The Work of F. Scott Fitzgerald :: Fitzgerald Author Essays

Francis Scott Fitzgerald once said Mostly we authors must repeat ourselves?thats the truth. We fix two or three experiences in our lives? experiences so great and moving that it doesnt seem at the time that anyone else has been so caught up (de Koster n. pag.). Fitzgeralds works contain umpteen themes that are based from experiences in his smell. Many of these experiences he talks about were with the women in his life. People like his mother, Ginerva King, and Zelda Sayre all had major impacts on Fitzgerald. The women in F. Scott Fitzgeralds life influenced his writing in a number of ways. The first major woman to make and impression on Fitzgeralds life was his mother. Mary (Mollie) McQuillan was of Irish decent. Her parents were Irish immigrants who became prolific as grocery owners in St. Paul (Bruccoli 1). Mollie inherited a fair amount of money from her family, but the family had difficulty maintaining the high standard of existent they were accustomed to (Bloom 11). When th ey fell into financial trouble it was her father they turned to. The fact that Fitzgeralds mother, rather than his father, was the financial foundation for their family influenced Fitzgerald greatly. Even as a young son he was aware of this situation. The theme that arose from this about a wifes inherited money appears frequently in Fitzgeralds writing (Magill 679). When the Fitzgeralds fell into financial trouble, the family had to depend on Mollies familys money. When generation like that came Mollie abandoned the attempt to Tarleton 2 keep up her personal appearance (neglecting both grooming and fashion), which embarrassed her fastidious son. Scott later save a dream in which he admitted being ashamed of her (de Koster 15). Furthermore, Fitzgeralds attitude toward his mother influenced him as a person. Because two of Mollies children had died before Fitzgerald, she was very protective of him. She a lot worried about his health and babied him. But her attempts to spoil him stre ngthened his distaste for her (de Koster 15). She wanted her only son to have social ambition (Brief recital 1). Fitzgeralds negative description of her in An Authors Mother where he describes her as a halting old lady in a preposterously high-crowned hat reveals his feelings (de Koster 15). Fitzgerald was bear on by all these emotions towards his mother in his personality and his work. Another influence on Fitzgerald was his first love, Ginerva King.