Crazy Sunday by Fitzgerald

Crazy Sunday "The natural state of the sentient adult is a qualified unhappiness," wrote Fitzgerald. His short story "Crazy Sunday" exemplifies this cynical resignation. The protagonist of "Crazy Sunday" is Joel Coles, an aspiring screenwriter who has "not yet broken by Hollywood." The short story represents "that end that comes to our youth and hopes," for Coles comes to terms with the futility of trying to garner self-respect in a thankless world. When Coles is invited to a party, he is certain it will mean his big break.

Rather than enhancing Joel's career prospects or deepening his writing skills, Joel comes to terms with a "lulling indirection." The characters in "Crazy Sunday" uphold the central theme of the inevitable futility of personal ambition. At the start of the story, Joel is filled with promise and hope, and he views himself as "a young man of promise." He is convinced that attending a "party out of the top-drawer" would propel him to fame and garner him the respect he sorely needs as up-and-coming talent.

At this early point, Joel represents the portion of Fitzgerald's quote about "youth and hopes." As soon as he arrives, however, his hope almost instantly fades. It is as if Joel comes of age and leaves behind his seemingly childish dreams of fame and fortune. Fitzgerald is concerned with hackneyed dreams, not real one.

Personal integrity does not seem to be an issue for Joel, who only self deprecatingly calls himself a "hack," and who actually believes himself to be a "point of fire." Although Joel writes a lot, he seems more concerned with meeting the right people than with writing. When he starts to drown his social anxieties in alcohol, it becomes apparent that Joel is deeply insecure about his actual abilities. He soon replaces his professional ambitions with the more attainable goal of wooing Stella.

Miles represents the extent of cynical resignation that Fitzgerald explores in "Crazy Sunday." The narrator describes him as "tired -- not with the exaltation of fatigue but life-tired." Miles also encapsulates the futility of selfish pursuits, which Fitzgerald criticizes over more genuine self-expression. For example, Miles is willing to cheat on Stella but cannot stand the thought of Stella doing the same to him. He does not actually seem to love Stella; he is only concerned about his own pride.

"I'll tell you one thing, right or wrong and no matter what I've done, if I ever had anything on her I'd divorce her. I can't have my pride hurt -- that would be the last straw." Joel prickles at Miles's attitude but says nothing. After a while, Joel becomes paralyzed by his own failure and ineptitude. "Self-conscious in his silk hat against the unemployment," he falls deeper into a pit of narcissistic despair. Joel loses himself in Stella, setting aside his "youth and hopes" for an unavailable woman.

His excessive drinking and his infatuation with Stella are forms of escapism,.