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Lauren McKay
Mr. Hackney
Rhetoric 101
13 November 2014
All for Nothing
Often times, an individual battling an illness is so sick, that there is not anything anyone
can do to help them. F. Scott Fitzgerald incorporates every aspect of what being a human entails
in his short story An Alcoholic Case. The successes and failures that many individuals are
faced with throughout their lives is a major concept in this piece. Looking through a
psychoanalytic lens, I find Fitzgerald touching on topics with a certain familiarity that makes it
obvious he has endured some of these experiences himself. From the core of his writing, it is
crucial to understand that this author writes stories using touchy issues and controversial ideas to
create successful pieces of writing that people can relate to and learn from. It is also important to
understand that this lens looks deep into the subconscious of an individual and focuses not so
much on what they did, but why they did it. In F. Scott Fitzgeralds short story An Alcoholic
Case, the substantial amount of conflict in the life of a retired cartoonist, from the viewpoint of
a stranger hired to assist him in the recovery from his downfall, sheds light on his tragic past and
what led him to destroy his remarkable talent and wholesome life.
The inner conflict the retired cartoonist has with himself is used to indicate the source of
his downfall and why he lost everything. From the beginning of the story, the extent of the mans
illness is apparent. The nurse doesnt understand why a man, as talented of a drawer as he was,
would give it all up to live a life that only leads to death. As the plot unfolds, the nurse uncovers
the source of his pain. When he was in the war, he was shot in the ribs (Fitzgerald 308). The

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cartoonist now has a copper plate on his left rib about the size of a silver dollar (304). During
this time, the medical resources and treatments were not ideal for men wounded in war. It is safe
to assume this wound is incredibly painful, and with a lack of relief for this, the war veteran
turned to alcohol to dull the pain of this agonizing wound. From this method of coping with such
a terrible event, he may have gained some physical relief, but lost much more.
The outer conflict the man faced is what pushed him over the edge and to the point of no
recovery. After living with him in the in the Forest Park Inn for a short time, the nurse mentions
seeing a picture on his bureau of his young wife and his two sons and him (Fitzgerald 304).
However, the man lives alone with his niece in the inn. From this, it is clear his family
abandoned him as soon as he turned to liquor to solve his problems. The loss of his loving family
and incredible talent only increased his self-destructing behavior to a point of no return. Louis
Tyson explains death as the ultimate abandonment...when we die we die alone (24). This is
exactly what the cartoonist thinks. Because he has no one left, no one to care for, and no talent to
give his life purpose; he doesnt care if he drinks himself to death. There is no helping this man,
he has made up his mind that he wants to die.
The point of view given by the nurse allows the reader to see just how deteriorated the
man has become and her realization that no one can help him. Throughout the story, the nurse
witnesses his face, white and exhausted (Fitzgerald 303) and his body sitting there weak and
defiant (Fitzgerald 309). The physical state of the cartoonist is horrifying, he is so incredibly ill
that there is no way of recovering. The nurse did not always know this, in the beginning of the
story she talked to her superior about the case and insistently stated, [r]eally, I think I could help
him (Fitzgerald 306). Her optimism was the only hope the man had, however, it did not take
long for her to realize he was far past the point of rehabilitation. It was after the incident where

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he exposed his battle wound to the woman, and she sees his Will to Die (309) in his eyes, that
she realized she could never do something constructive with him. The sad reality is that he would
never allow someone to help him, even if he knew they could.
The alcoholic man was never receptive to the help that the nurse offered him. When she
would try to redress him he held [her] hand away (305). The nurse never spoke up or
confronted him until she knew it was at a point of life or death. She even asked him, Why cant
you let me help you? What good am I doing? (309) This, of course, didnt yield the response
she wanted. In fact, it somewhat added to the demise of the cartoonist because of his realization
that he will really never be able to get close to another person again. To further clarify what this
realization entailed, Louis Tyson suggests [f]ear of abandonment...of such intense psychological
pain, is probably the biggest reason why some of us are afraid to get too close to another person
(25). The alcoholic had been abandoned by the most important people in his life, now he will
never be able to let himself get close to another person because of the fear they may leave. Both
the nurse and the man knew this finally, and as a result, the man was no longer afraid to let go.
The death of the cartoonist, although inevitable, was too much for the nurse to endure.
She vowed to never take an alcoholic case again (303). What is the point? This woman tried so
hard to help this man, she endured his violence and self-destructing behavior on a daily basis,
just to have him die a dishonorable and even humiliating death. Her final reflections on her first
alcoholic case are, its not something you can beat-no matter how hard you try...you cant really
help them and its so discouraging-its all for nothing (309).