De Anda 1

Itsayana De Anda
Professor Martinez
UNIV 1301
11/29/2016
Critical Analysis: Syntax
The sentence structure of a story is very important because not only does it set the
characters personalities but it also sets the tone, mood and the ambiance. In the story An
Alcoholic Case by F. Scott Fitzgerald, syntax is the main component in showcasing the complex
and complicated relationship between the nurse and the alcoholic patient. The structure of a
sentence is done intentionally by the author to influence the way the reader perceives the piece of
writing. Without syntax, a story would lose its tone and style.
In the short story, An Alcoholic Case by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the literary device that is
portrayed throughout the story is syntax. Syntax, as defined by Anna Leahy, [is] there to
embody and enliven [the writers] ideas, to convince [the reader] of their brilliance (Leahy 306).
In this short story, syntax is used by Fitzgerald to display the style. You know what Dr Carter
says Ill stay awake and give it to you, or else fix some of it in the bottle come on like I told
you, Im too tired to be fightin you all night All right, drink your fool self to death
(Fitzgerald 327). In that sentence, because of the syntax, we can assume the nurse is arguing and
struggling with her patient that is an alcoholic. Just by the way Fitzgerald organizes the sentence
with dashes, ellipses and incomplete ideas, it allows the reader to make the assumption she isnt
given the opportunity to talk properly, being distracted by something the patient is doing. Not
only does it give us insight on the actions of the characters, but it also gives us a sneak peek of
the nurses constant conflicting emotions with any type of alcoholic cases. One moment shes

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trying her hardest to keep her patient from drinking and the next, shes giving up, telling him to
drink his fool self to death. By doing this, Fitzgerald is crafting and telling the story of how
this nurse is at a constant battle of whether to keep helping this alcoholic or not. If he had
structured this sentence as short separate ones, the way we perceive the nurse would be
completely different. She could be interpreted as a really dry, bland nurse that doesnt care for
her patient.
Fitzgerald was a known alcoholic, even up until his last days. The fact that the author of
An Alcoholic Case was an alcoholic himself, immediately makes the reader presume and
expect his personal experiences and feelings to taint the story. Dr. Howard Markel, in his article
for JAMA, The Last Alcoholic Days of F. Scott Fitzgerald, writes about the everyday battle
Fitzgerald had with alcohol as an alcoholic. Towards the end of his article, Markel tells the
reader: every morning during the last, sad years of his life, Scott awoke with the hope that he
could tell his alcoholic demons to scram (Markel 1940). This is important because the tone of
the story is greatly influenced by the writers attitude.
In An Alcoholic Case, the tone in the beginning is very annoyed. We see the nurse
frustrated and annoyed by the alcoholic because no matter her efforts in keeping him sober, he
just doesnt quit drinking. However, in the second half of the story, the tone starts to shift
towards the end. Its not like anything you can beat no matter how hard you try. [] Its just
that you cant really help them and its so discouraging its all for nothing (Fitzgerald, 334)..
Here Fitzgerald shifts the tone from annoyed to disheartened, practically telling the audience an
alcoholic is a lost cause. The way he uses dashes to separate his thoughts just adds to the tone of
disappointment and discouragement. Without them, the reader wouldnt be able to capture the
necessary pause to take in the tone. Considering how Fitzgerald struggled with alcoholism every

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day and no matter how many times he tried to quit, he found himself to be [reaching] for a
drink, and then another, sliding closer and closer to his grave (Markel 1940).
Without syntax, the short story An Alcoholic Case would be very boring, the reader
wouldnt be able to picture the scenes in their heads, they wouldnt be able to picture an
alcoholic in a frenzy to wrestle the drink from his nurse. We think in sentences, and the way we
think is the way we see By cracking open that syntax, we release energy and are able to see the
world afresh and from a new angle (Leahy 308).

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Works Cited
Leahy, Anna. "Grammar Matters: A Creative Writer's Argument." Pedagogy 5.2 (2005): 304-308.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.
Markel, Howard. "The Last Alcoholic Days of F. Scott Fitzgerald." JAMA: Journal of The
American Medical Association 301.18 (2009): 1939-1940. Academic Search Complete.
Web. 29 Nov. 2016.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. An Alcoholic Case. The Oxford Book of American Short Stories 2nd ed. Ed.
Joyce Carol Oates. New York: The Ontario Review, Inc, 2013. 327-334. Print.