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Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in This Side of Paradise, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Youth, Innocence, and Coming of Age
Friendship and Masculinity
War, Modern Life, and Generations
Money and Class
Love and Sexuality
Summary
Analysis
Amory reflects on his life in poverty in New York. He fears being poor and realizes that he detests poor people and poverty. He also realizes that he is unsympathetic to others. Amory has a dialogue with himself, considering his character and present circumstances. Amory realizes that he does not miss his lost youth, but instead wants to relive the experience of losing it. Amory reflects on his past loves and dead friends, and he considers that he probably would have died in the war had he not become a bayonet instructor. He believes that his misfortune might worsen his character.
Amory’s disdainful attitude toward poverty and poor people seems to contradict his growing distaste for class hierarchy and privilege. Amory’s intense dislike of poor people is offensive, but it also reflects both the intense hardships that poor people faced in this period as well as Amory’s deeply rooted fear of poverty. Despite his misfortunes, Amory is still able to feel lucky for what he has (and for the fact that he survived the war). This mention of war is offhand but demonstrates the arbitrariness of such luck—Amory recognizes that he easily could have been sent to the front lines earlier, like Kerry or Jesse.
Themes
Amory realizes that he “despise[s] his own personality,” regretting his moodiness, sensitivity, untrustworthiness, and cruelty to others. He feels himself overcoming his egotism, finding it unpleasant to think about himself too much. He desires an indulgent adventure in a foreign country. Amory realizes he has lost faith in others: in friends and mentors who have died, in literature, and in women. Amory questions the nature of progress, which he believes is the inheritance of his generation. At Monsignor Darcy’s funeral, Amory realizes that he wants to give other people “a sense of security.”
This portion of the novel demonstrates Amory’s increasing self-awareness, which he has not had for much of the novel. This self-knowledge is central to his becoming a “personage,” and it becomes clear here how much Amory has matured. By no longer finding direction in others—in a social scene, in his friendships, or in romantic relationships—Amory is learning to rely on himself and accept himself for who he is.
Themes
Amory decides to walk to Princeton. On the way, he is offered a ride by a man and his secretary. In the car, he proclaims his belief in socialism and attacks capitalism, arguing that society is unequal, progress should accelerate, and money is not the only thing that motivates men. He distinguishes between “spiritually married” men, who accept social problems and systems of power, and “spiritually unmarried” men, who are “natural radicals” who try to enact progress and change. He criticizes the American class and education system for reproducing inequality.
This encounter between Amory and Mr. Ferrenby seems destined to occur. In many ways, their conversation about politics stages a generational conflict: while Mr. Ferrenby believes in tradition, Amory, who represents his generation, sees the need for radical change. Amory’s description of “spiritually married” versus “spiritually unmarried” men also indicates the degree to which he has lost faith in romantic relationships and believes that he can only rely on himself. He seems to now recognize what he had implicitly realized earlier during his relationship with Rosalind: that being romantically committed runs contrary to his ability to live freely as an artist.
Themes
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When Amory says that he went to Princeton, the man driving the car reveals that he is Mr. Ferrenby, the father of Amory’s friend Jesse, who died in the war. Mr. Ferrenby drops Amory off, and they wish each other luck. Amory accepts his selfishness and renounces his pursuit of beauty, realizing he is more interested in being “a certain sort of man” than being “a certain type of artist.” When Amory arrives at Princeton, he feels sorry for the new generation of students subjected to the same old traditions. He feels nostalgia for his youth and for Rosalind. He raises his arms to the sky, saying “I know myself,” “but that is all.”
Amory’s return to Princeton demonstrates how much he has matured. Returning to the site of the happiest point of his youth, he is able to feel nostalgia while not wanting to relive what he experienced there. Amory, for the first time, recognizes that his time has passed, and that the new generation of students will find their own ways to reject tradition. His final assertion of self-knowledge demonstrates that his quest to become a “personage” is (at least partially) complete.
Themes
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