University of Minnesota – Duluth students in David Beard’s Minnesota Writers class interviewed local writers and wrote spotlight articles that we will showcase in the coming months.
In 1940, shortly after World War II began, we lost one of the most influential authors of all time. F. Scott Fitzgerald died believing he was a failure. This November, I had the pleasure of interviewing Deborah Schlacks. Deborah specializes in 20th-century American literature, particularly work by F. Scott Fitzgerald. She has many publications on F. Scott Fitzgerald, and she is specifically interested in Fitzgerald as an Irish-American writer and as a St. Paul writer.
Deborah’s interest in Fitzgerald started when she was in junior high after finding The Great Gatsby on her mother’s shelf. “It was about a lifestyle that was very different from my own.”
Due to the discrimination the Irish faced in the United States in the 1920s, Fitzgerald, being Irish, seemed to have an inferiority complex. The anti-Irish sentiment died down over time, but Fitzgerald always felt he was looked down upon for being Irish. This was present in his writing. As Deborah explained, “He internalized that. It influenced how he depicted characters. That’s why Gatsby (From The Great Gatsby) was depicted as an outsider.”
Because of this discrimination, many immigrants in the United States claimed they had a medieval past instead. St. Paul, where Fitzgerald grew up, had had a decent number of Irish immigrants, and Fitzgerald was well aware that people often covered up their immigration past by claiming to have medieval roots. This is also present in his writing. According to Schlacks, “He was aware of that, and he liked the stories of knights. It shows up in The Great Gatsby when Nick says that Daisy was like the king’s daughter and Gatsby was like a knight.” Fitzgerald’s characters were quite often a reflection of himself.
When Fitzgerald died in his 40s, most of his works were out of print. He died thinking he was unsuccessful despite his early success. His first novel, This Side of Paradise, was a runaway hit and sold better than The Great Gatsby did at the time, but unfortunately, Fitzgerald had no idea what his work would really become. Shortly after his death, during World War II, the United State’s government published a series of novels in small, pocket-sized books so that soldiers could carry them around. It was the “Armed Forces edition,” and one of the novels published in this series was The Great Gatsby. According to Schlacks, “This led to people becoming aware of Fitzgerald’s works.”
There was a Fitzgerald revival in the 1950’s, partially due to the Armed Forces edition. More of his novels were published, and scholars became interested in his work as well. Fitzgerald’s work became a popular part of the United States high school curriculum. Though Fitzgerald died thinking that he didn’t succeed, his work is known by many now, and it’s unfortunate that his fame didn’t reach its peak until after his death. It goes to show that we will never be able to predict the future, and if you have a passion, there’s no reason to give it up. Fitzgerald’s novel This Side Of Paradise may have been the most popular novel of his time, but Fitzgerald never could’ve predicted the influence all of his works, especially The Great Gatsby, have had on people today.
Riley Sallee is a student at the University of Minnesota Duluth majoring in both English and Writing Studies with a certificate in Creative Writing. Riley is interested in both fiction and non-fiction. Her writings dabble in both categories, though her focus is often in fiction. A creative and often indecisive individual, Riley also enjoys reading many different genres, and has only found one genre she dislikes (romance). In her free time, Riley enjoys skating, skiing, art, and playing with animals. On top of her ambitions to have many pets in the future, Riley is less focused on getting published and more interested in sharing her work with close family and friends.
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