Melissa Student
Mrs. Teacher
College Prep English IIA
5 February 2013
"Crazy Sunday"
F. Scott Fitzgerald is a twentieth century American author who describes the life of the rich in many of his novel, short stories, and essays. The heroes in Fitzgerald’s works suffer the sense of the loss of promise. His themes describe the outsider as he attempts to achieve the American Dream. Another common theme in Fitzgerald’s works is the contrast between youth, physical beauty, wealth, and potential or “romantic readiness and their polar opposites: age, ugliness, poverty, squandered potential” (Witkowski). Fitzgerald uses these themes in many of his short stories. In writing the short story, “Crazy Sunday,” F. Scott Fitzgerald uses symbolism to explore the underlying themes of insecurity and appearance which are issues faced by Fitzgerald in his personal life.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Crazy Sunday” is a story about a young screen writer trying to make it in the Hollywood film industry. The main character, Joel, tried to get in with the right people to help his career take off. Eventually, he meets and get involved in the lives of Miles and Stella Calman. Joel works with Miles and begins to attend their parties on the weekends. There is a mutual attraction between Joel and Stella and while Miles is away for business, Joel spends the night with Stella. Shortly after that, Miles dies in a plane crash. Stella begs Joel to stay with her, but Joel’s immediate reaction is to leave Stella, even though she loves him. Fitzgerald used personal experiences from his own life and incorporated them into his short stories and characters.
Joel Coles, the main character in “Crazy Sunday” is “based on Fitzgerald and his embarrassment at a party” (Becnel). Fitzgerald attended a party where he embarrassed himself. In “Crazy Sunday, Joel embarrassed himself at a party by performing a song he had written. Contrary to the expected laughter, he was booed (Morris). "Crazy Sunday" provides an excellent example of the way Fitzgerald incorporated autobiographical incidents into his fiction.
Fitzgerald uses vivid characters who share similar personality characteristics in “Crazy Sunday.” “Because the story’s characters work in a profession that creates and markets illusions, the problems of personal identity are heightened and the thin line between acting and being is blurred” (Morris). So, the main characters Stella and Miles both are involved in the theater. Additionally, even the most important characters, Stella and Miles, have successful careers, Miles is basically insecure…it is his insecurity that leads him to seek female attention and admiration in affairs” (Milne 76). This shows that despite wealth and success, there can still be personal identity issues that are hidden from others and are reasons for a person’s actions. In this case, Miles needed female attention because he was insecure. “Stella’s insecurity is evident in her pursuit of Joel, which she accelerates when she discovers Miles’ affair” (Milne 73). Similar to her husband, Stella also seeks attention because she is insecure with herself. “…the coexistence of characters glamour and emotional instability, the mind and body, and Stella’s insecurity for complete dependence…” (Milne 74). The insecurity and lack of personality identity of the characters in “Crazy Sunday” prove that money cannot buy happiness and emotional stability.
“Crazy Sunday” contrasts the physical beauty, charisma, and talent of its major characters, Joel, Stella, Miles, with the instability, weakness or tendency toward self destruction which seems to coincide, even be necessary, to their beauty and talent” (Becnel). The predominant theme explored in “Crazy Sunday” is the problem of appearance versus reality. “There is a log of acting and performing that goes on in Hollywood, both on and off the set” (Morris). For example, Stella and Miles put on this act like they are better than everyone else because of their money, beauty, and success. However, they both have numerous issues which they constantly hide from the world. “The entire story emphasizes the artificial atmosphere of the Hollywood” (Fitzgerald 54). Joel is also a victim who has trouble separating the real from the unreal. “Joel spent his childhood with a mother who was an actress; he was always trying to separate the real from the unreal or at least keep one guess ahead…” (Becnel). Thus, this fake, artificial lifestyle is what Joel learned and became accustomed to. He grew up with it and it ultimately affected his adult life. “…in the world of “Crazy Sunday” only appearance count (Morris). Unfortunately, this is true in the story is the primary reason the characters have such underlying personal issues. No one in “Crazy Sunday” cares about anything other than appearance and money, so people are forced to hide who they really are. This can only hurt them in the end.
Fitzgerald’s use of symbolism begins at the start of the story. “The first paragraph describes the characters as puppets awakening in a toy shop. The Calman house itself is “like a stage, built for great emotional moments with an air of listening as if the far silences of its vistas hid an audience” (Fitzgerald 54). Fitzgerald is using foreshadowing to show that the characters are like puppets. The symbol of the Calman house as a stage indicates that acting will take place here.
The image of eyes is a prominent symbol and is repeated throughout the story. “Your eyes are like your mother’s, she said. I used to have a scrap book full of pictures of her. Your eyes are like your own and not a bit like any other eyes” (Becnel). The reader is constantly being drawn to people seeing, looking, and gazing. Fitzgerald uses the symbol of eyes as a way to look more closely at the way things appear in the short story.
The day, Sunday, is another symbol used in the short story. The opening lines of thestory reveal that, “It was Sunday, not a day, but rather a gap between two other days” (Becnel). Fitzgerald describes the other days of the week as rushed, struggles, and many personalities fighting for their lives. However, he says that Sundays are slow and an individual’s life is started up again. This is ironic because any important event that happened in the story happened on a Sunday. For example, the party where Joel embarrassed himself, Joel’s affair with Stella, and Miles’ death, all occurred on three crazy Sundays. “The fully dramatized Sunday Scenes are visually oriented” (Morris).
Obviously, there couldn’t be a Fitzgerald story without color used as a symbol. “An Italian colored sweater, a dress like ice water, made in a thousand pale-blue pieces with ice trickling at the throat” (Morris). These are just a few of the many colors that Fitzgerald used to describe objects in “Crazy Sunday.” Fitzgerald was known for using colors to stand for something beyond themselves in his writings. “Readers are constantly being directed to the appearances’ shapes, colors, and positions” (Morris).
Overall, F. Scott Fitzgerald use symbolism in his story “Crazy Sunday” while including the themes of insecurity and appearance and sharing events in his personal life through events undergone by his characters. The way he weaves the characters with his personal experiences makes this story realistic and relatable. His use of symbolism also adds to the content of this work and makes it enjoyable to read.
Works Cited
Becnel, Kim. “Crazy Sunday.” Bloom’s How to Write about F. Scott Fitzgerald. New York: Chelsea, 2007. Bloom’s Literary Reference Online. Web. 16 Jan. 2013.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. “Crazy Sunday.” Short Stories. New York: Lippincott, 2010. Print.
Milne, Ira. “Crazy Sunday.” Short Stories for Students. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 8 Jan. 2013.
Morris, William E. “Crazy Sunday.” Masterplots II: Short Story Series. Salem, 2006. Rev. ed. Literary Reference Center. Web. 3 Jan. 2013.
Witkowski, John. “F. Scott Fitzgerald.” Magill’s Survey of American Literature. Salem, 2006. Rev. ed. Literary Reference Center. Web. 3 Jan. 2013.