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.
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