This Side of Paradise is a work of a young author, and possesses some fundamental flaws, both structural and thematic. But it is a truly important work, both in the life of its author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and for the course of twentieth-century American history and fiction. The novel contains a number of autobiographical elements and made an enormous impact on the later life of its author--who may never have written anything else if not for its success. The book was successful not only because of Fitzgerald's lyrical and graceful writing, but more importantly as a telling portrait of a new era in American history.
Fitzgerald was born Francis Scott Key in 1897 (named for the Star Spangled Banner lyricist to whom he was distantly related), and attended an Eastern boarding school, where he did not excel in athletics or academics, but did exhibit an early penchant for writing and producing plays. He was admitted to Princeton University, where he maintained his academic mediocrity but indulged and expanded his love of literature through his friendships and his prominent role in the Triangle Club, a Princeton theater group. Without earning his degree, Fitzgerald enlisted in the army in 1917 and, afraid that he would die in the war, rapidly dashed off a novel entitled "The Romantic Egotist" which was praised, but rejected, by publishers.
Fitzgerald was stationed in Alabama, where he met the wild Southern belle Zelda Sayre, with whom he instantly fell in love. He revised and submittedThe Romantic Egotist again, but again met with rejection. The war ended without Scott having to go overseas. His romance continued, but Zelda refused to marry into poverty, insisting that Scott display an ability to earn money first. After a failed career in advertising in New York, Zelda broke off the engagement, and Fitzgerald returned to Minnesota to complete the novel. Adding to and revising The Romantic Egotist, Fitzgerald completedThis Side of Paradise. Upon its acceptance by a publisher in 1919, Zelda agreed to marry him.
This novel achieved enormous success and established Fitzgerald as the chronicler of the new post-war youth of America--of flappers, alcohol, and the Jazz Age. Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald, barely funded by the sale of Fitzgerald's critically though not commercially successful stories and novels, enjoyed an extravagant and often Bacchic lifestyle in the post World War I American boom era of the 1920's. They spent a great deal of time in Europe among an elite class of artists, royalty, and wealthy American expatriates. In the late 1920's, the Fitzgeralds spent time on the Southern coast of France, known as the Riviera. Their hosts were Gerald and Sara Murphy, who were central among a social set that included such notables as Picasso.
In this world in 1925, Scott finished what is widely considered his masterpiece, The Great Gatsby. But at this time, the Fitzgeralds' decadent lifestyle took a toll on them, both financially and emotionally. Zelda's sanity suffered, and she was forced to seek expert and expensive psychological treatments in Switzerland. Fitzgerald was forced to abandon novel writing to pay the medical bills. Zelda's battle with mental illness is depicted inTender Is the Night, Fitzgerald's last complete novel, in the character of Nicole Diver. While the heroine of the novel recovers, Zelda sadly did not, remaining in institutions the rest of her days. Fitzgerald moved around a lot, spending some time working as a scriptwriter in Hollywood. He died in 1940 with all of his novels out of print, thinking himself a failure.
A great deal of the material Fitzgerald employed to write This Side of Paradise came from his own experiences up to that time. The main character, Amory Blaine, is, in many ways, a thinly veiled Fitzgerald. This semi-autobiographical literary technique is one that Fitzgerald employed often throughout his career, and for which he often met strong criticism. However, in the particular case of This Side of Paradise, the most commercially successful of the author's novels, the technique met with popular acclaim. Fitzgerald managed to capture a period of American history and a portrait of the new youth culture (which involved drinking and casual kissing) in a way that few, if any, authors at the time were able. Though in many ways a product and an embodiment of his times, Fitzgerald was able to see through the glamour of the lifestyle to make incisive commentaries on its moral vacuity.
*****
This Side of Paradise chronicles the life of Amory Blaine from his childhood up through his early twenties. Born the son of a wealthy and sophisticated woman, Beatrice, Amory travels the country with his mother until he attends the fictitious St. Regis prep school in New England. He is handsome, quite intelligent though lazy in his schoolwork, and he earns admission to Princeton. Though initially concerned with being a success on campus, after failing a class he gives himself over to idleness; he prefers to learn through reading and discussions with friends than through his classes.
Toward the end of his college career, America enters World War I and Amory dutifully enlists, forgoing his degree. During his time overseas, Beatrice passes away. Upon his return to America, Amory meets the young debutante Rosalind Connage, the sister of his college friend Alec. The two fall deeply in love, but because of his family's poor investments, Amory has little money, and Rosalind does not wish to marry into poverty. Despite Amory's best efforts to earn money at an advertising agency, Rosalind breaks off their engagement in order to marry a wealthier man, devastating Amory. He goes on a three week drinking binge, which is finally terminated by the advent of the Prohibition.
Amory's quest for self-knowledge begins to be realized. He has a short summer romance with the wild Eleanor. Soon after, Alec is caught with a girl in his hotel room, and Amory takes the blame. Amory then discovers that his last close tie, the dear friend of his mother and his father figure, Monsignor Darcy, has passed away. Further, the family finances have left him almost no money. He decides to walk to Princeton and is picked up along the way by the wealthy father of a friend who died in the war. Amory expounds his new socialist principles and then continues to walk to Princeton. He arrives late at night, pining for Rosalind. Amory reaches his hands to the sky and says "I know myself, but that is all--"
*****
Around the time of its publication, Fitzgerald referred to This Side of Paradise as a "quest novel." In some respects a character study more than a quest novel, the book chronicles Amory Blaine's attempt to make peace with himself and his place in the world. The three primary elements that influence Amory on his road to self-realization are convention, women, and money. As each of the three fails him, he comes closer to achieving his goal.
Several times in the novel, Amory reflects on what has influenced his development most. The initial influence is his unconventional mother, Beatrice. He tries to correct her influence by trying to fit in and behave conventionally at school. He attends school in the Midwest, then boarding school, and finally Princeton, trying hard to fit in at each. When he is finally successful, he discovers an emptiness in conformity. Amory abandons conformity half-way through Princeton, and gets back on the path of rediscovering who he is.
From a very early age, Amory is both attracted to and repelled by romantic involvement with women. After several failed loves, and after the war, he falls deeply in love with Rosalind, and she with him. But, refusing to marry someone without great wealth, Rosalind breaks Amory's heart. He tries love again with Eleanor, and may have been happy with her, but feels that having had his heart broken, he is incapable of love. Finally, he abandons women as a source of inspiration. He lost himself in Rosalind and only finds himself again without her.
Though quite wealthy while growing up, because of his family's bad investments and his mother's dying bequeathment to the church, Amory finds himself penniless by the novel's end. Without his wealth to fall back on, Amory is forced to look harder for meaning in his life. He realizes that he hates poverty and even goes so far as to preach socialism, hoping that he might land himself on top if a revolution took place. With no money, Amory has to look deep within himself for guidance.
Eventually, having discarded or lost convention, love, and money, Amory experiences a deep self-realization, and comes to see his own selfishness. In the final line of the novel he claims that now, finally, he knows himself, "but that is all--" This line consummates the quest of the entire book.
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