Essay on "Scott Fitzgerald the Crack-Up Outline"

Essay 4 pages (1264 words) Sources: 1

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Scott Fitzgerald "The Crack-Up" Outline

F. Scott Fitzgerald's essay "The Crack-Up" illustrates the author's journey to his authentic self through a bout of mental illness.

General discussion of cracking-up -- creates a witty, objective tone about intimate matter

Fitzgerald uses scholarly comments such as "the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function" to create dispassionate tone

Fitzgerald's specific problems

Discussion of self-doubt in youth -- superficially resolved

Small stature at football

Lack of military service

Embarking on a literary career -- some sense of self-satisfaction

"Up to forty-nine it'll be all right"

Humor in specificity of expected date of the 'crack-up.'

Fitzgerald's distance and use of irony

A. Premature 'crack-up' -- occurred before the expected age of forty-nine (humor again)

B. Vagueness -- begins with example of another writer before discussing his own problem

C. "Not long before, I had sat in the office of a great doctor and listened to a grave sentence" -- again vague about person of whom he is speaking

IV. Humor even in experience of initial crack-up

A. Exact psychological problem never named

1. Describes writing lists

2. 'Loafing'

3. Sudden getting better, then sudden decline -- not even enjoying brushing his teeth (again use of humor)

V. More serious

A. Withdrawal from humanity

B. Bitterness about the world

VI. Coming to terms with revelation brought forth by crack-up

A. Parallels it with being sick as a student at Princeton and losing everything because of his bout with TB

B. Crack-up brings about a revised view of himself as a writer: "That my political conscience had scarcely existed for ten years save as an element of irony in my stuff. When I became again concerned with the system I should function under, it was a man much younger than myself who brought it to me, with a mixture of passion and fresh air."

C. Although it could be interpreted as a 'bad thing,' crack-up brings a new sense of revelation about his place in the world: "I have now at last become a writer only."

VII. Crack-up's final revelation

A. Fitzgerald decides to cease trying to be who he is not

1. Abandons putting on a false sense of social consciousness

2. Looks for truth in writing

B. True self -- warts and all "I do not any longer like the postman, nor the grocer, nor the editor, nor the cousin's husband, and he in turn will come to dislike me, so that life will never be very pleasant again, and the sign Cave Canem is hung permanently just above my door. I will try to be a correct animal though, and if you throw me a bone with enough meat on it I may even lick your hand.

Essay: F. Scott Fitzgerald's essay "The Crack-Up"

F. Scott Fitzgerald's essay "The Crack-Up" illustrates the author's journey to his authentic self as a writer. The idea that writers find artistic truth for madness is a common trope, even a cliche. However, Fitzgerald's essay uses a great deal of humor and irony to illustrate the importance of his mental breakdown in his journey as a writer, and ultimately the essay transcends this conventional image of madness in art because of its use of humor.

Fitzgerald sets the tone of the essay in his first paragraph. It begins with a general discussion of cracking-up, rather than immediate personal exposition. This creates a witty, dispassionate, and objective tone about an intimate matter like a mental breakdown. Fitzgerald even occasionally adopts a kind of faux scholarly tone, in his use of academic comments such as "the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind… READ MORE

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