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Book 1, Chapter 8
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
As Brady’s car passes the one with Tommy Barban and the others, Rosemary and her mother hear a “blur of voices” and see Dick and Nicole’s chauffeur smiling from their car.
The chauffeur—who is most likely a French local—smiles during the commotion in the car. His smile reveals a tension between European natives and the wealthy Americans romping around Europe during the 1920s—the chauffeur is most likely amused by the arrogance and childishness of the party in his car.
Themes
Back at the hotel, Rosemary is restless and overcome with erotic thoughts about Dick. She wonders how she should approach the situation, exhausting all possibilities as she lies awake through the night. Throughout her childhood, Rosemary has been taught by her mother to work hard and become financially independent. However, that night Mrs. Speers had given Rosemary her blessing when it came to pursuing Dick: “go ahead and put whatever happens down to experience. Wound yourself or him—whatever happens it can’t spoil you because economically you’re a boy, not a girl.”
Through reference to Rosemary’s erotic dreams, Fitzgerald reveals the inherent contradiction in her innocence. It is precisely her youthful innocence that makes her so sexually appealing to men like Brady and Dick, but, of course, it would be impossible to embody both sexuality and innocence simultaneously—their expectations of her are unrealistic. In addition, Fitzgerald’s allusion to Rosemary sexuality reflects a shift in the social and moral codes surrounding womanhood and femininity in the early 20th century, whereby puritanical, Victorian attitudes to women’s sexuality had begun to loosen.
Themes
Disturbed by her mother’s position—which felt like the “final severance of the umbilical cord”—and unable to sleep, Rosemary walks onto the terrace to find Luis Campion weeping, “shaking in the same parts as a weeping woman.” When Rosemary asks what’s the matter, Campion mutters something about the pain of being in love. Rosemary finds his face “repulsive,” and although she doesn’t show her “sudden disgust with whatever it was,” Campion senses it and changes the subject. He tells Rosemary that Abe North is nearby. Rosemary is surprised, because he’s meant to be staying at Dick and Nicole’s house.
The image of an umbilical cord being cut symbolizes the violence of Rosemary’s transition into adulthood, whereby she she feels forcibly removed from the safety of her mother’s watchful eye. Meanwhile, Campion is portrayed as effeminate and emotional, and it is likely that Fitzgerald intended Campion to be gay. Rosemary’s repulsion in response to Campion’s lack of traditional masculinity reflects the rampant homophobia during the era in which Fitzgerald was writing.
Themes
Campion tells his “extraordinary story” about how Violet and Tommy had had an argument in the car about whatever it was that Violet had seen in Dick and Nicole’s house. Coming to Violet’s defense, Mr. McKisco got involved with the argument too. As a result, Mr. McKisco and Tommy are due to have a duel at 5 a.m. that morning.
Once more Fitzgerald captures the extraordinary recklessness of the expatriate circle who, due to their excessive drinking and expansive disposable incomes, can afford to behave like children. Having only just been exposed to this crowd, Rosemary is equally excited and overwhelmed by the events of the past 24 hours.
Themes
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A voice from a room above instructs them to be quiet, so Rosemary stifles her laugh when Abe arrives and asks her why she’s up so early. Abe calls Campion a “sewing-circle member” and ask Rosemary what she knows of the commotion.
Abe’s insult—that Campion is a “sewing-circle member”—is a reference to his effeminate nature and his tendency to gossip. Here, Campion’s masculinity is undermined through a comparison to a traditionally feminine pursuit— sewing—which is devalued and made ridiculous.
Themes
