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Simile
Explanation and Analysis—Scott's Deathbed:
Although Hemingway's memoir is not a work of fiction, he nonetheless turns some of his literary friends and acquaintances into parodies of themselves. One comedic example occurs in Chapter 17, when Hemingway uses a simile to convey a sense of F. Scott Fitzgerald's dramatic antics:
Back in the room Scott was still lying as though on his tomb, sculpted as a monument to himself, his eyes closed and breathing with exemplary dignity.
Hemingway and Scott have been out together all day in Lyon. Scott's poor planning and failure to care properly for his own car have led them to become drenched with rain in a car with no working top. It is uncomfortable and inconvenient, but Hemingway is not too bothered once they are back at the hotel in dry pajamas. He is surprised to find that Scott, on the other hand, is practically out of his mind with hypochondriac worry. Hemingway and Scott have been drinking, but Hemingway is sure that they have not had enough to make Scott truly sick. Scott believes that he is falling so ill that he might not make it through the night. He urges Hemingway on a pointless and humiliating mission to find a thermometer, even though Hemingway can tell very clearly that Scott has nothing near a life-threatening fever. When Hemingway returns, he sees Scott lying on the bed so still and mournfully that he looks like he is already dead, buried, and turned into a an expensive and audacious memorial for himself.
This is not the first time that Scott has seemed to fall extremely ill after only a small amount of alcohol; last time it happened, when they first met, Hemingway was truly worried Scott was going to die on the spot. Scott, however, pretended it never happened once he was sober again. In this instance, Hemingway feels sure that Scott is going to pull through just fine. He can't help but laugh at his new friend's ridiculous antics. The "dignity" of the monument Scott resembles is at complete odds with the indignity of his condition. Hemingway eventually pretends to take his temperature with a thermometer meant for measuring the temperature of bathwater, further turning his friend into a laughingstock.
Scott's intense reaction to alcohol is comical in this passage, and Hemingway plays it up with his figurative language. At the same time, it is worrying that Scott falls apart so easily. Throughout the chapter and the rest of his appearances in the book, he comes across as a deeply insecure and disorganized person who can't handle his emotions or many of the demands of adult life. Many of the characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald's writing are just like this: born into just enough wealth that they never learn self-discipline, they find themselves destroyed by alcoholism and their own fragile psyches. Hemingway turns his friend into a parody of these characters to emphasize the tragedy and humor of his friend's life. Fitzgerald could write such messy characters because he himself was so messy. On the other hand, it is difficult to say that any of their problems are all that big. If Fitzgerald could simply come to his senses, he could see that he is fretting over nothing.
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