Fitzgerald
Almost everyone in the world has a read a book at some time in there life, whether it was for pleasure, school, or something else. People often read books that can relate to their present situation or personality. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story, “The Offshore Pirate” Fitzgerald uses the title of a book to portray his character’s personality and to help the reader better understand the character’s feelings about their present situation.
Fitzgerald describes his character, Ardita Farnam, as, “Slender and supple, with a spoiled alluring mouth and quick gray eyes full of radiant curiosity” (92). He hints that this young girl is not as innocent as the first impression states because she is, “reclined in a wicker settee reading The Revolt of the Angels, by Anatole France” (92) “and as she read she intermittently regaled herself by a faint application to her tongue of a half-lemon that she held in her hand” (92). These symbols show that Ardita is not as sweet as she is made out to be but probably sour like the lemon. The most prominent and most used symbol is the book, The Revolt of Angels, which she is reading.
The book comes into play several more times throughout the story. The first time being when Curtis Carlyle takes control of her boat and tells her “inside of five minutes you’ll have to make a clear decision whether it’s go or stay” (99). When she doesn’t answer him, he mentions the book to her and afterwards she coolly tells him “You can’t get me off this yacht” (99). The mentioning of the book during her response causes the reader to make a connection between the book and her personality. Ardita is also unwilling to accept Curtis. She thinks to herself, “He’s not like me, there’s a difference somewhere” (100). All of this occurs while she is still reading the book.
At this point in the story, the reader can assume that Ardita is coming to the end of her book. Her conversation with Curtis is surprisingly open but not quite completely...
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