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Book 2, Chapter 20
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
Rosemary has dinner obligations with the film company, leaving Dick with some time to assess his present situation. While Rosemary is a “romantic memory” and “self-indulgence,” he concludes that Nicole is really “his girl.” Just then, he runs into Baby Warren, who is surprised to see Dick back in Europe so soon after his visit to America.
Shortly after having sex with Rosemary, after years of fantasizing about it, Dick’s thoughts return to his wife. Now that he has taken what he wanted from Rosemary, she is no longer that important to him, and he decides that Nicole is really his true love.
Themes
Over dinner, Dick tells Baby his version of Nicole’s recent breakdown. Baby encourages him to consider moving with Nicole to London, arguing that a normal life away from the clinic might be just what she needs, saying, “to leave her alone in an atmosphere like that—.” Dick responds sharply to this accusation, reminding Baby that he went to America because of his father’s death. At Baby’s subsequent mention of the Warren family wealth, Dick imagines telling her the “rotted old truth” about what happened to Nicole.
Baby accuses Dick of neglecting Nicole, which Dick finds offensive considering that Baby has only ever thrown money at Nicole’s problems, rather than showing real dedication. With the reminder that the Warrens have been using him like paid staff—a doctor or caregiver for Nicole—Dick feels spiteful and toys with the idea of telling Baby about Mr. Warren’s abuse of Nicole. Again, Fitzgerald uses the word “rotted” to refer to Nicole’s father, associating him with filth and corruption.
Themes
Collis joins Baby and Dick for a drink but is perplexed by their conversation about Nicole and finds it hard to follow. Baby suggests that if Nicole were to be “happier with someone else,” she could have it “arranged.” Overcome with the “preposterousness” of her remark, Dick tries to change the topic and begins to grill Baby on her love life, demanding to know why she’s not yet married. Baby prattles on in a self-congratulatory way until her voice blurs completely with the background music.
Feeling devalued by Baby’s proposition that the Warrens could simply discard Dick and find Nicole a new husband, Dick is determined to retaliate by belittling and embarrassing Baby about her hopeless love life. She doesn’t seem to be too rattled by his questions, however, and continues to talk about herself until Dick can no longer feign interest.
Themes
Over lunch with Rosemary the next day, Dick discovers that he is no longer in love with her, “nor her with him,” but this realization only intensifies “his passion for her.” At the hotel later, Dick probes Rosemary once more about her previous sexual encounters, but she refuses to tell him.
Dick’s discovery that there is no longer real love between him and Rosemary increases his desire for her; now he can view their relationship as a purely sexual and physical affair. His obsession with her virginity persists, however, and he continues to embarrass himself by dwelling on the topic. Rosemary seems to have become the mature party in their relationship, and Dick seems desperate and fraught by comparison.
Themes
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Dick becomes irritated when Nicotera calls up to his hotel room to speak with Rosemary, and he directs her to brushoff Nicotera for the remainder of his stay. Forced to choose between the two men, Rosemary bursts into tears, pleading Dick to understand her position—“Dick, I do love you […] But what have you got for me?” Angry and jealous, Dick protests desperately, calling Nicotera “a spic.” This “unjustified jealousy” repulses Rosemary and she draws away from Dick, admitting that Nicotera has asked her to marry him.
Finding that he has little to no power over Rosemary anymore, Dick feels emasculated and wronged. He reacts aggressively and with immaturity, using a racial slur to denigrate and insult Nicotera, Rosemary’s love interest. The word “spic” is a racist insult usually directed toward Latin American people—Dick directs this description towards Nicotera to make himself seem superior in comparison.
Themes
Spurned and not wanting “to be hurt again,” Dick resolves to put an end to his love for Rosemary once and for all, even “if he had to bring all the bitterness and hatred of the world into his heart.” Rosemary tries to make amends, saddened that they might have tainted the memory of their love forever but Dick retreats from Rosemary once and for all. He reflects that, “I guess I’m the black death […] I don’t seem to bring people happiness anymore.”
Through the description of Dick as “the black death,” Fitzgerald associates Dick with disease, sin, evil, and darkness. The metaphor suggests that Dick is poisonous and has the power to ruin and corrupt all those around him.
Themes
