I settled upon reading F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender Is the Night for this novel assignment primarily out of my liking of The Great Gatsby. While Tender Is the Night failed to supplant The Great Gatsby as my favorite Fitzgerald book that I have read, it nevertheless piqued my interest in terms of its depiction of American expatriate life, something I was exposed to in Hemmingway’s The Sun Also Rises. Also, the Jazz Age is high on my list of “Historical Periods of Interest” and a glance at its back cover indicated the novel would correspond to this interest.

My initial thoughts after completing of Fitzgerald’s work were somewhat mixed. I had difficulty enjoying the significant dedication towards exposing Dick and Nicole’s initial contact and the development of their relationship: it was rather dull and unconvincing in the sense that it seems very unrealistic. Yet, the novel did present an intriguing dynamic in terms of its consideration of a relationship between a mental-health professional and his patient. Fitzgerald’s analysis of the questions of the stability of such a relationship and the existence of a mutual benefit stood out for me because I had never really thought about such an interpersonal relationship.

As of now, I have yet to be resolved as to which particular element of Tender Is the Night I wish examine in depth. My present inclinations are towards the blurred husband-doctor dichotomy I interpreted as being present in the novel. Additionally, I am quite interested in exploring the potential of a zero-sum relationship between Dick and Nicole as Dick’s world descends into chaos as Nicole’s opens up