Which setback most significantly contributed to Fitzgerald's drinking problem?

Which setback most significantly contributed to Fitzgerald's drinking problem?

• A. The end of Zelda's engagement
• B. The loss of a literary prize
• C. The failure of his playwriting career
• D. The death of a close friend

Answer: (C)

The main idea here is how a writer’s professional setbacks can erode confidence and push a person toward coping through alcohol. Fitzgerald rode into the literary scene with quick early successes, but as he tried to sustain and expand his career—especially by moving to playwriting—he faced repeated public disappointments. A Broadway venture that flopped and a string of missed opportunities underscored that his status as a serious, earning writer wasn’t secure. That ongoing professional insecurity, paired with financial strain and the pressure to reproduce earlier hits, helped fuel his drinking as a way to dull anxiety, cope with failure, and maintain the social persona of a bright, popular author in the Jazz Age. The other possibilities involve more personal or episodic losses, which, while painful, don’t align as directly with the sustained pattern of anxiety and identity threat that plagued him through the more continuous struggle of his writing career.

The main idea here is how a writer’s professional setbacks can erode confidence and push a person toward coping through alcohol. Fitzgerald rode into the literary scene with quick early successes, but as he tried to sustain and expand his career—especially by moving to playwriting—he faced repeated public disappointments. A Broadway venture that flopped and a string of missed opportunities underscored that his status as a serious, earning writer wasn’t secure. That ongoing professional insecurity, paired with financial strain and the pressure to reproduce earlier hits, helped fuel his drinking as a way to dull anxiety, cope with failure, and maintain the social persona of a bright, popular author in the Jazz Age. The other possibilities involve more personal or episodic losses, which, while painful, don’t align as directly with the sustained pattern of anxiety and identity threat that plagued him through the more continuous struggle of his writing career.