Significant Connections- F. Scott Fitzgerald

Time is something that is hard to define. It is a force. It moves in one direction. And F. Scott Fitzgerald believes it is one of the main causes of disrupting and stopping relationships. In the movie “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” based on his works as well as his stories “The Great Gatsby”, “The Rich Boy” and “Winter Dreams”, Fitzgerald shows us how he believes that time will cause issues between people. Fitzgerald shows us how time stops a relationship through the main male characters and their relationship between themselves and their loves of their life. The reason Fitzgerald does this is because he is trying to make us understand how important every moment of your life is and that we need to make the most of it. Fitzgerald died at an early age of 44 and I believe that through these stories, he is trying to reflect on how he should have loved life for what it is rather then become entangled in complex relationships.

In the movie “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, the main character Benjamin Button ages backwards. Benjamin starts life as an old man and ages backwards towards a child. He loves Daisy, a person who ages forward. This means that although he loves Daisy, he will only be the same age as her, for a short period of time. When Benjamin is younger he is told that he and Daisy should “not to be playing together! Play with people your own age!” This means that Benjamin can not be with Daisy due to the time between them. This forces Benjamin to leave Daisy to enjoy her regular life. However they are able to be together briefly when they are the same age but it does not last long and as Benjamin becomes younger and again, Benjamin must leave Daisy. Benjamin also says that “Relationships have a time and a place”. We now are able to understand that Benjamin thinks that there are times when he can’t be with Daisy. This tells us that Benjamin needs to make the most of the time he has with Daisy. I think Fitzgerald believes he relates to Benjamin and that he thinks time disrupts relationships between himself and other people in his life. He wants the reader to know the importance of not wasting your time trying to form a relationship in something that simply was not meant to be.

In the book “The Great Gatsby” we also see how time interrupts relationships. The main character Jay Gatsby is in love with Daisy Buchanan. Jordan Baker tells Nick that she “didn’t lay eyes on him again for over four years” and now Daisy has gotten married to Tom Buchanan. This means that even if Daisy wanted to be with Gatsby, she couldn’t as she is already married. Time has blocked Gatsby from being able to be with Daisy. This is similar to “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” as not only are both their beloved named Daisy but they both have a period of time where they could not have been with their Daisy and because of this, Daisy has gone and gotten married. Daisy to Tom in “The Great Gatsby” and Daisy marries Robert in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”. However Gatsby tries a lot harder to be with Daisy then Benjamin who seems to see that he cannot be with Daisy. Gatsby says “‘Can’t repeat the past?’ he cried incredulously ‘Why of course you can!’” and believes that he can still be with Daisy. Seeing Benjamin did not believe he could be with Daisy he passed peacefully but Gatsby thought he could be with Daisy and was murdered. F. Scott Fitzgerald tries to show us how we should just accept some things that happen and move on, and not get caught up in relationships. He tries to tell us that the past can not be repeated and that we shouldn’t try to repeat it.

“The Rich Boy” is a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald that also shows us how time interrupts relationships. In “The Rich Boy” we see how Anson Hunter loves Paula Legrandre but after getting drunk, Paula leaves him. Paula then gets married to another man named Pete Hagerty. Anson meets Paula and “he felt that old mood that she evoked in him stealing over his brain”. This quote tells us that Anson remembers what it was like to be with Paula and wants to be with Paula but cannot as she has remarried. This is similar to “The Great Gatsby” as both Gatsby and Anson cannot be with the people they love because of the time that they have missed and that they have become married. However in Gatsby’s case, Daisy still loves him whereas Paula does not love Anson. This is shown when Paula says that she is “in love now– at last.” This hurts Anson and makes us able to understand how much time has passed between him and Paula. F. Scott Fitzgerald believes that time will block relationships between characters. Fitzgerald is trying to make us understand that we can’t do anything about time and that we need to enjoy life while it lasts.

“Winter Dreams” is another short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. In this story, Dexter Green is a caddy who works at a golf course. After a few meetings with Judy Jones, who is a beautiful woman, Dexter falls in love with her. After Judy’s many affairs, Dexter then leaves her and becomes engaged to Irene Scheerer. Just before their marriage, Irene cannot go on a date because of a headache and Anson bumps into Judy again and is asked to go with her. Dexter replies “‘All right,’ his voice was trembling, ‘I’ll come in.’”. By going into Judy’s house, Anson ends his relationship with Irene. This is similar to “The Rich Boy” as both Anson and Dexter make one move that causes an interruption to their relationship with a character. Anson becomes drunk which Paula does not like and Dexter goes inside with Judy, ending his relationship with Irene. This tells us because of one moment or one time when they did something foolish they could no longer be together. Fitzgerald is trying to tell us that he thinks that because of just one thing in your life or one moment in time, your relationship with someone could end. Fitzgerald

F. Scott Fitzgerald throughout his pieces uses time to show us how it interrupts relationships. Through the movie “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” based on his works and the stories “The Great Gatsby”, “The Rich Boy” and “Winter Dreams” we are able to see Fitzgerald’s view on time. In the “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” we see how Benjamin Button ages backwards and therefore has very little time with Daisy. “The Great Gatsby” shows us how Jay Gatsby cannot be with Daisy due to the four years he spent at the war with Daisy becoming married. This is similar to “The Rich Boy” as Anson Hunter can not be with his Daisy due to becoming drunk at one time and Paula going and getting married. “Winter Dream” shows us how one moment can end a relationship by Dexter Green going inside with Judy, which ends his relationship with Irene. This is similar to “The Rich Boy” as both Dexter and Anson have one moment which ends their relationships. I believe that Fitzgerald within his life, he would have been in love with someone but then due to an issue with time, whether he was away at the war or one moment in life when he made a mistake and was unable to repeat the past, his relationship would have ended. Fitzgerald is trying to make the reader understand how important it is not to become entangled in a relationship and to enjoy life.