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Book 1, Chapter 14
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Tender Is the Night, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Excess, Destruction, and the Failed American Dream
Gender, Mental Illness, and Psychiatry
The Pursuit of Youth and Innocence
Racism and Otherness
Summary
Analysis
In a taxi on the way back to the hotel, Rosemary turns her face towards Dick to be kissed. First, he looks at her gravely, calling her a “lovely child,” but then he kisses her “breathlessly as if she were any age at all.” He continues to kiss her, but “without enjoying it,” feeling the chill of innocence on her lips. Rosemary reiterates her love for Dick saying, “Honestly—I love you and Nicole—I do.” He has heard this before, “So many times […] even the formula was the same.”
Despite not “enjoying it,” Dick kisses Rosemary anyway, almost carelessly. Even though she is now 18, he reiterates that she is a “child.” The word “gravely” has negative connotations and forebodes the difficulties to come in their relationship. The narrator reveals that this situation is not a new one for Dick, and the reader is left to wonder whether Dick has had other affairs with young girls before.
Themes
Once back at the hotel, Rosemary encourages Dick to join her in her room. Behind closed doors, she is as pale as “a white carnation” when she approaches Dick and whispers “take me,” to his surprise. Throwing herself enthusiastically into her performance, as if she were acting in a role, she tries to seduce Dick, saying “I’m absolutely yours and I want to be.”
The image of the white flower symbolizes purity, innocence, and virginity. It also suggests, however, that Rosemary is ready to bloom for Dick, in that she is eager to sacrifice her innocence for him.
Themes
Dick refuses Rosemary’s advances and comforts her as she cries. As he leaves her room, Dick wishes her goodnight, calling her a “child.” He tries to reassure her, reminding Rosemary that it would be nice if she met her true “first love” while she is “all intact, emotionally too.” Even though Rosemary is overcome by desire for him, he leaves.
Patronizingly, Dick positions himself firmly in a paternal role, calling Rosemary a “child” once more. While this might appear caring and gentle at this stage in the text, it only serves to make his attraction to Rosemary all the more disturbing.
Themes
