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Analysis Of This Side Of Paradise By F. Scott Fitzgerald

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While in army training camps during the years 1917 to 1918, F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote the first draft of his first novel. It was originally called The Romantic Egotist and was rejected by the publisher twice before he revised it a third time and changed the title to This Side of Paradise.
This Side of Paradise is one of Fitzgerald’s most popular works and is considered to be the book that launched his writing career. The novel is semi-autobiographical, meaning it contains several autobiographical aspects and reflects the events and people that occurred within his life, while using fictional characters and elements.
Fitzgerald reflects many features of his life and his experiences throughout the novel. The story revolves around a young boy, …show more content…

For example, in the chapter titled “A Kiss for Amory” Myra, a girl whom Amory thought he had a crush on at the time, and Amory are left alone. He confesses his feelings for her and her “eyes [become] dreamy” (Fitzgerald 13). They then kiss, and she immediately begins to show more affection towards him. Suddenly Amory is overcome with disgust and “loathing for the whole incident” (Fitzgerald 13). This scene allows the reader to fully understand what is going on, from the contrasting perspectives of both the characters. The conflict portrays Myra’s assured feelings for Amory meanwhile revealing Amory’s ambiguous feelings towards Myra when it comes to love and affection. He realizes this is not what he really wants and becomes uncomfortable with the whole situation. This is the first example of a relationship ending due to Amory’s unstable and conflicting feelings towards girls and anticipates his future problematic relationships with women. This scene prepares the audience early in the novel for the upcoming conflicts relating to affection that Amory occasionally experiences as the story

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