Amory Blaine's "Mirrors" in Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise
In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel This Side of Paradise, Amory Blaine
searches for his identity by "mirroring" people he admires. However, these
"mirrors" actually block him from finding his true self. He falls in love with
women whose personalities intrigue him; he mimics the actions of men he looks up
to. Eleanor Savage and Burne Holiday serve as prime examples of this. Until
Amory loses his pivotal "mirror," Monsignor Darcy, he searches for his soul in
all the wrong places. When Monsignor Darcy dies, Amory has the spiritual
epiphany he needs to reach his "paradise" - the knowledge of who Amory Blaine
truly is.
Amory appears to be a rather vacuous choice for a protagonist. He
relies mainly on his breathtaking handsomeness and wealth in order to get by in
life. He has been endowed with brains, but it takes him years to learn how and
when to use them. Amory spends his late high school and college years......
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Approximate Word Count: 1462
Approximate Pages: 6 (260 words per double-spaced page) |