F. Scott Fitzgerald is known as a writer who chronicled his times. This work has been critically acclaimed for portraying the sentiments of the American people during the 1920s and 1930s. 'The Great Gatsby' was written in 1924, whilst the Fitzgeralds were staying on the French Riviera, and 'Tender is the Night' was written nearly ten years later, is set on, among other places, the Riviera. There are very interesting aspects of these works, such as the way Fitzgerald treats his so-called heroes, and to what extent we can call them heroic.

Gatsby and Diver are both presented as wealthy men leading privileged lives. 'The Great Gatsby' was written before the Depression, and the optimism and faith in the power of money within the novel demonstrates this belief that people had. Notably, it is the characters' faith in riches, and not Fitzgerald's own. Gatsby is a self-made millionaire, making his money through bootlegging. He has acquired vast amounts of money, and believes that this money will help persuade Daisy

Gatsby is also seen as a great socialite, but on a different level. Where the Divers were masters of smaller, personal parties, Gatsby regularly threw wild extravagant revels. However, Dick and Nicole were the obvious and open hosts, Gatsby remained elusive, and almost none of his guests could actually recognise him. Instead, he was the hidden host, observer of the gaiety that he provided, forever on the lookout for something, someone. Gatsby's past is shrouded in mystery - some think that he is a German spy, others that he has killed a man. However, Gatsby does not entertain for the sake of it, he takes no real joy in the proceedings. Instead, it is a mechanism to find Daisy, the driving force of almost everything he does. In the spirit of entertainers, Diver and Gatsby are only linked by the happiness they bring others through their parties, and the fact that despite their social appearance, they both lead lonely, almost friendless lives.

Both Dick and Gatsby's tragic endings are closely linked to their failed love. Neither Gatsby nor Dick manage to survive in the world that Fitzgerald has portrayed. Both also lose their dignity to some extent, Gatsby by being found lying in a swimming pool, and then by an unattended funeral; Dick by fading into the obscurity of a GP in New York State, never managing to settle in one place. Which of these two endings seems to have more dignity? Gatsby's final ending is undignified, being in a swimming pool his house being defaces, but this is short term, and Fitzgerald does not let this be our last picture of Gatsby, instead ending with the epic vision of the future, of 'boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past'. Gatsby does not leave friends behind, he leaves a legacy ('One of the taxi drivers in the village never took a fare past the entrance gate without stopping for a minute and pointing inside'), and an impact on Nick Carraway that was so great that he was compelled to write about him. Gatsby also dies spiritually intact ('his dream must have been so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it'). He knew that he had lost Daisy, but he probably did not know the true extent of his loss, with his apparently unending capacity for hope. Gatsby's death was the result of a revenge for the death of Myrtille Wilson, but it was Daisy who killed her, not Gatsby. The extent of his love for Daisy results in his death, and he dies with his dream.

Dreams, hope and romance play key parts in the personalities of both Gatsby and Diver. Gatsby possessed 'an extraordinary gift for hope', and Fitzgerald seems to feel that this is what set him apart from his society. Gatsby has ideals. He had a dream which he not only desired, but did so so strongly that he based his entire life around life. Obviously Daisy is the immediate goal, but according to Nick, Gatsby's dreams and aspirations 'had gone beyond her, beyond everything'. Daisy, Nick says, wouldn't satisfy Gatsby - 'he knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed this unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God'. Gatsby is constantly dreaming, but more than dreaming, he is actively striving towards something better, be it Daisy, or something less tangible. This drive separates him from the 'laissez-faire' attitude of Daisy, tome and Jordan, who seem bored of their lives and its 'sophistication'. Perhaps it is this dreamer-like quality that compels Nick to call Gatsby 'great'.

Diver is representative of the middle-class American becoming rich, and again failing to settle in a society with definite class divisions. Diver works hard, and is talented, and, subscribing to the American ideal, he should succeed in life, but he does not. Diver's eventual riches do not come from his hard work, becomes less interested in his job, thanks to his marriage, and drifts, because he did not believe in the ideal. Again and again, Fitzgerald underlines the importance of faith and h

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Approximate Word count = 5321
Approximate Pages = 21 (250 words per page double spaced)