Alcoholism In The Great Gatsby

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby, a rich millionaire who lives in the West Egg, longs for his one true love, Daisy Buchanan. Living so far away from his beautiful soulmate, Gatsby lures Daisy into his life by throwing huge parties in order to see her. However, his loneliness continues to swallow him up, no matter how hard Gatsby tries. Most of this emotion comes from Fitzgerald himself. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s own life contributes to the making of many of his novels, but The Great Gatsby shows the reader the party life Fitzgerald lived in his time, and how this lifestyle contributed to his writings and his career.
Fitzgerald grew up as a young man chasing his dreams, and it wasn’t until after the publishing of his first novel
Fitzgerald became very rich and famous after his first novel took a step into familiarity. However, this celebrity lifestyle shook of fitzgerald. Partying, drinking, smoking, etc. became popular in this time period, and Fitzgerald began to actively involve himself in these activities. In other words, Fitzgerald loved to party. Alcoholism and partying became of problem for Fitzgerald, which influenced his writing (“F. Scott Fitzgerald and the American Dream”). The Great Gatsby, which in fact was Fitzgerald’s greatest novel, shows much of Fitzgerald’s own life within the many scenes the reader can depict throughout the novel. In many of Gatsby’s parties, the reader sees that there was jazz music playing, laughing, men and women coming from near and far, champagne, all these things that Gatsby ut together for his guests to enjoy (Fitzgerald 43). All this things were things Fitzgerald himself witness at the parties he attended. The drinking of alcohol was illegal at this time, which was the prohibition period. However, Fitzgerald incorporated the usage of alcohol in
Scott Fitzgerald’s party life in the 20’s had a huge impact on the outcome of his career. His extreme alcoholism and his wife’s illnesses didn’t just influence his writings, but also influenced the outcome of his career and his opinion on his “success.” Though his works were fantastic, Fitzgerald had a hard time getting his publishers to accept his writings (Curious Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald). The Scribner Brothers rejected one of his novels, and it’s mostly believed that it is because of his alcoholism. "F. Scott Fitzgerald eagerly embraced his newly minted celebrity status and embarked on an extravagant lifestyle that earned him a reputation as a playboy and hindered his reputation as a serious literary writer” (Biography.com). Fitzgerald became wrapped up in this celebrity lifestyle and alcoholism, which actually put his career at stake. Publishers started to notice this extreme change in Fitzgerald and his writings, and the way he incorporated different elements within his writings, that they started to believe that Fitzgerald wasn’t fit to be a writer. Fitzgerald died at the age of 44. Many believe that the reasoning behind his young death is in fact his intense drinking problem. A person with such a bright future, drank himself to death. His death was officially ruled as by a heart attack. “F. Scott Fitzgerald, novelist, short story writer and scenarist, died at his Hollywood home yesterday. His age was 44. He suffered a heart attack three weeks ago” (NY Times).