Amory Blaine Character Analysis

The character Amory Blaine in “This Side of Paradise” by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a protagonist that reflects the confusion that is often faced in life, especially for college aged students, which happens to be around the age that Blaine is at. A lot of this novel shows Amory growing up, and trying to reach new steps in his life, and it is often shown how he tries to better himself. Amory Blaine is constantly in a state of becoming instead of being because he is simply trying to create the best life possible for himself, but seems to be a bit confused on how to achieve that.
Amory has been shown to think a lot about himself in order for him to become a better person. In the novel, it is mentioned that Amory “sat in the train, and thought about

himself for thirty-six hours” (27). While this could be taken in a conceded way, this is him just trying to be the best that he can be. After all, this statement is followed by him talking about seeing one of his childhood female friends. Fitzgerald states “Scurrying back to Minneapolis to see a girl he had known as a child seemed the interesting and romantic thing to do” (27). That shows that Blaine takes the girl’s feelings into consideration too, because him just going back for his own good would not be that romantic. Throughout the novel it even shows various attempts at trying to be romantic and respectful when it comes to girls.
An important aspect of life is people finding love and starting a family, and that can be seen in Amory trying to find a suitable partner. Throughout the novel, he goes through several romantic partners, and even though Amory tries to pull some sexual moves that would be considered quite risky at that time, it still shows him being cautious about them. For example, when he and Jill got caught in a hotel by the police for being together and not being married, Amory showed honest concern and tried to make an effort to prevent anyone from looking bad. Alec was there too, and to ensure he would be safe, Amory told him “You have a family and it's important that you should get out of this”, and luckily he was able to get off with a light punishment (112). Blaine takes many precautions to make sure he is seen as a good person in the eyes of people he knows, and even with just random people such as law enforcement.
Amory’s time at Princeton University also consisted of him wanting to outshine others.

James L. W. West III mentioned in his work, “Annotating Mr. Fitzgerald”, that “[Fitzgerald] knew where everything was at Princeton…, and in his early writings he often moved his characters across that campus”(West 2). “This Side of Paradise” is one of the instances where he demonstrates that to be true as the protagonist is greatly impacted by his time at the school. While Blaine does not take his academics as seriously as he should, he spends a lot of time trying to impress his peers and trying to make friends. During his time trying to gain social popularity, he joined the highly elite Cottage Club. Amory also starts writing for the school paper in hopes to gain popularity, but his poor grades kept him from being allowed to move further in any extracurricular

activities.
Even though Amory does goof off a lot, he does get involved in many aspects in life, that are intended to make him a better person. From earlier on he already got put into boarding school, in hopes to properly prepare him for a more prestigious school, which later ends up being Princeton. Princeton itself had a big part in shaping him, and is also considered highly prestigious around the world. Amory also gets mentored by Monsignor Darcy. This shows another aspect of the effort he put into appearing on top of things, and trying to further figure out his life.
Amory faces a problem that happens to be quite common in life, and that is not being successful enough to other people’s standards. Rosalind, for example, refuses to marry him because she does not think that he will be a good partner when it comes to financial purposes. When Rosalind expresses her thought of marrying a richer man Amory exclaims “Rosalind, you can't be thinking of marrying some one else. Tell me! You leave me in the dark. I can help you fight it out” (87). He tries to do what he can to improve her life and his by keeping her in it. This had a big impact on him in that he tried to get work and make money for her, and later even tries to drink his problems away due to his lack of success. Later on, he makes a point to talk about “Amory Blaine” being such an important successful person.
At the end of the novel Blaine tries to convince some people in the story of what a great person he is.

When he talks to the characters referred to as the “big man” and the “little man” he includes himself in a list of intellectual artists by saying that “The artist who doesn't fit—the Rousseau, the Tolstoi, the Samuel Butler, the Amory Blaine—“ (121). The little man suspiciously questions him, to which Amory replied “he's a—he's an intellectual personage not very well known at present” (121). Even though it is obvious that Blain is not as well-known and successful as he would like to be, he still makes a point to put his name out there and give off the persona of being

successful.
The main character’s entire life is a never-ending attempt to be the best he can be at everything. Through critically evaluating himself, finding dependable people in his life, and furthering his education and popularity, he is striving for the perfection that, in his eyes, will never fully be met. It can be debated what success is really defined as, but Amory Blaine’s idea of it is too scattered to reach any state of “being” instead of just “becoming”.