THE AVATAR IN PANAMA - Theses - Flinders University

2.1 The North American Double The Avatar in PanamaThe Double Squared: F. Scott FitzgeraldF. Scott Fitzgerald’s “One Trip Abroad” deals with the psychicand physical disintegration of newlyweds The Kellys. Through theinfluence of American expatriates in Europe, the couple is seduced intoa decadent, modern lifestyle in a narrative which considers the émigréexperience. 39 Throughout their travels, the pair encounters the samecouple, a schizoid projection of themselves, who like Dorian Gray’sportrait, represents their rakishness and reflects their ruin by trackingtheir stages of degradation. The end of “One Trip Abroad” finds themembittered and contemplating their demise at a Swiss sanitorium.Each of the four sections of “One Trip Abroad” contains at leastone appearance of the anonymous couple. 40 The first introduces threecouples; the Kellys, the Mileses, and the nameless couple-double. Eachpair, however, is described as functioning as one unit: “Mr. and Mrs.Liddell Miles, turning as one person, smiled and spoke to the youngAmerican couple”, Fitzgerald writes (578).In their subtle debut, the Kellys catch a glimpse of the charmingyoung pair which elicits a feeling of familiarity: Nicole is almost positiveshe has met the girl somewhere before as she finds “her eyes drawnirresistibly toward them” (579). 41 On the second occasion, Nicole isfaced with the option of staying in or leaving a nightclub. While weighingup the alternative recourses she sees her alter-ego manifest one courseof action and she follows suit; she leaves (581).The oppressive feeling of increasing detachment soon impingesupon the Kellys’ relationship as the novelty of their exotic surroundingsfades. Nelson finds solace in alcohol and they crave the company ofothers as “[t]hey were through with being alone” (584). Their maritalmalaise becomes evident as are changes in their personality. Thecouple is poisoned by vice and continues to be shadowed by theircollective alter-ego. Nicole again sees her double though at this pointshe fails to recognise her; there is only an inkling of acquaintance andshe concludes the woman is “someone she had known once, but onlyslightly” (585). Her alter-ego serves as an impending omen of her39 “One Trip Abroad” was the basis for Fitzgerald’s novel Tender is the Night and forthis reason was never collected although it is particularly admired for its effective andunusual use of the doppelganger technique. The story’s subject draws on Fitzgerald’sexperiences during his wife’s hospitalisation after a mental collapse. F. ScottFitzgerald, “One Trip Abroad”, The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald: A NewCollection, Matthew J. Bruccoli ed (New York: Scribner's, 1989) 577-597.40 Hitherto known as the couple-double or alter-double.41As one of the functions of the passive voice in English is to diffuse responsibility foran action, it is interesting to note its use here to plant the notion of unconsciousinvisible forces at work.86