The American Dream Exemplified by F. Scott Fitzgerald

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F. Scott Fitzgerald was born on September 24,1896, in St. Paul, Minnesota. His father, Edward Fitzgerald, was a proud man from Maryland. Fitzgerald’s mother, Mary (Mollie) McQuillan, was the daughter of a humble, but wealthy Irish immigrant. Fitzgerald, being the only child to survive childhood, was spoiled and was the apple of his mother's eye. Following his father's dismissal from a job in upstate New York, the family relocated back to St Paul in 1908 and lived a comfortable life funded by Mollie Fitzgerald’s inheritance. F. Scott Fitzgerald's life would exemplify both sides of the “American Dream”- the joy of wealth, love, and success paired with the tragedies that come with overindulgence and failures.

Named after another very famous American, his distant cousin Francis Scott Key, Fitzgerald was if not born to be certainly named to be an American legend. After a stint at Princeton, where he wrote and partied in lieu of actually going to class, Fitzgerald enlisted in the Army. Knowing that no amount of money could buy him his safety, Fitzgerald was scared of death. Not necessarily death but more scared of dying without leaving something to be remembered by. This fear fueled his first hastily written novel. When he submitted The Romantic Egoist to Charles Scribner’s Sons it was rejected. This was one of Fitzgerald’s first attempts to capturing the “American Dream” and also one of his first failures. Unwavered by this failure and on the advice of the publishers, Fitzgerald was determined to revise the novel and resubmit it. Time did not stop because of his failure, Fitzgerald was still enlisted in the military and still had the constant fear of being shipped overseas. That fear was suppressed when Fitzgerald was reassigned to a...

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...ld left a legacy behind that one cannot forget. His persistance after many different trails and errors made his life the true “American Dream.”

Works Cited

BRUCCOLI, Matthew J. "A Brief Life of Fitzgerald." Biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald. The F. Scott Fitzgerald Society, n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2014.

"F. Scott Fitzgerald." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2014.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. ""The Only Thing Worse than a Boy Who Hates You: A Boy That Loves You."" Goodreads. Goodreads, n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.

Kretzmer, Sybil S. "Fitzgerald Through Other Eyes." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 24 Sept. 1995. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.

Willet, Erika. "F Scott Fitzgerald and the American Dream." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2014.

Willet, Erika. "Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald Artist, Writer, Dancer, and Wife." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2014.

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