Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Tender Is the Night, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Excess, Destruction, and the Failed American Dream
Gender, Mental Illness, and Psychiatry
The Pursuit of Youth and Innocence
Racism and Otherness
Summary
Analysis
At a dance in Switzerland, Dick finds the two Warren sisters across the hall. Nicole’s “snow-warm face” lights up when she sees him. At almost 30, Baby is tall and attractive, and has brought two Englishmen with her. Despite this, she has “certain spinsters’ characteristics” about her. She is easily startled when touched, or example, and has a strange interest in death and catastrophe.
The Divers are vacationing again, using their vast wealth to travel around Europe attending fashionable parties. The narrative voice, closely reflecting Dick’s viewpoint, portrays Baby in a negative way—she is snobbish, aloof, and intimidating. Dick dislikes her but feels better about himself when remembering that she is single and alone.
Themes
Nicole teases Dick, encouraging him to ask a young girl for a dance, but Dick is “self-conscious” and wary of seeming interested in “young maidens.” He retorts that he’s not interested in these young women—in fact, he hates them because, “When I dance with them, I feel as if I’m pushing a baby carriage.”
This passage reveals that Nicole is acutely aware of Dick’s attraction to other women—particularly to young, virginal ones. Dick becomes defensive when Nicole makes this accusation, launching into a rant about how much he actually despises “young maidens.” The reference to the “baby carriage” suggests that Dick doesn’t like to be positioned as a father figure to these young girls, but the reader knows from his previous paternal dynamic with Rosemary that this isn’t the case. Dick’s attraction to young girls is troubling—it’s as if he needs to be in proximity to youth and innocence in order to feel powerful.
Themes
Dick steps outside to meet Franz, evading Baby’s questions about how to invest Nicole’s latest installment of inheritance money. Franz is unassuming and has chosen to align himself with a “humbler class, a choice typified by his selection of a wife.” Nicole is a little afraid of Franz, and Baby, is disinterested entirely, finding him to be somewhat unrefined.
Franz is humble, modest, and hard-working—almost antithetical to Dick. Nonetheless, the two are great friends. Nicole—remembering Franz from her time in the clinic—is unsurprisingly “a little afraid” of him. Dick doesn’t seem to consider this or the bad memories Franz’s presence might raise for Nicole.
Themes
The group sledge down the slope to another party at a hotel with “an old-fashioned Swiss tap-room.” The tap-room is filled with smoke, live music, food, and spiced wine. Dick relaxes a little in the “jolly” atmosphere and perceives “innocent expectation” of the night’s “possibilities” in the faces of the young girls there. He is distracted briefly by the presence of a “special girl” but decides to apply himself to the task of ensuring his party has a splendid time.
In Dick’s relentless quest to possess and control the power and beauty of youth, he has become almost addicted to the task of searching out young girls. He likes to be in close proximity to those he considers innocent because they embody exciting “possibilities” for him and make him feel alive.
Themes
Get the entire Tender Is the Night LitChart as a printable PDF.
Franz is desperate to tell Dick something: there is an exciting opportunity to buy a clinic near Zurich and go into business together. It soon becomes apparent that Franz needs Dick’s investment to bring his plan to fruition. Dick assures Franz, however, that while Baby and Nicole are rich, he has no money of his own. However, Baby likes the idea of Nicole living beside a psychiatric clinic and encourages the idea.
It becomes apparent that Franz is not visiting the Divers for a holiday, but to present Dick with a business proposition. He believes that Dick will be able to provide the financial investment he needs to open his own clinic. Dick is vocally reluctant, perhaps just because he hopes Baby will interfere and offer the money, since Baby would feel more confident about Nicole’s health if she were near a clinic.
Themes
Dick hates the fact that he feels owned by Baby and the Warren family’s wealth, and a strong embittered feeling boils up inside him. Yearning for an opportunity to exercise his resentment, he gets into a disagreement with Baby and the Englishman about modern manners. Nicole leaves to go to bed and Dick thinks to himself that “Baby is a trivial, selfish woman.”
The tension between Dick and Baby intensifies when Dick is made to feel like the Warrens can exert power over him due to their wealth. Dick’s belligerent and retaliatory behavior towards Baby and her friend is one of the first indications that he is beginning to lose his social grace and decorum.
Themes
Feeling differently about the clinic two days later, Dick tells Franz that he wants to go ahead with the project. He cites Nicole as a primary reason, telling Franz that there is a “series of strains” that comes with living their lavish lifestyle, which Nicole can’t handle.
Given Dick’s recent callousness, it is hard to believe that his decision to go into business with Franz is entirely motivated by concern for Nicole. More likely, Dick is thinking of his professional career opportunities.
Themes
