F. Scott Fitzgerald #4

  

                                    This Side of Paradise

            F. Scott Fitzgerald tends to have a common message in all of his books. While reading This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald I saw numerous symbolic similarities between this book and The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald uses a variety of symbols within his works to express an important value or issue. Often, Fitzgerald will use symbols to make a commentary on society.

The main symbol that Fitzgerald carries throughout all of his writing is the car as a symbol of status and wealth. In This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Isabelle only dates men that are “terrible speeds” (76). Also, Dick Humbird, the ideal man that Amory idolizes and wants to be like, is killed in a car crash when he “was driving and he wouldn’t give up the wheel, though they told him he’d been drink too much” (96). The car as a status symbol is also clearly revealed in The Great Gatsby. Gatsby's car exudes his wealth and provides an excellent example of the car as a status symbol. The car accidents in both This Side of Paradise and The Great Gatsby are ironic because they show the recklessness and irresponsibility of the society at the time. Fitzgerald often uses this car symbol in many ways of his novels to depict the status and comment on society's status system and materialism.

Finally, Fitzgerald uses the symbol of alcohol in This Side of Paradise to portray escape. Amory would drink uncontrollably to “shield himself from the stabs of memory” (226). However, “the advent of prohibitions… put a sudden stop to the submerging of Amory’s sorrows” (226). As a result, Amory has to face his issues with love and relationships. Fitzgerald uses many symbols in his novels to make a commentary of the faults of society.

At first I did not give the detail of Amory’s repetitive drinking much thought. I just thought of it as a typical college kid activity. But after tracing the symbol of alcoholism in various scenes throughout the story I noticed that whenever Amory drank alcohol it related to an issue he was having with love and relationships. That’s how I came up with the symbol of alcohol as a sign of Amory’s escape from reality.

This book required a lot of close reading. I initially chose this book because I wanted to read more books by F. Scott Fitzgerald. As I continued reading through the book I realized that I had also discretely chosen the book to enhance my reading skills. This book required me to read very closely. It was critical to pick up on all of the little details throughout the text. All of the little details in the text eventually led to something much bigger. For example, I l followed all of the details of alcohol and formed it into a symbol. I am currently working on becoming better at finding symbols. In doing so, I had to use tips from O’Connor and Perrine. This book required me to do a lot of re-reading. I realized immediately that re-reading would be essential if I planned on making any sense out of what I was reading. Re-reading was also very essential if I planned on finding any symbols throughout the text. I feel as though this book was very vague with the symbols that were in this book so the symbols that I have chosen were either a hit or miss. Even if I had read a chapter twice I would have to go over it again just to make sure that I captured all of the necessary details. And even then I may have missed a thing or two. Overall, re-reading helped me get a better understanding of what I was reading.

If someone were to ask me to recommend a book, I would definitely recommend them to read This Side of Paradise. I would recommend this book because it was a pleasure to read. I feel as though the story could be relevant to today’s teenager society. The complications that Amory faced along his way to adulthood could be essential to the growing experience of any teenager in this present day generation. It was interesting to read the story and see Amory becoming a young man. It was even more interesting to see how Amory got through the complications in his life. Although it may have been challenging at times because I had to read chapters over again, I feel like it made me an overall better reader.

This Side of Paradise, F. Scott Fitzgerald #3

                                                             
                                                                This Side of Paradise

I chose This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald for my first quarter independent reading book. I initially chose this novel because after reading The Great Gatsby my junior year I made it my goal to read more F. Scott Fitzgerald novels. After reading this novel I am glad that I made that decision. I am aware that This Side of Paradise is Fitzgerald’s first novel, which I believe can account for the similarities between the main character and Fitzgerald. The character has much in common with the author himself, rendering the book heavily autobiographical. This Side of Paradise, published in 1920, originally to be titled 'The Romantic Egotist' and later 'The Education of a Personage', follows the exploits of Princeton university student Amory Blaine. The story traces the early life of Amory Blaine from the end of prep school through Princeton University to the start of an uncertain career in New York. It was composed from various scraps of writing amassed during Fitzgerald's years at university and later during his time served in the war.

In my previous post I talked about how Amory was wrestling with deciding what factors he needed to change about himself. He knows that he needs to change things about himself but he does not yet know where to start. He was not yet aware about who or what has made him the way that he is. He was also struggling at making friends with his peers and his teachers at school.

“Amory had rather a Puritan conscience. Not that he yielded to it later in life he almost completely slew it but at fifteen it made him consider himself a great deal worse than other boys ... unscrupulousness ... the desire to influence people in almost every way, even for evil ... a certain coldness and lack of affection, amounting sometimes to cruelty ... a shifting sense of honor ... an unholy selfishness ... a puzzled, furtive interest in everything concerning sex.”

I’m not sure how important this quote is to Amory’s behavior but I think that it is very important to note that Amory has a conscious and is aware of everything that he is doing.

At this point in the novel, Amory is very aware about who has influenced him so heavily. He realizes that although he loves his mother, she will be the deciding factor on whether or not he can create a group of loving friends at school or have animosity between himself and his peers.

“He was changed as completely as Amory Blaine could ever be changed. Amory plus Beatrice plus two years in Minneapolis - these had been his ingredients when he entered St. Regis'. But the Minneapolis years were not a thick enough overlay to conceal the "Amory plus Beatrice" from the ferreting eyes of a boarding school, so St. Regis' had very painfully drilled Beatrice out of him and begun to lay down new and more conventional planking on the fundamental Amory. But both St. Regis' and Amory were unconscious of the fact that this fundamental Amory had not in himself changed.”

Amory is trying to change himself for the better but has had a couple of setbacks.

This Side of Paradise, F. Scott Fitzgerald #2

                                                          


                                                                This Side of Paradise

I chose This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald for my first quarter independent reading book. I initially chose this novel because after reading The Great Gatsby my junior year I made it my goal to read more F. Scott Fitzgerald novels. After reading this novel I am glad that I made that decision. I am aware that This Side of Paradise is Fitzgerald’s first novel, which I believe can account for the similarities between the main character and Fitzgerald. The character has much in common with the author himself, rendering the book heavily autobiographical. This Side of Paradise, published in 1920, originally to be titled 'The Romantic Egotist' and later 'The Education of a Personage', follows the exploits of Princeton university student Amory Blaine. The story traces the early life of Amory Blaine from the end of prep school through Princeton University to the start of an uncertain career in New York. It was composed from various scraps of writing amassed during Fitzgerald's years at university and later during his time served in the war.

In my previous blog I briefly described how desperately Amory wanted to be lifted from under his mother’s shadow and become his own person. Amory and his mother share the same personality because she has trained him to be like her. Ironically, Amory is not aware that his mother has had such a big impact on his life. He understands that as of right now, the way he carries himself will not get him very far in life. He is aware that he needs to make a couple of life changes but he is wrestling with what changes need to be made.

“He went all wrong at the start, was generally considered both conceited and arrogant, and universally detested.”

 At this point in the novel, Amory goes to St. Regis, a private school far away from his home; he is immediately disfavored by all of his peers. His peers see him as “arrogant” and a “know it all”. This can be seen in a scene in the book where Amory tries to show off in his French class but ends up getting a lecture of disapproval from his teacher. Going away to boarding school has not only opened Amory’s eye to his undesirable attitude but also to the realization that his mother is not always right.

“Vanity, tempered with self-suspicion if not self-knowledge, a sense of people as automatons to his will, a desire to “pass” as many boys as possible and get to a vague top of the world… with his background did Amory drift into adolescence.”

Amory is aware that his constant need to compete with other adolescents is a problem. It is a problem that he is not yet ready to solve just yet. Amory’s mother has taught him that he must be good at everything. While knowing that his mother’s advice is not always right, he still carries her principles with him wherever he goes. Amory is aware that he needs to detach from his mother and become his own person but he is not ready to do that just yet.

            The novel has sped up a little bit from my previous post, but it is still going at a rather slow pace.

This Side of Paradise, F. Scott Fitzgerald #1

                                                       This Side of Paradise

I chose This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald for my first quarter independent reading book. I initially chose this novel because after reading The Great Gatsby my junior year I made it my goal to read more F. Scott Fitzgerald novels. After reading this novel I am glad that I made that decision. I am aware that This Side of Paradise is Fitzgerald’s first novel, which I believe can account for the similarities between the main character and Fitzgerald. The character has much in common with the author himself, rendering the book heavily autobiographical. This Side of Paradise, published in 1920, originally to be titled 'The Romantic Egotist' and later 'The Education of a Personage', follows the exploits of Princeton university student Amory Blaine. The story traces the early life of Amory Blaine from the end of prep school through Princeton University to the start of an uncertain career in New York. It was composed from various scraps of writing amassed during Fitzgerald's years at university and later during his time served in the war.

Amory, the protagonist whose development the novel chronicles. Amory grows up with his sophisticated mother, Beatrice, until he leaves for boarding school. He then attends Princeton University and falls in love with several women. Amory is extraordinarily handsome and somewhat egocentric. He enjoys spending time with his friends, has literary ambitions, and ultimately achieves some portion of self-knowledge, though at the cost of losing his money and his dearest friends. Amory’s mother, Beatrice, loves her son both as a friend and a mother. She, along with home tutors, passes on to him much of the elegance of her education as they travel through the country together, enjoying high society. After Beatrice suffers a nervous breakdown, Amory spends two years with an aunt and uncle in Minneapolis.

“Amory Blaine inherited from his mother every trait, except the stray inexpressible few, that made him worthwhile.“

At this point in the novel I can feel Amory’s desperate attempt to be his own person. From a young age his mother’s personality has been drilled into young Amory. Though he does not know it at this part of the novel, Amory is desperately trying to flee the shadow that his mother has put him in. Amory has lived under the shadow of his mother for his whole life. His mother, though more or less acts more as a friend, has taught her son everything she knows and has created a “mini me” within Amory. This has left Amory with a bit of an identity crisis leaving him with no known sense of his “true self." The novel started off very slowly at first but I am hoping that as I continue to read it picks up.