F. Scott Fitzgerald’s life was immensely unstable. From the time of his childhood up until his unexpected death, he was taken along for many unplanned turns. He lifts himself from obscurity to fame after he drops out of Princeton. After some time of writing for magazines he writes his first novel. It sells widely and gives him the first large amount of money that funds the luxurious lifestyle that he indulges in for the duration of the Jazz Age.

At the end of the era America and Fitzgerald’s life begin to deteriorate simultaneously. The stock market crashes while his books stop selling, Zelda’s mental health declines, his money runs out and his alcoholism gets a stronger hold on him. A silver lining appears in the form of  possible screenwriter credits. He manages to procure one, is unsatisfied with it since it ends up being rewritten by the producer. Another downfall following so many in addition to his disrepaired reputation. At this point he decides to undertake a new book. Working on it puts him back in good spirits. He is the Fitzgerald of old, putting in 16 hour days and waking up excited to write. He had a renewed craving for life. His passion for writing restored to it’s old level love. I believe that he would have improved if it hadn’t been for his abrupt end. He was pulling himself back together, but ultimately the ill he had done earlier in life pulled him apart.

Fitzgerald was not at all adept at responding to complex emotional situations. The first crutch that he would fall to is alcohol. He could go for long periods of time sober, but was also capable of consuming copious amounts of liquor when he allowed it to himself. The second is Sheilah Graham. When Zelda was in the mental hospital he began an affair with her. Although he would never divorce Zelda for her, she served as a placebo. Sheilah is Zelda’s placeholder for Fitzgerald even though he knows what he really wants is not coming back.   

The depression that Fitzgerald suffered from may also have been an extension of a fear rooted in his childhood. His father was fired from his job when Fitzgerald was a young boy. It left him a broken man. They were essentially supported by Fitzgerald’s mother’s family from then on. He was categorized as a failure for the rest of his life. Young Scott was privy to this as well. He could see the negative turn his father had taken and worked to never be a failure himself. Fitzgerald reached great heights, but it is possible that the valleys he fell in in some years of his life reminded him of his father.