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Personification
Definition of Satire
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of satire, but satirists can take... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians... read full definition
Satire
Explanation and Analysis—Dick: The American Dream?:
Tender is the Night satirizes the well-to-do decadence of the American expatriates living in Europe after World War I. Despite Fitzgerald himself belonging to a group of people who did just that—Gertrude Stein called this group of writers, artists, and poets "The Lost Generation"—Fitzgerald recognizes the excess and opulence of this nomadic lifestyle which is rich with leisure and luxury, from high-society dinner parties to expensive shopping trips all against a backdrop of constant travel. This decadence was made possible due to America's prosperity after World War I but before the Great Depression, which contrasted sharply against Europe's relatively impoverished economy during that same time period.
Dick Diver's character arc best evidences Fitzgerald's portrayal of this lifestyle as satirical. Dick begins the novel as the embodiment of the American Dream: the son of a preacher, Dick has managed to accrue enough wealth to live a comfortable life of luxury across Europe without relying on the money Nicole has inherited from her family. Moreover, Dick is a well-respected professional with a promising career. However, by the end of the novel Dick is back in America and, to the extent the reader knows about the end of his life in detail, is relatively destitute. Dick's story is illustrative of the novel's central message: vice and excess lead to downfall and ruin, a microcosmic representation of 1920s America more broadly.
Related Themes:
