What do you think was behind Scott's alcoholism? Was it due to his rocky relationship with Zelda or did he drink to fit in with the crowd?
Created: 03/08/13
Replies: 16
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Join Date: 03/25/13
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Scott had an inferiority complex about every aspect of his life - his relatively poor upbringing, the fact that he couldn't afford to finish Princeton, even Sinclair Lewis' Main Street beating "This Side of Paradise" in the best-selling categories for the month of October. When Zelda had the affair with the French Airman he went crazy because that just proved his inferiority complex - drinking goes hand in hand with that type of mental view.
Join Date: 04/15/11
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Alcoholism is generally caused by a genetic predisposition to the condition, so I really felt that Scott's excessive drinking was caused in part by his own lack of self confidence particularly when confronted with peers like Hemingway and his own genetic inability to reject alcohol once he started drinking. Other issues such as his somewhat rocky relationship with Zelda may have contributed to his self image problem, but would not have caused alcoholism.
Join Date: 01/29/13
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Join Date: 05/16/11
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Having grown up with an alcoholic father, I know how devastating this disease is to everyone, not just the alcoholic. I don't necessarily agree with the post about being genetically predisposed to alcoholism, but do agree that in Scott's case, he lacked self-confidence to an extreme and found solace in drinking as so many do.
Join Date: 03/25/13
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Alcoholism was not well understood in the early 20's. This was before the success of AA and before rehab. It was normal and macho to drink and drink a lot. When Scott was drunk he could forget his failures, forget his insecurities, and disassociate from responsibility for any of the stresses of his life.
Join Date: 08/23/11
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I think he always liked to drink and would have been a heavy drinker in any case. Even before moving to Europe, Scott and Zelda both partied like crazy, but after meeting up with Hemmingway, Scott had a friend to commiserate with, to copy, to drink with. He also used his "peer" to feel ok about womanizing. Over the top behavior in anything is usually destructive to a marriage and a life.
Join Date: 01/12/12
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Big name writers are like celebrities who, for whatever reason, often have issues with addictive behaviors. Maybe it's the pressure of being in the public eye or maybe that's just an excuse for indulging addictive behavior. I'm not sure but I believe being high profile and having friends who drank heavily certainly contributed to his problems with alcohol.
Join Date: 03/13/12
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It was an age of over indulgence and Fitzgerald had the money and fame to do what he wanted. WW1 was over and life in Europe was cheap for Americans. Add to that the literary crowd that the Zelda and Scott traveled with and you have a good reason for over indulgence in all kinds of extraordinary behavior. I agree that in Scott's case there might have been a hereditary factor. I believe that daughter Scottie had problems with alcohol too
Join Date: 06/13/11
Posts: 107
I don't think Z was the problem. One of the big problems is "everyone was doing it" - there is no way they could socialize with their crowd without drinking. I was impressed he could stop for weeks to write.
Alcohol is a crutch and an excuse, but you keep waking up in the morning not having accomplished anything. Some people are easily addicted and it is a constant struggle. He had to show that he could do everything including drinking and writing and having literary discussions.
Join Date: 06/05/12
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I agree with SusanC. that Scott appears to have had an inferiority complex. He felt inferior in college because he had not been born to a wealthy, prominent family and then, as an adult, he felt inferior because although his work was popularly appreciated it was as critically lauded during his lifetime. I think his relationship with Hemingway further emphasized this inferiority complex because Hemingway had such a "manly" facade that Scott felt he needed to live up to.
Additionally, I think Scott drank to try to recapture the magic that happened with his first successes as a writer, that were born out of his wild, alcohol fueled escapades.
Join Date: 10/12/11
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Join Date: 04/15/11
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Zelda was definitely not behind Scott's drinking problem, though I do believe he was behind her own drinking problem. I think Scott was a depressed person. He never really felt good enough & was socially below his friends, including Zelda. The social & economic status was probably very important to him & by drinking it allowed him to feel better about himself.
Join Date: 04/10/13
Posts: 78
I agree with Joan. This was the flapper era and doing everything to excess seems to have been the way of life. Amost all of Scott and Zelda's friends were big party people and heavy drinkers. I think Scott would have been an alcoholic with or without Zelda but it was easy to blame her. Like most alcoholics, eventually it became the only way he could ge through the day.
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