A young man, George O’ Kelly, wants to get money and success quickly so he can marry his fiancée, Jonquil Cary. For this reason, he quits his job as a construction engineer, and moves from Tennessee to New York City to work as an insurance clerk. He gets fired when he applies for some time off work to visit Jonquil. While they are together, they have a quarrel, because they do not have enough money to get marry. So, they split up and this is the sensible thing to do it. After this, George goes to Peru, and he becomes a successful engineer. A year later, he goes back to the girl, and he realises that he can have her now, but his feelings for her have changed.
Maybe F Scott Fitzgerald based the story on his own early relationship with his wife, Zelda Sayre; George’s love for Jonquil parallels his love for Zelda. George puts love before practical matters, but he is rejected by Jonquil, because he does not have enough money to marry her. At the end of the story, George has become more mature and sensible, and his feelings for Jonquil have changed. The author probably wants to say George still has a chance to decide whether Jonquil is suitable for him, whereas the author has regreted his marriage; if he had not married Zelda, perhaps he would not have had serious health and financial problems. Another point of view is people want things more if they can’t have them; when their relationship is possible, George’s feelings are not as strong as they were before.
Maybe F Scott Fitzgerald based the story on his own early relationship with his wife, Zelda Sayre; George’s love for Jonquil parallels his love for Zelda. George puts love before practical matters, but he is rejected by Jonquil, because he does not have enough money to marry her. At the end of the story, George has become more mature and sensible, and his feelings for Jonquil have changed. The author probably wants to say George still has a chance to decide whether Jonquil is suitable for him, whereas the author has regreted his marriage; if he had not married Zelda, perhaps he would not have had serious health and financial problems. Another point of view is people want things more if they can’t have them; when their relationship is possible, George’s feelings are not as strong as they were before.
