The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-05-05
You Can't Duck
Hurricane Under
a Beach Umbrella
TENDER is THE NIGHT, by F..
Scott Fitzgerald, New York.
Charles Scribner's Sons. $3.50.
Reviewed by PHILIP RAHv

Reviewed by PHILIP RAHV
Z SCOTT FITZGERALD made a
! = name for himself in the litera-
ture Of the past decade as the voice
and chronicler of the jazz age. This,
in a sense, was his strength, as he
showed himself capable of quickly
responding to features of American
life that other writer's assimilated
rather slowly; but it also proved to
be his greatest defect, since he fail
ed to place what he saw in its So
cial setting. He himself was swept
away by the waste and extravaganza
Of the people he described, and he
identified himself with them. Hence
the critics who, at his appearance
on the literary scene, saw in him
a major talent in postwar Ameri-
can literature, soon realized that
here was another creative promise
petering out. The fever of the boom
days settled In his bones. In the
end he surrendered to the stand
ards of the Saturday Evening Post.
In these days, however, even Fitz-
gerald cannot escape realizing how
near the collapse of his class really
is. In his new work he no longer
writes Of expensive blondes and
yachting parties, lavish surround
ings and insane love-affairs from
the same angle of vision as in the
past. These things are still there,
but the authors enthusiasm for
them has faded, giving way to the
sweat Of exhaustion. The rich ex-
patriates who trail their weary lives
across the pages of the novel
breathe the thin air of a crazy last
autumn. The author is still in love
with his characters, but he no
longer entertains any illusions con-
corning their survival Morally,
spiritually, and even physically they
are dying in hospitals for the men
tally diseased, in swanky Paris
hotels and on the Riviera beaches.
Yet, having immersed himself in
the atmosphere of corruption, Fitz-
gerald's eye discerns a certain grace
even in their last contortions. The
morbid romance of death sways his
mind, and signs are not wanting
that instead Of severing the cords
that bind him to their degradation,
he prefers to stick out with them to
the end. Even while perceiving their
doom, he still continues to console
and caress them with soft words
uttered in the furry voice of
family doctor pledged to keep the
fatal diagnosis from his patients.
A number Of things happen in
n Tender Is the Night. First, let
us introduce Mr.. Warren, a Chicago
millionaire who rapes his sixteen
year old daughter Nicole. This nom
plebeian act drives the girl out of
her mind, and she Is sent to
sanatorium in Switzerland, where
she is partially cured and where
she meets Dick Diver, a young
American psychologist who marries
her. Nicole Is extremely wealthy
and the Divers lead a model para
site life, fitting from one European
high spot to another, accompanied
by varied assortment of neurotics
and alcoholics. Wherever they go
they are intent on smashing things
up. Dick Divers strength and charm
fall apart in the insufferable atmo-
sphere of sophisticated brutality. In
the course Of time he realizes his
role as live commodity bought by
the Warren family to act as hus-
band-doctor to their crazy daughter.
And Nicole, sensing Dicks grow
ing despair, flies from him to the
arms Of Tommy Barban, the styled
young barbarian who Is potentially
an ideal leader Of a Nazi storm
troop.
When the plot is thus bluntly
stated, stripped of its delicate intro
spective wording, Of its tortuous
style that varnishes rather than
reveals the essential facts, we can
easily see that the book is a fear
full indictment Of the moneyed arts
tocracy. But Fitzgerald's form blunts
this essence, transforming it into
mere opportunity for endless psy-
chologizing. And on account of it
many reader will let himself float
on the novels tender surface, with
out gauging the horror underneath
The reviewer is inclined to think
that in creating the figure Of Dick
Diver, Fitzgerald has created-per-
haps unconsciously-the image of
life closely corresponding to his
own. The truth is that Nicole can
be understood as symbol of the
entire crazy social system to which
Fitzgerald has long been playing
Dick Diver.
And lastly, not too private post
cr.pC to the author. Dear Mr.. Fitz-
gerald, you can't hide from hur-
ricane under q beach umbrella.