Psychiatrist Dick Defoe was born in an ordinary family. During World War I, he was practicing medicine in the army and met Nicole, a psychopath. Nicole is a middle-class rich girl with a beautiful appearance. Because of her abnormal relationship with her father, she became insane and was sent to Dick's clinic. Nicole quickly fell in love with Dick and pursued him enthusiastically. Dick slowly developed feelings for Nicole and eventually married her. After marriage, Dick gave up his medical research career and concentrated on nursing Nicole. However, Nicole's illness has been unclear, and her contempt for Dick is getting colder and colder. Dick was exhausted and there was a rift between them. One summer, Dick and his wife went to the Riviera for a holiday and met the young actress Rosemary. Rosemary fell in love with Dick at first sight, and Dick was moved by her, but because of family and moral constraints, Dick finally rejected her. Later, Nicole moved on and asked Dick for a divorce. Dick agreed to her request and went to a remote town to open a clinic alone.

selected works

Although Mr. and Mrs. devers are really indifferent to artificial fashion, they are very keen and will not abandon the style and rhythm that accompany this fashion-Dick's party is full of excitement and * * *. There is an occasional breeze blowing in the fresh and cool night sky, which is an extremely valuable pause for those who are in the midst of noise and commotion.

The party that night continued in a funny comedy rhythm. Twelve people here, sixteen people there, four people in groups, rode quickly through Paris. Everything is expected. People seem to be possessed, flocking to accompany them as experts or even guides, spending some time, then dispersing and being replaced by others. At first glance, everyone is full of energy, as if they have been saving energy for this moment all day. Although the scale of Hollywood parties is huge, Rosemary appreciates the feast and its completely different style. Among many entertainment projects, there is also a special car of the king of Persia. It doesn't matter where Dick got the car or what kind of bribe he used. Rosemary only admits that this is one aspect of the incredible thing, and her life has been full of such things in the past two years. This car is made on a special chassis made in America. The wheels are silver, so is the cooler. The carriage is inlaid with countless jewels. When the car arrives in Tehran next week, these jewels may be exchanged for real jewels by court jewelers. There is only one real seat at the back of the car, because the king must always ride alone, so they have to take turns sitting in it for a while and sit under the car with mink.

But Dick is always everywhere. Rosemary assured her mother's image that her mother had always been with her, and that she had never, never seen anyone as decent and educated as Dick that night. She compared him with the two Englishmen, and Abu seriously called them "Major Henjester and Mr. Hosa", and compared him with the heir to the Scandinavian throne and the novelist who had just returned from Russia. She also compared Dick with the reckless and humorous Abu. Compared with Corris Clay, Corris joined somewhere and stayed with them. Through this series of comparisons, she feels that no one can compare with Dick. The enthusiasm and selflessness of the whole activity made her feel relaxed and happy. He has the skills to mobilize different types of people, who have no initiative and rely on his care, just like an infantry battalion depends on supplies. He used this technique so skillfully that he left his most secret self to everyone.

-Later, she recalled her happiest contact. She danced with Dick for the first time. At first, she felt that her beauty was shining with happiness and joy against his tall and strong body. They danced as if they were living in an interesting dream. He took her everywhere and hinted to everyone in a subtle way that she was like a dazzling bouquet of flowers, like a precious piece of cloth under the gaze of 25 pairs of eyes. Sometimes, they don't dance, they just snuggle up to each other. At some time in the morning, when they were alone, her sweaty, powdered, young body clung to his side in shabby and wrinkled clothes, and they stood there hugging each other, while others' hats and headscarves were behind them. ...

Later, once, she smiled the happiest. At that time, there were six people, six of the best people, and the most memorable noble people that night. Standing in the dark lobby of the Ritz Hotel, they told the doorman on duty at night that General Pershing was outside and he wanted some caviar and champagne. "He can't tolerate any delay. Everyone, every gun is under his command. " The waiter who was going crazy with excitement came out of nowhere and set a table in the hall. Abu came in on behalf of General Pershing, and then they stood up and sang the fragmented battle songs they still remember. It was only when the waiter expressed anger at such a wet blanket that they suddenly found themselves ignored and set a trap for the whole waiter. The so-called trap is just a huge and strange device composed of all the furniture in the hall, and its function is almost the same as the strange machine in Goldberger's cartoons. Roman Abramovich shook his head suspiciously.

"Maybe it's best to steal one to play with a hacksaw, and-"

"That's enough," Mary interrupted him. "When Abramovich began to take out that thing, it was time to go home." She confided to Rosemary anxiously:

"I seem to have to let Abramovich go home. The train he wants to take will leave at eleven. This is too important-I think the whole future prospect depends on whether he can catch the train, but whenever I quarrel with him, his attitude is always the opposite. "

"I'll try to persuade him." Rosemary volunteered.

"Are you willing to persuade him?" Mary said doubtfully. "Maybe you can."

At this moment, Dick came to Rosemary and said:

"Nicole and I are going home, and we thought maybe you would like to come with us."

Due to fatigue, her face looked very pale in the illusory morning light. Two bloodless black spots on the cheeks are places where the face is rosy during the day.

I can't,' she said. "I promised Mary North that I would stay with them-otherwise Abramovich wouldn't sleep. Maybe you can do something. "

"Don't you know that you can't do anything for people?" He persuaded her to say. "If Abu and I shared a room in college and were strict with him from the beginning, it wouldn't be like this. But now there is nothing anyone can do. "

"However, I must stay here. He said he would go to bed as long as we went to Hall's house with him. " She said almost in a challenging tone.

He kissed her elbow quickly.

"Don't let Rosemary go home alone," Nicole stopped Mary when they left. "We should be responsible for her mother."

-Later, Rosemary, Mr. and Mrs. North, together with a young factory owner from Newark, sat on a market van with thousands of carrots, collis and a new Indian named George T. Hosprotek wearing fat and conspicuous tarpaulin pants. The soil on the carrot smells sweet in the dark, and rosemary sits high above the goods. In the long shadow between the infrequent street lamps, she can hardly see anyone. Their voices came from far away, as if they had a completely different feeling from her, as if they were different and far away, because she just wanted to be with Dick and felt a little sorry for being with the northern couple. She wants to be in the hotel, and he sleeps across from her room, or she can come here and wait for her with the warm night.

"Don't come," her name is collis. "The carrots will all roll away." . She threw a carrot at Abu, who sat next to the driver like an old man. ...

Later, at dawn, she finally went home. By this time, pigeons had flown out of the sky above St. Sapis's church. They all laughed in unison, because they knew it was still night, but people in the street had an illusion that it was morning and the morning glow was everywhere.

"I finally attended a warm party," Rosemary thought, "but it was boring without Dick present."

She felt a little misguided and very sad, but then a moving object jumped into her eyes. It turned out to be a tall European horse chestnut, full of flowers. At this time, the tree has been tied to a long truck and is being transported to Garden Street of Elysee Palace for planting. At this time, the tree can only tremble and cry-like a noble man in adversity, he still has no confidence: he is noble. Rosemary looked at the big tree affectionately and couldn't help comparing herself with it. Then she was elated and laughed. At this time, everything seems to suddenly become beautiful and gratifying.

At four o'clock the next afternoon, a taxi at the station stopped at the door and Dick got off. Nicole lost her balance and stumbled down from the podium to meet him. She felt a little suffocated when she tried to control her feelings.

"Where's our car?" She asked.

"I left it in my ear. I don't want to drive anymore. "

"From your letter, I thought you would come back in a few days."

"I was caught in a dry and cold northwest wind and caught in the rain."

"Did you have a good time?"

"Just like all the people who throw everything away and run out. I drove Rosemary to avignon and put her on the train there. " They walked to the platform together. On the platform, Dick put down his handbag. "I didn't tell you this in my letter because I was afraid you would think."

"You are very thoughtful." At this time, Nicole felt more confident.

"I wonder if she gave anything-the only way is to see her alone."

"Does she have anything to offer?"

"Rosemary is immature," he answered. "That might be better. What have you been doing? "

She felt her face tremble like a rabbit.

"I went dancing last night-with Tommy Baban. We also went to-"

Dick was shocked and interrupted her.

"Don't tell me about it. It doesn't matter what you do casually, but I don't want to know so much. "

"Then there is nothing to know."

"No,no." At this time, he seemed to have been away from home for a week and asked with concern, "How are the children?"

The phone in the room rang.

"If it's for me, just say I'm not at home," Dick said, and immediately turned and walked away. "I have something to do in the studio over there."

Nicole waited until his figure disappeared by the well, then went into the house and picked up the phone.

"Nicole, how are you?"

"Dick is back."

He sighed.

"Come and see me in Cannes," he suggested. "I have something to tell you."

"I can't go."

"Tell me you love me." Nicole didn't say anything, just nodded into the microphone. He repeated, "Tell me you love me."

"Oh, of course I love you," she assured him. "However, there is nothing to think about at present."

"Of course," he said impatiently. "Dick sees that your relationship is over-obviously, he has given in. What else does he expect you to do? "

"I don't know. I have to-"She stopped suddenly and didn't say" when I can ask Dick ",but changed her tone and said," I'll write to you and call you tomorrow. "

She walked around the room triumphantly, satisfied with her achievements. She is a troublemaker now, which makes her very satisfied. She is no longer Huntress hunting in the corral. At this time, yesterday's situation reappeared in her mind with countless details-these details began to blur the same moment in her memory, when her love for Dick was still fresh and complete. She began to despise that kind of love, which made their love mixed with feelings from the beginning. With this speculative woman's memory, she can hardly remember how she felt a month before marrying Dick. At that time, they admired each other in the unknown corner of the world and were inseparable. In this way, she lied to Tommy last night and swore to him that she had never loved him so thoroughly, completely and unreservedly before. ...

..... Then, she felt remorse for her betrayal at the moment. The idea arrogantly denied her ten years of life. Regret making her turn to Dick's temple-like studio.

When she approached quietly, she saw him staying at the back of the hut, sitting on a couch on the edge of the cliff. She stared at him quietly for a while. He is thinking and living in his own world. His face trembled slightly, his brow was wrinkled and loose, his eyes narrowed and opened, his mouth opened and closed, and his hands kept twisting. She could see that the experience in his heart was spiraling out of his chest, from one stage to another. This experience belongs to him, not to her. On one occasion, he clenched his fist and leaned forward; On one occasion, there was an expression on his face that was tortured and disheartened-when this expression passed over his face, its traces lingered in his eyes, and she felt sorry for him for the first time in almost all her life-it was not easy for people who had suffered from mental illness to feel sorry for healthy people. Although Nicole often thanks Dick for bringing her back to the lost world, she always really thinks that he has endless power and never works tirelessly. She forgot the trouble she sometimes caused Dick, and at such a moment, she forgot all the troubles that drove her. Now, he no longer controls her-does he know? Is all this arranged according to his wishes? She felt sorry for him, just as she sometimes felt sorry for Abnos and his humble fate, just as she felt sorry for helpless children and old people.

Nicole stepped forward, put her arms around his shoulders, put their heads together and said:

"Don't be sad."

Dick looked at her coldly.

"Don't touch me!" He said.

Nicole was at a loss and stepped aside.

"Please forgive me," he continued absently. "I'm just thinking about what I think of you-"

"Why not add this new category to your book?"

"I thought about this-the topic is" Re-discussion on the consequences of psychopathy and neurosis-""

"It's not unpleasant for me to come here."

"Then why did you come, Nicole? I can't do anything for you anymore. I am trying to save myself. "

"From my infection?"

"Sometimes my career forces me to deal with people with moral problems."

Nicole cried angrily for this * * *.

"You are a coward! You make yourself a loser in life, but you have to blame me for your mistakes! "

Dick didn't answer. She began to feel the charming effect of his past wisdom. Sometimes this charming effect is usually not exerted by force, but by layers of truth, which Nicole can't break or even open a seam. She fought it again. Fight him with her small and beautiful eyes, with the arrogant attitude of the dominator, with her budding attitude towards another man, with the hatred she has accumulated for many years, with her money and faith. The belief is that her sister hates him and supports herself. With his pain, he is making new enemies, with her clever deception, she eats and drinks slowly, with her health and beauty to deal with his physical weakness, with her recklessness to deal with his moral concept-in this spiritual battle, she even used her weakness to confront him with old cans, pottery, glass bottles, sins, atrocities and mistakes that have been redeemed. Suddenly, after only two minutes, she won, without lying or using tricks to prove herself, and her behavior was quite justified, which cut off the connection between them forever. Then, moving her weak legs and sobbing quietly, she walked to the home that finally belonged to her.

Dick waited until she disappeared from his sight. Then, he leaned his head against the railing. This case has been closed. Dr. Dave has no attachments.

(Wang Ning, Gu Mingdong, Xu Xinyi)

Precautions:

Goldberger (1883-? ), American cartoonist.

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The title of Tender is the Night comes from Keats's poem Ode to a Nightingale, which Fitzgerald put on the title page of the novel. The original poem wrote: "Although the night is gentle ... there is no light here." It can be seen that the gentle night color is ironic. Like a negative film in a darkroom, the picture in the real world is reversed, without light and tenderness. This kind of sentimental and disillusioned sadness runs through all Fitzgerald's works. As a representative writer of "Jazz Age" and "Lost Generation" in the United States, his novels reflect such a life scene: after World War I, social moral values have changed and become conspicuous, and people are chasing and immersed in the jingling "American Dream", but these dreams are being broken one by one.

As a broken witness of "American Dream", Fitzgerald often fictionalizes the world of novels while describing his real experience. This makes his novels partly autobiographical and becomes a place for him to sigh and treat in the real world. Dick, the protagonist in Tender is the Night, is a transformational writer. At the time of writing this work, the writer's spirit was in a state of collapse, and his wife, like Nicole, was mentally ill. In the novel, the writer vividly describes Nicole's crazy behavior and fierce eyes when she is sick. These scenes should also be painstakingly handled by writers over and over again. In addition, like Dick, he entered the upper class from humble origins, witnessed and personally experienced the truth, irritability and panic, boredom and sadness of the upper class, and gnawed at their bodies and souls through fine clothes and delicious food. The lifestyle of the middle class used to be their early pursuit. Now they have realized their wishes and have wealth and status, but these things have not given them stable happiness.

The following are excerpts from Chapter 18 of Part I and Chapter 9 of Part III of the novel. These two chapters constitute a contrast between the process of time and the development of events, from which Dick's life situation and ideological character have undergone tremendous changes, enabling readers to explore the internal and external reasons for these changes through the writer's narrative, especially the middle class who loves and hates the writer and Dick, so as to perceive the writer's mood and intention in creating this novel.

The first story in chapter 18 happened in the summer when Dick and Rosemary first met. At that time, Dick and Nicole's marriage was not at the end of their tether. The couple went to the seaside for their holiday and made many friends in the upper class. Banquets, salons and small talk are fashionable pastimes of this class, while Dick is a master of organizing novel parties without a teacher. He was creative and original. The party he held attracted all the guests and everyone had a good time. In this chapter, the author shows Dick's all-encompassing and omnipotent personal charm through his worship and infatuation with Rosemary. In Rosemary's opinion, all the people at the party are inferior to Dick. Like a general, he can "mobilize the skills of different types of people", and at the same time, his honesty and credibility "keep the most secret self" for them. Dick entered this rich tribe because of Nicole's leadership, but he is more elegant, charming and capable than those so-called "aborigines". Coupled with his good manners, elegant demeanor and handsome appearance, Dick is simply a perfect man. No wonder Rosemary likes him.

In this chapter, the author created a confident and energetic Dick. It was this self-confidence and vitality that made him accept Nicole's fanatical pursuit, and finally married her without worrying that she was insane, and made up his mind to pull her back to her lost world with his love and medical skills. Dick's ideal is to be "the greatest psychiatrist ever". He wants to be "an honest man, a kind man, a brave man and a smart man". He greeted the new world with joy and strict self-discipline, but real life set up a thick wall in front of him. He experienced the promiscuity and frivolity of the so-called upper class and saw the depravity and evil of the middle class. In particular, he loved as a saint with the spirit of self-sacrifice, which did not bring him a happy return. Even Nicole betrayed him.

By the ninth chapter of the third novel, the relationship between Dick and Nicole has finally deteriorated completely, and their indifference and boredom have reached an undisguised level. Dick at this time is no longer the self-confidence and vitality he once had when he held a party in high spirits. He started drinking and often lost his mind. Looking back on this marriage with Nicole, he felt painfully that he had wasted six years.

In the past six years, Jenny can deprive him by adsorption and use him to save herself and restore her health, which is different from the way her uncle Bobby treats him condescendingly. Or when she is pursuing Dick, she just wants someone to hold her emotions and accompany her. In this part, the author sharply uses the word "speculation" to describe Nicole and describes her behavior as "clever deception". In a word, Nicole no longer has a slight affection for Dick, and the occasional conscience and remorse are just posturing. Years of repression and contempt stifled Dick's true love and kindness. He can't stand it any longer. He wants to break with Nicole and her world completely. "This case is over. Dr. Dave has no attachments. " Here, in a sad style, the writer not only wrote Dick's sigh of liberation from pain, but also wrote the sadness of feeling the wasted time in the past.

Dick, the "perfect" man, has been alone ever since. Did the six years he spent for Nicole easily become a collection? What did he get from it?

It's not money-Dick has never coveted Nicole's wealth. After getting married, he has always insisted on paying for his clothes, personal expenses, drinks and even the education of a child with his meager income. After the divorce, he left alone. Nicole asked him if he wanted money, but he ignored him.

Not love-he didn't get love, affection and friendship. Uncle Bobby always thought Dick married Nicole for money, so he looked down on him everywhere. Tommy, a friend, robbed him of his position and was aggressive when he showed his cards. Not to mention his devoted wife, she is more cruel than anyone when she turns her face.

It's true-for people in Nicole's class, Dick is the host of these parasites absorbing and greedily absorbing nutrient solution, but Dick himself can't get feedback from parasites. In the excerpt, Dick said to Nicole, "I can't do anything for you anymore." This is him driving away the parasites that have been pestering him. In Nicole's impression, Dick has inexhaustible strength and never gets tired. In fact, because Dick entered the kingdom of love with sincerity, he was willing to give everything for the people he loved. Once Nicole felt that he was drained and deprived of nutrition and value, he was abandoned.

Because the topic needs to be reversed, a close reading of Tender is Night is full of inconsistencies between the surface and the insole. Its plot is not unique, nor dangerous and puzzling; Its language is not obscure, obscure and confusing. However, if you want to read it easily, you can't do it at once. The reason should be attributed to the writer's narrative style and the structural arrangement of his works. Its spread is not because of its writing style, but because of stories, characters and writers' in-depth experience and understanding of specific class groups in a specific historical period.

(Sun Yue)