Tender Is the Night
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Contains spoilers for the entire book.
Discussion topics
Topic 01 of 08
The Riviera
How does the novel's opening, through Rosemary's eyes, make the Divers seem?
Keep the conversation going
- What did you sense was wrong beneath the glamour?
- Why do people want to be near Dick?
There is no single right answer. Bring your own reading.
Discussion topics
How does the novel's opening, through Rosemary's eyes, make the Divers seem?
Keep the conversation going
- What did you sense was wrong beneath the glamour?
- Why do people want to be near Dick?
What does Rosemary want from Dick, and what does he want from her?
Keep the conversation going
- Is their affair love, flattery or escape?
- How does she see him by the end?
How does learning Nicole's story change your sense of their marriage?
Keep the conversation going
- Why does Fitzgerald move back in time in the middle of the book?
- What did Dick take on when he married his patient?
What brings about Dick's decline?
Keep the conversation going
- Is it money, drink, Nicole, or something in himself?
- When did you first see him slipping?
How does Nicole change over the course of the novel?
Keep the conversation going
- Is her recovery bound up with Dick's fall?
- What does Tommy Barban offer her?
What does the Warren family's money do to everyone around it?
Keep the conversation going
- What did you make of Baby Warren?
- Does Dick sell himself?
What is Dick's famous charm worth, to him and to others?
Keep the conversation going
- Why does it fail him?
- What did you make of the scene in the Roman jail?
How did you feel about the ending, with Dick fading into smaller and smaller towns in upstate New York?
Keep the conversation going
- Is it tragic, or just sad?
- What do you think Fitzgerald is saying about the Jazz Age?
There is no single right answer. Bring your own reading.