When F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote “A New Leaf” for the Saturday Evening Post in 1931 it is unclear if he knew the impact it would have on the literary world almost a century later. His short story is set in Paris, France and incorporates three characters: the beautiful heiress Julia Ross, the scholarly lawyer Phil Hoffman and the handsome playboy Dick Ragland and tells the tale of their incipient love triangle. In a time when drinking was more than a pastime but rather a way of life and showed social ranking, it is not surprising to find that a main character in Fitzgerald’s story would be an alcoholic. Fitzgerald himself was an alcoholic as Biography.com Editors states “Always a heavy drinker, he [Fitzgerald] progressed steadily into alcoholism
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In A New Leaf readers met characters who learn how what the eye saw was not always a person’s true personality. According to Fitzgerald, his main character stated, “I don’t believe a word of it...I bet he’s tremendously attractive”(2), about a stranger, Julia was intent on meeting although she was warned by a close friend named Phil, he would be no good for her. She claimed the opinion given was nonsense based on the fact she saw a handsome man and believed he could do no wrong. Perceiving he would be able to give her all she would ever hope for in life, she forced her friend into introductions which could have placed undue tensions within that already one sided relationship. Human interactions within the story had given backbone to many relationships which lead to failure. It is human to be let down by expectations. Fitzgerald explains, “She liked him as well as anyone she knew, but he had at present all the overbearance of the son of a chief of police” (3) as description of the relationship between Julia and Phil. She enjoyed his company, was not drawn towards love, and also carried a sense of almost resentment for the level of care he showed her because she wanted to live spontaneously while he disapproved of some of her
In A New Leaf readers met characters who learn how what the eye saw was not always a person’s true personality. According to Fitzgerald, his main character stated, “I don’t believe a word of it...I bet he’s tremendously attractive”(2), about a stranger, Julia was intent on meeting although she was warned by a close friend named Phil, he would be no good for her. She claimed the opinion given was nonsense based on the fact she saw a handsome man and believed he could do no wrong. Perceiving he would be able to give her all she would ever hope for in life, she forced her friend into introductions which could have placed undue tensions within that already one sided relationship. Human interactions within the story had given backbone to many relationships which lead to failure. It is human to be let down by expectations. Fitzgerald explains, “She liked him as well as anyone she knew, but he had at present all the overbearance of the son of a chief of police” (3) as description of the relationship between Julia and Phil. She enjoyed his company, was not drawn towards love, and also carried a sense of almost resentment for the level of care he showed her because she wanted to live spontaneously while he disapproved of some of her