During this section of This Side of Paradise, it appears that Amory is losing his literary mind in that he is just going through the motions at Princeton and things get worse when he finds out that he was not selected to be on the committee of the Princetonian. It also seems that he starts to break down mentally when he begins to have visions. Specifically, when he is at a party with friends he notices a man belligerently staring at him form across the room. He tries to get others to notice the man but he is ignored. When the party shifts to the apartment Amory sees the same man that is now only 10 feet away from him. Amory suddenly freaks out and runs out of the apartment because he discovers that the man could possibly be the ghost of Dick Humbird. I don't really know why Fitzgerald put this part in the story and what he meant by it but it was very captivating and certainly kept me on the edge of my seat while reading.
When Burne Holliday instigates an argument throughout Princeton that the clubs around campus should be abolished, Amory is inspired. He suddenly returns to the Amory of old in that he is very analytical and is always challenging the system of old. Amory and Burne's friendship becomes stronger when they take walks together and discuss issues about society, politics, and the sort. Many of his friends start to ridicule them saying that they're detaching from their older selves or losing their grip. On the other hand, this situation was just what Amory needed to relive his old dreams and passions.
Amory is further shaped and molded when he meets with a relative on Philadelphia named Clara. Amory cannot stop discussing all of the aspects that he adores in her. The main reason for this is because many of her aspects such as self- confidence and a calm and living demeanor are things that Amory don't have. Amory explains that he genuinely is beginning to fall in love with her but that fantasy is quickly diluted when Clara states that she has never fallen in love and will never marry again.
At the end of the section World War 1 breaks out and many are called to duty. Both Amory and Tom enlist but Burne sells his possessions and travels to his home in Pennsylvania. A very important aspect of this section is when Tom and Amory are about to leave Princeton to go to training and all of their emotions build up and they seem to break down. This is huge because they don't really realize how much they care for this place called Princeton until they leave it. This is extremely similar to college experience that most students go through. The old saying holds up, "you don't know what you have until it's gone."
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In the second of “This Side of Paradise,” amongst the commotion that occurs in the section, Amory’s love affair with the upper class, Isabelle, fails.
ReplyDeleteThis shouldn’t come to the reader as a shock that self-centered Amory couldn’t with hold a relationship for very long, although the pair had exchanged long letters with each other previously.
The very irony of the whole love affair is what ends up due a miniscule event. While Amory was cuddling with Isabella his shirt stud brushes against Isabelle’s neck, leaving a wound. Mockingly, Amory tells her to massage it, while he tires to hold his laughter. As a result, the two enter into an argument.
“He became aware that he had not an ounce of real affection for Isabelle, but her coldness piqued him. He wanted to kiss her, kiss her a lot, because then he knew he could leave in the morning and not care. On the contrary, if he didn’t kiss her, it would worry him…It would interfere vaguely with his idea of himself as a conqueror. It wasn’t dignified to come off second best, pleading, with a doughty warrior like Isabelle” (103).
A kiss is the ultimate expression of romantic affection/sexual desire; in this scene Amory completely disregards this fact and views kissing Isabella just as a deed, or better yet, as a sign of egotism and male dominance.
Soon, Amory realizes that he doesn’t love her and the fiery flame of love is quickly put out.
The biggest irony of all is that fact that the root word in Amory’s name is “amor,” with in Spanish means “love.” Fitzgerald cleverly names Amory for this reason to point out his lack of outside awareness and his inability to love others. For example, the subsequent death of Amory’s father does not seem to affect Amory very much.
This again, emphasizes the naivety and egotism that envelops the young man.
In the end it was not Isabelle’s feisty attitude that brought an end to the relationship, but rather Amory’s vanity and internal struggle.
While looking at the bigger picture, it seems as though Amory’s failed romance with Isabelle and his inability to show concern for others represents one of Fitzgerald’s themes which is the hollowness of the “new world” (the new world can be seen as college or even the current era of the times).