"First Blood" is a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940), widely known simply as Scott Fitzgerald, was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and exces ...

, originally published in the April 5, 1930 issue of ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...

'', illustrated by Harry Russell Ballinger. It was later included in his 1935 short story collection ''

Taps at Reveille ''Taps at Reveille'' is a collection of 18 short stories by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1935. It was the fourth and final volume of previously uncollected short stories Fitzgerald published in h ...

''.

Plot

The story is about teen rebellion and centers on the Perrys, a wealthy family living in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. The young Josephine Perry joins her friend for a trip to see their boyfriends under the guise of seeing a

movie A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

. Her love interest is Travis de Coppet, another young

WASP A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder ...

. During the course of the evening Travis makes advances towards Josephine and is subsequently rejected. She rejoices at the power she has over men. Throughout the short story she is characterized as beautiful yet jealous. At the close of the story she laments the fact a man she has interest in is out with another girl, all the while she cannot reciprocate another's feelings because she is emotionally truncated. It is the first of the five part "Josephine Perry" stories.

History

The story was published while Zelda's mental health was in a palpable decline. Thus, Fitzgerald began to use the profits from short stories to pay for medical bills. This story was published the same month

Zelda Fitzgerald Zelda Fitzgerald (; July 24, 1900 – March 10, 1948) was an American novelist, painter, and socialite. Born in Montgomery, Alabama, to a wealthy Southern family, she became locally famous for her beauty and high spirits. In 1920, she marri ...

was hospitalized. The title may refer to the breaking of a girl's

hymen The hymen is a thin piece of mucosal tissue that surrounds or partially covers the vaginal opening. A small percentage of females are born with hymens that are imperforate and completely obstruct the vaginal canal. It forms part of the vulva ...

.''The price was high: the last uncollected stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald''. F. Scott Fitzgerald, MJ Bruccoli - 1979 - Harcourt Press

References

Sources

* * Short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald Works originally published in The Saturday Evening Post 1930 short stories {{1930s-story-stub