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
Dick returns early from his trip and tells Nicole he’s been with Rosemary. He “wanted to find out if she had anything to offer” but decided that she doesn’t—she hasn’t grown up. When Nicole tells Dick she’s been with Tommy, he flinches, asking Nicole not to tell him any details. Once Dick has retreated to his office, Nicole receives a call from Tommy. He asks her to say that she loves him and encourages her to tell Dick about their affair. She asks him to wait. Nicole reflects on her decade with Dick, feeling “remorse” that she’d belittled her experiences with him the night before when “she lied to Tommy […] swearing to him that” she’d never been so in love before. She turns to find her husband.
Nicole feels conflicted about having cast Dick aside; she hates to see him in pain. Interestingly, it’s not the affair that she feels guilty about, but the fact that she’d told Tommy she loved him more than she’d ever loved Dick. Feeling that she’s been careless and disloyal to Dick and their marriage, she goes to find him.
Themes
Nicole observes Dick as she approaches, feeling sad for him for the first time. She puts her arms around him affectionately, but he snaps at her, “Don’t touch me!” Coldly, Dick declares “I can’t do anything for you any more. I’m trying to save myself.” Nicole cries in anger, retaliating by saying, “You’re a coward! You’ve made a failure of your life, and you want to blame it on me.”
Nicole’s efforts to comfort Dick are futile—he’s too embittered for her sympathy and declares that he needs to focus on saving himself. Fitzgerald presents the tragic disintegration of Dick and Nicole’s marriage, eliciting sympathy for them both.
Themes
When Dick doesn’t reply, Nicole begins to lose her nerve, but she is determined to remain “top dog.” She reminds herself of her new affair, her beauty, her wealth, Baby’s dislike of Dick, and his “deterioration.” Refusing to lie to herself anymore, Nicole “cut[s] the cord forever,” walking, sobbing but triumphant, toward the house “that was hers at last.” Dick lowers his head; he is finally free.
Nicole stands up for herself, articulating her feelings with impressive precision and force. While Nicole has beauty, love, and security, Dick finally has his freedom. The narrator’s framing here is arguably sexist because while the narrator sides with Dick—portraying Nicole as a burden and the ultimate cause of Dick’s downfall—the narrator doesn’t fully interrogate how abusive and controlling Dick’s treatment of Nicole has been. Perhaps Nicole also deserves her freedom.
Themes
