Francis Scott Fitzgerald : His Art and Vision

By Ratan Bhattacharjee

Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s contribution to American fiction has to be judged keeping in mind that the naturalistic mimesis of the fiction of the earlier period is important as a critique of bourgeois society, but it ultimately fails in representing the problematic nature of bourgeois reality. The use of romance by Fitzgerald within mimetic realism is a logical culmination of the rise of the novel as it is. Through this use of romance he is able to adequately explore the bourgeois myth of man

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing Singapore
• Release date: May 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9781543764741

Ratan Bhattacharjee

Dr. Ratan Bhattacharjee, the Literamo Gold Star Awardee 2020 and INSC Research Excellence Awardee 2020, Best Professor of the Year Awardee 2020, and Member of International Advisory Board of the International Theodore Dresier Society, Philadelphia, USA is Associate Professor and Head Post Graduate Dept of English, Dum Dum Motijhel College and a trilingual poet columnist. His The Ballad of the Bleeding Bubbles is translated into Assamese as Raktakta Burburanir Malita, his best seller Oleander Blooms made him well- known as ‘Oleander Poet’ besides his other books including Our Daughter, Our Princess, Renee–Rudhagnee, Let That Fly, Francis Scott Fitzgerald: His Art and Vision and Theodore Dreiser: Going Beyond Naturalism to mention a few of his many books .on British and American literature. He has to credit his 2000 articles to his credit besides being Editor of Journal (ISSN).

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Copyright © 2021 by Dr. Ratan Bhattacharjee and

Dr. Rituparna Bhattacharjee.

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CONTENTS

Introduction

Preface

Foreword

1 A New Vision Of Reality

2 The Ambivalent Response : The Inadequacy Of The Mimetic Mode

3 The Critique Of The Money Mystique

4 The Cinderella Archetype

5 Meaning In A Mess

6 Women In The Money- Minded World

7 The Artist With A Commitment

8 Subversion Of Romance

9 Discovery Of Disillusionment

10 Living In The Damnedest Tragic Moment

11 The End Of The Ecstasy

About Dr Ratan Bhattacharjee

INTRODUCTION

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I am glad to write an introduction to Dr. Ratan Bhattacharjee’s forthcoming book Francis Scott Fitzgerald : His Art and Vision in which the chief motif of the novelist is ‘discovery of delusions’ . All major writers delineate in their writings the contradictions inherent in the human situation and civilization. F.Scott Fitzgerald seems to have stood midway between the two divergent literary traditions of American fiction and poetry – Emersonian idealism and the dark vision reflected in the writings of Hawthorne,Melville,Poe and others. Dr .Bhattacharjee correctly focuses on the ‘Counter-romance’ form that Fitzgerald very consciously used in his writings and the resulting ironical perception comes out at the end and he achieved a problematic view of reality demanding of the reader an awareness of the dichotomic and complex meaning that are brought to bear upon the critique of the self-divided society of Ameica. It is also important that Fitzgerald minced no word in delineating the ecstasy of the post World War –I -pre-Depression period and that he did only to highlight the hollowness of the American Dream inspired by materialistic orgy of pleasure. Academician and Trilingual poet cum Columnist Dr. Ratan Bhattacharjee did a wonderful job by exploring so profoundly this complex vision embodied in Fitzgerald writings and the book will undoubtedly enrich the American literary criticism.

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(Signed Dr. Dushyant Nimavat)

Associate Professor of English

Gujarat University

PREFACE

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American literature is one of the most inspiring literatures of the world that has conspicuous variety of themes and intriguing life stories of human emotions and intellectual enterprise. Francis Scott Fitzgerald is one of those prominent signatures in the realm of American literature. Dr Ratan Bhattacharjee has meticulously explored the intricacies of Fitzgerald’s fictional world and its minor and major textual tissues that unpacks the magical avenues of experiences in multidimensions. A writer’s responsibility as a writer is to enlighten the path of human society and life with his vision and art that has been wonderfully performed by Fitzgerald’s literary pen, undoubtedly. Dr Bhattacharjee holds expertise in the field of American literature and his scholastic knowledge about the subject and well researched work on the texts of Fitzgerald adds value to the existing body of knowledge and provides a comprehensive study of his subject to the academia and intellectual circles.The Cinderallapattern of study dealing with romance of acquisition andthe ironical inversion of the pattern employing the delusion fostered by wealth which ultimately precipitates thecrisis and corruption of the ideal are two fantastic methodologies adopted in the study to understand the vision and art of Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s works. Critical study of the literary works of Fitzgerald from numerous perspectives would definitely be helpful for scholars for American Studies and would multiply and gratify their acquisitions in the related field too. Intentional introduction of romance as a catalyst and transition of realism are some of the key features of the author’s works. Most of Fitzgerald’s novels are quintessential in American literature and leave transportive effect on reader’s mind.His works are searching critiques of materialism, love and the American Dream that have been further explored with the critical perspective. Paradoxical nature of human life and human reality have been put in the manner of montage in the novels to present a phantasmagoria of unseen world. A dialogue between illusion and reality, temptation towards materialism, alienation of self in society, the great Depression and hum drum surrounding have been brilliantly portrayed by Fitzgerald which place him among one of the most serious writers that America had ever produced.

Dr Ratan Bhattacharjee’s scholastic study on the works of F.Scott Fitzgerald will definitely benefit the world of academia,I believe. He holds expertise in the field as his book entitled Theodore Dresier: Going Beyond Naturalism by INSC Bangalore got overwhelming applause worldwide.

Best Wishes

Dr Abhisarika Prajapati

Assistant Professor of English

School of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

REVA University Bangalore

Bangalore

India

FOREWORD

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My book Francis Scott Fitzgerald : His Art and Vision may be considered as a study undertaken to explore the contours of reality which we see emerging from Fitzgerald’s novels and short stories. I have touched upon the aspect of rhe choric participation of the author in his fiction which express a brooding insistence on the essential tragedy of life. My interest in Fitzgerald was renewed when I had been in the USA in 2018 and met Professor Dr. Janet Boyd of Fairleigh -Dickinson University USA where I was invited as International Visiting Scholar and I delivered lectures to the American students. I also did my M.Phil Dissertation on The Use of Romance in Great Expectations and The Great Gatsby as early as in 1997 and planned since then to publish a whole book on Fitzgerald as the M.Phil dissertation was basically an inter-textual study of the two novels prompted by their titular similarities when my curiosity was stirred by Vasta Edward’s essay ‘Great Expecations and the Great Gatsby’ (The Dickensian60:167-72 Sept 1964). My earlier Ph.D.guide Dr. Bhabatosh Chatterjee Gurudas Banerjee Professor Calcutta University and later Dr. Laxmi Parasuram guided me in many areas when I was focusing two main ideas in Fitzgerald’s writings.These two main ideas were : i) The Cinderalla pattern of study dealing with romance of acquisition and ii) The ironical inversion of the pattern employing the delusion fostered by wealth which ultimately precipitates the crisis and corruption of the ideal. What is interesting is that these two concepts were found underlying in all the novels and short stories of Fitzgerald and it encouraged me to explain how a new vision of reality emerges from the writings of Fitzgerald. No rigid systematization indeed can help one understand Fitzgerald’s vision. For, his work is not the illustration of any particular philosophy. Fitzgerald was not a technical innovator himself but like Proust or Joyce he had a great sympathy for technical experiments. Nevertheless, his chief occupation had been with the view, the vision of the artist. The naturalistic mimesis of the fiction of the earlier period is important as a critique of bourgeois society, but it ultimately fails in representing the problematic nature of bourgeois reality. The use of romance by Fitzgerald within mimetic realism is a logical culmination of the rise of the novel as it is. Through this use of romance he is able to adequately explore the bourgeois myth of man.I express my gratefulness to all my senior professors who helped me in my research work and Dr. Ashok Sengupta of Kalyani University especially for inspiring me to undertake the work. My daughter Dr. Rituparna Bhattacharjee, Son-in- Law Dr. Upamanyu Basu stood by my side at the time of publication of my book. Without the constant assistant from my wife Mrs. Anjali Bhattacharjee I would not have been able to complete the book. Dr. Kamal Sarkar and Dr Mousumi Mullick helped me in many ways and I had in my mind all the students of my Post Graduate Dept of English for whom I wanted to leave this book as my affectionate guidance to their American studies. Finally I extend my gratitude to Jen Robins and Kathy Lorenzo of Patridge for assisting me in the be publishing the book in the best possible way.

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(Dr.Ratan Bhattacharjee)

Professor and Head, Dum Dum Motijheel College, Kolkata Trilingual Columnist and

Formerly International Visiting Faculty USA

I

A NEW VISION OF REALITY

F itzgerald was never ignored by critics.

In recent years there has been a surge in critical attention towards Francis Scott Fitzgerald. The publication of essays and books have all provoked considerable critical interest. An almost unbroken wrestle / with words and meanings of Fitzgerald’s fiction has been going on. But like all ‘great’ writers, Fitzgerald has also remained problematic demanding that his readers wrestle with him for tracing the design of his fiction as well as the angles of vision emerging from his writings.

The approaches are apparently irreconcilable which in reality have an element of truth. The various interpretations of Fitzgerald’s vision emphasise one or other particular aspect but seem to miss the reality about this great author. These different and at times conflicting approaches do not take into account the whole of Fitzgerald.

Thus as one or other aspect is blown up, much remains unexplained or misinterpreted. No rigid systematization indeed can help one understand Fitzgerald’s vision. For, his work is not the illustration of any particular philosophy. Rather it is the externalization of his search for a system that would adequately explain life, and to understand Fitzgerald one should study the shifts and turns of thoughts which led to the emergence of a definite design of his fiction reflecting his vision.

Fitzgerald’s awareness of the new requirement of fiction and his response to the challenge underlines an important aspect of his fictional art. He realized that the ‘’old illusion" had lost its hold and as a narrative artist he felt the need of creating a ‘new’ and true image of experience to project a new vision of reality. It is, indeed, a common pre-occupation of the modern artist—the pre-occupation with the problem of finding out ‘systems of reference acceptable to the experience’ of his time by means of which he could give order and unity to his work. For Fitzgerald this discovery of an adequate system of reference or pattern was not simply an aesthetic necessity but also a keenly felt personal need. The widened perception about existence disillusioned him about the old fictional mode and he was in desperate need of a new order or system that