgerald’s

fears of living during the economic high of America. The name “Washington” is only one of

many parallels of the family to the nation. The father of the family, Braddock Washington,

is not physically in the story until part VI, but he embodies all of the negative aspects of

Fitzgerald’s American Dream—the unstopping desire for wealth and the ability to destroy

others to maintain that wealth and personal gain.

Mr. Washington’s heritage makes clear the association of the story to the founding of

America and the dream that comes with it. Percy, Braddock’s son explains to his friend,

John that they are decedents of George Washington and Lord Baltimore, and also that their

ancestors were greatly involved in the Civil War, making it clear that the Washington family

has always been closely connected to the development of America. In addition to the

obvious American heritage, another theme of American expansion is alluded to by the

Colonel’s decision to “go West” (Fitzgerald 86). Because of the exaggeration of the story, it

is feasible that Fitzgerald was overwhelmed by the economic climate in America and wrote

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an amplified story to reflect his feelings.

Other instances in the story appear to manifest a fear in Fitzgerald concerning the

economic high the nation was experiencing. When Percy comes to see for himself the

diamond, he discovers Braddock has done whatever necessary—including hurting others—

to obtain and maintain wealth. His mind has become twisted because of the wealth and he no

longer sees people has human, but manipulates others to advance his agenda asking his

slaves, “How could a man of my position be fair-minded towards you? You might as well

speak of a Spaniard being fair-minded toward a piece of steak” (Fitzgerald 95).

However cruel of a man he is to his slaves, he has in return created a prison for

himself. Although he is the “richest man in the world,” John finds out that the wealth has to

remain a secret to be maintained. If others find out, the wealth loses its value. To maintain

this, Braddock Washington keeps others in prison and ironically creates a prison for himself

by doing so; he becomes a prisoner to his wealth. Creating a character like Mr. Washington,

who embodies the nation and abundance of the nation’s wealth, reflects Fitzgerald’s

underlying fear of what could go wrong with so much access to money. The abundance of

money can be just as dangerous as the lack of it, and because the splurge in America’s

economy, a downfall at the same rate would be disastrous. Making Mr. Washington’s

character so cruel is also reflective of a fear of what money can do to humanity. Becoming

cruel to others who get in the way of one’s personal gain is a warning Fitzgerald was

making, as well as a warning not to become a prisoner to the available wealth. Being able to

buy on credit made consumers constant “prisoners” to the lenders in America. Because of its

recent introduction in the early 1920s, many Americans feared the consequences that would

inevitably follow those who were not prepared for the responsibility.

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To add to the already dominant irony in the story, Braddock Washington is literally

destroyed by his wealth when his diamond mountain explodes, taking with it his last breath.

Like the quest for wealth in America, many times it is not only the person pursuing the gain

that is affected, but others involved are either made better or destroyed in the process. In

“The Diamond as Big as the Ritz,” Braddock Washington takes many others’ lives in the

process of maintaining his wealth and in the end, most of his family is destroyed with him.

Although it appears that Fitzgerald’s story is a warning to readers about what the

consumption of available “money” can do to one, this fear did not seem to affect

Fitzgerald’s spending, or his borrowing. The potential for a better life provided by access to

money overpowered the fear of possible destruction in Fitzgerald’s life.

One of Fitzgerald’s major correspondences in the 1920s was Harold Ober, his

literary agent and creditor. Their letters reveal Fitzgerald’s preoccupation with money and

his constant desire for more than he had. In Laura E. B. Key’s article, “’A Love-Hate

Relationship’: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Money Management and ‘The Diamond as Big as the

Ritz,’” she explains in detail their relationship saying, “Ober made money advances to

Fitzgerald, which became so frequent that the pair came to use a type of shorthand so that

the telegrams…to request money would be more succinct, costing less to send” (657-658).

Ober and Fitzgerald’s relationship became more than agent and writer, and developed into

creditor and borrower. Matthew Bruccoli, Fitzgerald’s biographer and close friend of

Scottie, writes of Ober and Fitzgerald’s relationship, “in some ways these financial wires are

basic to their relationship. It is impossible to understand Fitzgerald’s career without

understanding his feelings about money” (Bruccoli 22). In the collection of letters between

Fitzgerald and Ober, there are few that do not bring up the topic of money.

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At times, Ober would advance money without even being asked by Fitzgerald. One

letter written by Ober says, “I deposited $300. for you on Saturday as I thought you might be

getting short.” These correspondences are proof of Fitzgerald’s conformity to credited

America, and his consumption of what the industrialize nation provided. Ironically, “The

Diamond as Big as the Ritz,” Fitzgerald’s fear-driven story, was written as a credit payment

to Ober. In November or December of 1921, Fitzgerald writes a letter to Ober with “The

Diamond in the Sky” (later to be entitled “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz”) enclosed

thanking Ober for “depositing the money for me. I am conceiving a play which is to make

my fortune” (Bruccoli 50). The very story Fitzgerald writes about the dangers of the

abundance of money, and the consequences that followed was used to pay his creditor,

suggesting that Fitzgerald’s desire for more than he could afford pushed him to ignore the

underlying fear within him.

Another correspondence to Ober in 1922 is further proof of Fitzgerald’s conformity

to the American Dream of buying now and paying later. He writes, “I suppose that I have

been more trouble to you with less profit than any…you have advanced me everything so far

sold in America” (Bruccoli 54). This letter suggests that the Fitzgeralds were wanting for

nothing, but still Scott was reaching for more. All of his stories, which so closely parallel his

life, have the same theme of wanting more than what the main characters had, whether it be

money, status, a spouse, or a child. It was the reaching, not the gaining that became so

attractive to readers of Fitzgerald’s writings. When one of the characters actually gained

what he or she was wanting, it was never what they wanted, and sometimes it destroyed

them, as it did to Braddock Washington and his family.

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Other aspects of the “Roaring Twenties” besides credit added to the ability of

Americans to afford more of what the Industrial Revolution produced. Mass production of

cars, radios, and household “luxuries,” such as refrigerators and washing machines, in

combination with the installment plan made it possible for many households to make these

purchases for the first time. For Fitzgerald, his constant advanced payments from Ober

allowed him and Zelda to live a luxurious life traveling, drinking, partying, and spending.

The American Dream had become for Americans “the expansive belief in possibility-the

charm of anticipated success” (Smith). Until the market crash in 1929 and the beginning of

the Great Depression, Americans were enjoying the economic high the nation was

providing, and readers of Fizgerald’s stories enjoyed the reflection of the luxurious life of

longing. In 1922, the economic surge was just beginning, and Americans were enjoying all

that came with it.

For Fitzgerald, his quest for wealth was not always money, but included status and

obtaining the ideal woman. Understanding this of Fitzgerald’s pursuits, it is imperative for

scholars to see what is desired in Fitzgerald’s stories other than money. In his short story,

“Winter Dreams,” the main character, Dexter Green, is pursuing a relationship with his idea

of an ideal woman. Although this story less of a money theme than “The Diamond as Big as

the Ritz,” its central theme is the same—the pursuit of something more in life. Just as

Fitzgerald wanted a life with Ginevra King, Dexter is reaching for the ideal relationship with

Judy.

In December of 1922, Metropolitan Magazine published Fitzgerald’s precursor to his

most famous novel, The Great Gatsby, “Winter Dreams.” This story, written in the same

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year as “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz,” is more developed and exhibits maturity and

style; it is not the over exaggerated symbolic story that “The Ritz” is. However, the theme of

the American Dream, and the constant reaching for wealth is evident in this story that

develops the character that would three years later become Jay Gatsby. This short story is

about a young man named Dexter Green, who is pursuing wealth at he beginning of the

story, but after meeting a young woman names Judy Jones, focuses all of his attention to

winning her love. The story takes the reader through the dating life of Dexter and Judy until

the death of Dexter’s dream, giving the reader insight to the happiness that accompanies

reaching.

Dexter Green, the story’s protagonist, is introduced to the reader as a whimsical

young man who “want[s] not association with glittering things and glittering people—he

want[s] the glittering things themselves” (Fitzgerald 118). Dexter is seen from the beginning

of the story reaching out, not for any one person or thing, but for wealth and the lifestyle

wealth brings. The reader can see immediately that Dexter is not obtaining wealth, but

reaching for it. Soon, Dexter is introduced to Judy Jones on the golf course, and although his

pursuits do not stop, they change. Readers can see that when Dexter meets Judy, his

priorities change, and if wealth was the one and only thing he needed to be happy, he had

obtained it. However, one can see that it was not the wealth he was reaching for that made

him happy, but the reaching itself. Therefore, when the object he was reaching for was

obtained, he was okay, because he still had the ability to reach.

Fitzgerald explains in the story that the future could change and the “quality and the

seasonability of these winter dreams varied, but the stuff of them remained” (118). This

statement is evidence that the “dream” Dexter is reaching for can change as long as his

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ability to want and pursue does not go away. Miss Judy Jones was “merely beautiful” and

“her casual whim gave [Dexter] a new direction to his life” (122). In “The Diamond as Big

as the Ritz,” the pursuit of Braddock Washington was to obtain wealth to become “the

richest man in the world,” and obtaining this wealth cost him everything, including his

fortune and life. For Dexter, he learned that happiness was found in his ability to dream of

something better or more than he had. When he obtained wealth, he did not let it destroy

him. He instead only found something or someone for which to reach—Miss Judy Jones.

The most significant moment of Dexter’s change is when he and Judy are on the boat

and she goes out to the surfboard and is insisting on going “faster…fast as it’ll go”; it

represents her distance from the men she attracts and how “uncatchable” she is (Fitzgerald

122). For Dexter, it is a pivotal moment when he removes all other pursuits in his life to

focus on reaching for her. This moment is the beginning of Dexter’s obsession with Judy

and his lifelong pursuit of her; the dreams of wealth and “glittering things” have died and

only the dream of Judy remains. At this moment in the story, the theme of money and the

economy of the time appears to disappear from the story altogether; however, the desire of

reaching for more that what one has that has come to America through the high economy

and introduction of credit is the major theme that follows throughout all of Fitzgerald’s

writings.

Throughout “Winter Dreams,” Judy kept Dexter worried, never completely giving of

herself, and when she seemed to be trying, he was too afraid of losing her to give back. She

tells him of other men she “cares about” and how depressed she is when she finds out they

are poor, and he just listens, hoping her affections would turn to him (Fitzgerald 124). This

hoping in Dexter can appear to be pathetic to some readers, but it is the hoping that keeps

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him alive and longing for more with Judy. Perhaps he never wanted her to completely give

herself to him because that would mean the end of the reaching. Fitzgerald tell the reader,

“Dexter had no desire to change her. Her deficiencies were knit up with a passionate energy

that transcended and justified them” (125). This statement is evidence that Dexter was

enjoying “wanting” Judy’s attention and love. Perhaps the reason Dexter fell for Judy in the

beginning is because he sensed she would never completely give herself to him, and that he

would always be able to reach for her. He knew “she was not a girl who could be won,” and

this is what made her desirable (Fitzgerald 126).

Dexter and Judy’s relationship continues without commitment, but must come to a

point of decision. Dexter seems to move on from Judy and meets a girl named Irene

Scheerer and they become engaged. However, because of the commitment, he cannot be

fully satisfied with Irene as he was with the wanting of Judy. He says of Irene, “[she would

be] no more than a curtain spread behind him…a voice calling to the children” (Fitzgerald

129). Because of the finality of the reaching, a life with Irene seems uninviting to Dexter. In

the same paragraph, Fitzgerald tells readers, “fire and loveliness were gone…the magic of

nights and the wonder of the varying house and seasons…he was too strong and alive for it

to die lightly” (129). Readers are able to see that Dexter’s desire for Judy has not completely

died, and when it does, he will in some ways die too. Dexter begins to understand that fully

gaining what he reaches for is not what he truly wants, and a night with Judy ends his

relationship with Irene. After breaking with Irene, Fitzgerald explains, “He [Dexter] loved

her, and he would love her her until the day he was too old for loving—but he could not

have her” (132). Dexter knows that if he had ever committed to Judy, or if she committed to

him, the excitement of their connection would have go away. He understood that what was

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special about their relationship was the reaching for more, and if finality ever came to that,

there would be nothing left for them to pursue.

The story of Dexter and Judy’s relationship embodies the American Dream of which

Fitzgerald has become so connected. Dexter found satisfaction in reaching for what could

make his life better, but when a time came to obtain the wealth or woman, he had to find

something else to pursue. The big economy in the 1920s ushered in a wave of desire for a

better life for all Americans. As credit came into play, consumers could even have what they

could not afford, and this only left a desire for more, just as Dexter’s wealth only left him

with a different longing. In this story, Fitzgerald shows readers that as long as Dexter had

something or someone to pursue, he was satisfied with life. In America, the “dream” of the

nation is the ability to reach for a better tomorrow, not to obtain that better tomorrow; if

there is nothing to reach for, there is no possibility of betterment.

Fitzgerald ends “Winter Dreams” with the death of Dexter’s dream—the constant

reaching for a little more with Judy. Several years have passed when the sixth and final part

of the story opens. Dexter meets “Devlin from Detroit,” and he informs Dexter that Judy is

now Judy Simms and has married a man who “treats her like the devil” (Fitzgerald 134).

After the reality of Judy never coming back to him sinks in, Dexter realizes his dream has

finally died; there is now nothing left for him to pursue. Some critics could argue that Dexter

would have been happier if he had married Judy, but the last page of the story suggests

otherwise. The death of Dexter’s dream is finally sinking in, and Fitzgerald tells the reader,

“he [Dexter] knew that he had just lost something more, as surely as if he had married Judy

Jones and seen her fade away before his eyes…the dream was gone” (135). Readers are able

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to understand through this statement that if Dexter had married Judy, the dream would have

been gone, because the dream was in the longing for her.

Scholars should not just look at Fitzgerald’s stories written in the 1920s to see the

parallel to the United States’ economy of the same time. The letters and other primary

documents written by Fitzgerald provide reflections of both the economical context and how

Fitzgerald viewed the resources. Just as his letters to Harold Ober revealed his connection to

credit in the 1920s, other letters expose more of Fitzgerald’s personal life, and scholars can

see the parallels to his writings. F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of the most transparent writers in

American literary history, and his many collections of letters available to scholars provide

the closest thing to an autobiography researchers have. Looking at these letters by Fitzgerald

in correlation to the stories he was writing at the time gives scholars a well rounded view of

how the context of the economy, the stories, and Fitzgerald’s personal life coincide and

affect one another.

As already stated, the economy of the 1920s was on a steady climb until the

stock market crash of 1929. Many of Fitzgerald’s short stories of the time reflect that “high,”

not just in the economy, but in fashion and leisure as well. Fitzgerald’s most popular novel,

The Great Gatsby was written in the middle of the decade and is the epitome of reaching for

the American Dream. The previous year, Fitzgerald wrote another short story—“The Rich

Boy”—which would reflect his frustration with having less to reach for as he had obtained

so much in his life—wealth, an ideal woman, and social status. In “The Rich Boy,” the title

automatically informs the reader of the financial status of the protagonist, Anson Hunter. He

is a wealthy young man who appears to have all that one could ask for. However, Hunter’s

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discontent with life reflects the discontent Fitzgerald was feeling with what some would

believe to be “all.”

As previously stated, Fitzgerald’s desire for wealth did not always include money,

but status as well. This emulates the society in which Fitzgerald found himself, but

sometimes these pursuits were more than what could be obtained. Just as Jay Gatsby

constantly desires an unreachable past, Fitzgerald constantly reached for an unattainable

wealth—old money. Jeffery Meyers explains in his biography of Fitzgerald that the

“Summit Avenue” socialites were “The upper class of this self-consciously snobbish

society, which was based on ‘background’” (2). The Fitzgeralds lived on Laurel Avenue,

near (but not on) the prestigious Summit Avenue in St. Paul. This literal street address

would figuratively follow Fitzgerald the rest of his life—so close to the upper class, but yet

never quite “there.” This status Fitzgerald wanted so badly could never be obtained with

money, but this never stopped him from pursuing the status. In “The Rich Boy,” Fitzgerald’s

frustration with his wealth of money is obvious through the main character’s dissatisfaction

with his life and what money could not buy for him. Although Fitzgerald became very

wealthy, he never stopped reaching for a status that money could never buy. He wanted to

be from Summit Avenue, but no amount of money could do that for him; he let the desire for

wealth pull him under while he constantly fought against the currents of society.

Fitzgerald’s “The Rich Boy” follows the life of Anson Hunter, told from the

perspective of one of his friends. He describes Anson and his family as “the very rich” and

explains that they are “different from you and me” (Fitzgerald 152). The reader knows

immediately that the narrator is not of the same wealth as the character he is writing about so

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he is able to write from a unique perspective. On the first page of the story, the narrator says

of the rich, “They possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them” indicating that

there is nothing left for them to pursue (Fitzgerald 152). Because of the initial description of

the Hunter family, and specifically Anson, it can be assumed that Fitzgerald wanted to the

reader to know that Anson had obtained most of what so many Americans steadily reach for.

Having established the status of the Hunter family, the narrator continues the story of Anson

Hunter’s life.

He was a well-known and well-bred young man who attended Yale, but because of

his lack of motivation to gain anything more, he was not successful in his studies. After

moving to New York, the narrator explains that his aspirations different from most young

men “in that there was no mist over them, none of that quality which is variously known as

‘idealism’ or ‘illusion’” (Fitzgerald 154). With this statement, it is clear that the normalcy of

ambition for something better in life was not at all a part of Anson’s aspirations. What

comes to most people at the end of their lives—the inability to reach anymore—comes to

Anson’s in the beginning of his. Other characters in Fitzgerald’s stories, such as Braddock

Washington and Dexter Green, live a full life of reaching for better things before having

nothing left to pursue; this is when their happiness comes to an end. For Anson, this comes

at the beginning of his life when he is born into a wealthy family that encourages his attitude

of entitlement. The narrator says, “most of our lives end as a compromise—it was as a

compromise that his [Anson’s] life began” (Fitzgerald 154). From the beginning of Anson’s

existence, he had no motivation to reach for anything more in his life.

By the time this story was written in 1924, Fitzgerald was at the apex of his financial

success, and because of the existence of credit and Harold Ober’s generosity, he was able to

Smith 19

live even above that. Having obtained so much in his life, it appears as if Fitzgerald’s

writing “The Rich Boy” is a reflection of his frustration with the “apex” not being what he

expected, or at least not giving him the satisfaction he believed it should. So many of

Fitzgerald’s characters had lived a prosperous lives until finally reaching the point were

there was nothing left to desire, but for Anson, he had it all from the beginning of the story.

In 1924, Fitzgerald was beginning to have the same frustrating feelings, but his reaching

never ceased.

It was during this year that Fitzgerald was not just writing “The Rich Boy,” but also

The Great Gatsby. Those familiar with the text know that Jay Gatsby is the embodiment of

longing. Throughout the story, he is constantly reaching for something he can never possibly

obtain—his past. He gains wealth, women, success, and for a time, Daisy, but when there is

nothing left to pursue in life, he loses all motivation to live. The frustration Jay Gatsby

embodies is similar to that of Anson Hunter’s, and both characters were written during a

prosperous time for Fitzgerald. Letters written in that year reflect the financial high

Fitzgerald was experiencing. The Fitzgeralds were on a vacation in France when he wrote a

letters Thomas Boyd in May 1924. Fitzgerald writes, “We found a wonderful English nurse

for $26.00 a month (which would average about $355 in 2016)…we’re going to look at a

villa that has a butler + cook with it for the summer + fall…we brought seventeen pieces of

luggage” (Bruccoli 68). In September of that same year Fitzgerald writes to Ober about the

novel, The Great Gatsby, “as you have no doubt already guessed I’m going to ask you for an

advance on it” (Bruccoli 81). These two letters written four months apart reveal not just how

well off Fitzgerald was financially, but also how he was living a life beyond what he could

afford because of credit.

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The stories he was writing during this time parallel his life and Anson Hunter

embodies Fitzgerald’s frustration with having less to reach for. The narrator in “The Rich

Boy” tells about Anson’s relationship with Paula Legendre, “a conservative and rather

proper girl.” Readers are almost persuaded that this is a love driven relationship, but are

quickly discouraged by the statement, “on his side much was insincere, and on hers much

was merely simple” (Fitzgerald 155). Anson had never wanted for anything in his life, and

living a life of no responsibility or consequences left him without the ability to love, and

Paula simply was vulnerable enough not to see this in him. Either because of Anson’s lack

of love or blindness to responsibility, he ruins a night with Paula’s family by getting drunk.

He seems to try and make things right with Paula after the incident, but “the psychological

moment had passed forever” (Fitzgerald 159). Anson’s wealth could only go so far in his

life, and because it had kept him from pursuing anything else to better his life, it cost him his

relationship with Paula.

Like “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz,” it seems as if Fitzgerald is warning readers

in some way to not just be cautious when obtaining wealth, but also not to let wealth get in

the way of other pursuits because it is the pursuing that satisfies. Although it is Fitzgerald’s

stories that readers have come to associate with the American Dream, it was the economy of

the 1920s that influenced how the stories were written. Lendol Calder writes a compelling

book entitled Financing the American Dream that addresses the never-ending question of

what the American Dream is, while also discussing the financial situation that accompanied

it. One important argument Calder makes, perhaps without realizing it, is when he quotes the

“Ask Marilyn” author as she answers the question, “What would you say is the American

Smith 21

Dream?” (3). The response begins, “Today’s American Dream” indicating that the Dream

changes with time. Calder does not address this point in the following pages of his book, but

it is important for those defining the Dream to consider the possibility that it is changeable.

Although history has brought change to the specifics of the dream, the constant remains to

be the desire to have something more than what one currently has.

In Calder’s book, he argues that credit and the consumer culture plays a major role in

constructing the American Dream because it lifts the money restriction of gaining what one

desires. As previously mentioned, buying on credit was not a new concept in the 1920s

when the economy began to expand, but for the first time, individual households were given

the opportunity to do what businesses had been doing for years. This new ability to buy on

credit created a “culture of consumption” in America (Calder 6-7). Statistics of post-war

America’s consumer debt confirms this assertion. From 1920 to 1929, the volume of

consumer debt in America rose 131 percent, from $3.3 billion to $7.6 billion (Calder 18).

This increase in debt obviously suggests that more consumers were borrowing or that

consumers were borrowing more money than before. Either way, the product was a culture

of consumers who were constantly reaching for more than they had. This culture was at the

heart of Fitzgerald’s writings as most of his stories were published during this decade.

America’s consumer culture that revolutionized in the 1920s was what influenced the

terminology associated with the American Dream—good living, things that make life worth

living, better life. These aspirations became major themes in Fitzgerald’s works because his

writings so closely paralleled his own life, and in the 1920s, he was living through one of

America’s highest economic decades, and taking advantage of the newly introduced idea of

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buying on credit. Stories such as “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz,” “Winter Dreams,” and

“The Rich Boy” envelop this topic and give readers both then and now a relatable theme

because although the goal changes, the desire stays the same; this is what makes the

American Dream timeless.

As scholars such as Robert Bell and Barbara Will have asserted, researchers of

Fitzgerald should look at his life to better understand his writings, and also look to his

stories to better comprehend the era in which he lived. For the works of Fitzgerald, the

Roaring Twenties was the backdrop, but the stories are relatable to readers in the twenty-

first century because of the human element that brings longing to the characters. This

longing is what associates Fitzgerald’s stories to the American Dream, and gives readers a

familiarity when reading his works. Looking through the numerous letters of to and from

Fitzgerald throughout the decade of the 1920s, one can see the constant desire he had for

making something better of his life and gaining more than he had. As credit came into play

at the beginning of the decade, Fitzgerald found a creditor in his literary agent Harold Ober

and took advantage of the opportunities that a credited life offered. These experiences would

find their way on to the pages of Fitzgerald’s stories.

Throughout Fitzgerald’s life, he consistently wrote his dreams and desires into his

stories; he was the character in many of his narratives. His entire life was spent in search of

what seemed to be an unattainable goal, but arguably what he was trying to obtain was a

never-ending quest. The economic high of post-war America and the introduction to credit

that created a culture of consumption was the influence on Fitzgerald’s life of reaching. His

longing for a dream consumed his life, but with it came the satisfaction of having something

Smith 23

else for which to reach. In Fitzgerald’s short stories, specifically “The Diamond as Big as

the Ritz,” Winter Dreams,” and “The Rich Boy,” share a common theme of pursuit. All

three stories pursue a unique goal, but the reaching is constant throughout. Through almost

every page of every story written by Fitzgerald there is turmoil and grief, but he along with

his characters refused to let the negative aspects of life overtake the pursuit of the American

Dream and the desire to obtain a better life.

Smith 24

Works Cited

Adams, James Truslow. The Epic of America. Little, Brown and Company, 1932.

Bruccoli, Matthew J, ed. As Ever, Scott Fitz-:Letters Between F. Scott Fitzgerald and his

Literary Agent Harold Ober, 1919-1940. J. B. Lippincott, 1972.

Bruccoli, Matthew J. Some Sort of Epic Grandeur: The Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Revised

Edition, University of South Carolina Press, August 2002.

Calder, Lendol Glen. Financing the American Dream: A Cultural History of Consumer

Credit. Princeton University Press, 2001.

Corrigan, Maureen. So We Read On: How the Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It

Endures. Bay Back Books, 2015.

“Credit History: The Evolution of Consumer Credit.” Boston Federal Reserve. Accessed 26

November 2016, bostonfed.org.

“The Diamond as Big as the Ritz.” Wikipedia, Accessed on 26 November 2016,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diamond_as_Big_as_the_Ritz

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz.” Babylon Revisited and Other Short

Stories, Simon and Schuster Inc., 1996, pp.75-113.

- - -. A Life in Letters. Edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1994.

- - -. “The Rich Boy.” Babylon Revisited and Other Short Stories, Simon and Schuster Inc.,

1996, pp. 152-187.

- - -. “Winter Dreams.” Babylon Revisited and Other Short Stories, Simon and Schuster Inc.,

1996, pp. 114-135.

Forter, Greg. “F. Scott Fitzgerald, Modernist Studies, and the Fin-De-Siecle Crisis

Masculinity.” American Literature: A Journal of Literary History, Criticism, and

Smith 25

Bibliography, 78.2, 293-323. MLA International Bibliography, Accessed 20 October

2016.

Godden, Richard. “A Diamond Bigger than the Ritz: F. Scott Fitzgerald and the Gold

Standard.” ELH, 77.3, 589-613. Project MUSE, Accessed on 26 October 2016.

Key, Laura E. B. “’A Love-Hate Relationship’: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Money Management and

‘The Diamond as Big as the Ritz’.” English Studies: A Journal of English Language

and Literature, 95.5-6. MLA International Bibliography, Accessed on 24 September

2016, web.a.ebscohost.com. ezproxy.mc.edu:2048.

Meyers, Jeffery. Scott Fitzgerald: A Biography. Harper Collins Publishers, 1994.

Quirk, William. “Living on $500,000 a Year: What F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tax Returns Reveal

About His Life and Times.” American Scholar, 78.4, 96-101. MLA International

Bibliography, Accessed on 27 October 2016.

Rockoff, Hugh. “U.S. Economy in World War I.” Economic History Association, Accessed

23 November 2016, http://eh.net/encyclopedia/u-s-economy-in-world-war-i.

Settle, Glenn. “Fitzgerald’s Daisy: The Siren Voice.” American Literature: A Journey of

Literary History, Criticism, and Bibliography, 57.1, 115-124. MLA International

Bibliography, Accessed on 26 October 2016.

Smith, Stephen. “The American Dream and Consumer Credit.” American Radio Works,

Accessed on 31 October 2016, americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/

americandream.

Will, Barbara. “Gatsby Redux.” American Literary History, 27.2, 342-350. Project MUSE,

Accessed on 20 October 2016.

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“Winter Dreams.” Wikipedia, Accessed on 27 November 2016, en.wikipedia.org

/wiki/Winter_Dreams.

Smith 27