Need for Control in Tender is the NightDick Diver NightDick Diver's love for his wife Nicole, in F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night, is based solely on his need to assert control and act as if he cared about her because of her illness. He takes on this role to feel validated for his lack of achievement in his professional life. The only real success that can be attributed to him is the "cure" of Nicole, achieved through his devotion and care; he then continually tries to replicate this previous success in his relationships with other girls. He appears to be a source of care and stability just as he was for Nicole, relying on him for cure and protection from her illness. The growth of Dick and Nicole's relationship is shown through letters written by Nicole. Even though there is no response from Dick to reference, we see the change in Nicole from incoherent babbling to normal correspondence. Dr. Gregory then credits Dick with the case as a success: "When the change began, delicacy prevented me from opening it further. Truly it had become your case" (136). Nicole relies on his letters at the clinic and apologizes when he doesn't write, fearing she has lost him; "But when Dick's response was delayed for any reason, an explosion of worry would erupt, similar to a lover's worry: 'Maybe I've bored you,' and: 'I'm afraid I've assumed' (142). He is her bond out of the clinic and desperately needs that relationship and its approval Nicole is repeatedly described through her smile as young and innocent: "She smiled, a touching childish smile that was like the lost youth of the world" and "every time he turned around." he smiled slightly at her, his face lit up like that of an angel..." (153). The love he feels for D... middle of paper... shiny things; the story of safe gardens surrounded by the sea were implicit in his brilliant voice..." (248). In each of these he seeks love outside of the control he once had over Nicole and in doing so he is attracted to young girls and impressionable he sees and assumes he can replicate his love with Nicole. The complete loss of control over Nicole and because of his illness is Dick's final death. “He hated the beach, he resented the places where he had been a planet to the sun Dick's. Because I'm almost complete, I'm practically alone, without him" (321). Nicole's awareness of her own freedom distances her from Dick, and her only success was ultimately her greatest failure, the loss of his wife's love and the loss of the life he knew. Works Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott New York: Children of Charles Scribner, 1961