This Side of Paradise

Amory Blaine’s father, Stephen Blaine, became wealthy through the death of his brothers, who were successful businessmen. Amory’s mother, Beatrice Blaine, also came from wealth and grew up traveling around Europe. Amory is an only child and is handsome from a young age. He grows up traveling around the country with his mother, becoming accustomed to a luxurious lifestyle: staying in hotels, seeing the opera, and wearing expensive clothing. Beatrice has a very upper-class, European sensibility, and she looks down on Americans. When Amory is 13 years old, Beatrice has a breakdown and sends him to live with his aunt and uncle in Minneapolis.

After two months in Minneapolis, Amory has been struggling socially in school because his classmates make fun of him for showing off in class, especially in French and history. Amory is invited to a party by Myra St. Claire. He arrives late to her house because he thinks that is fashionable, but everyone else has left to go to the Minnehaha Club already. When Myra is upset, Amory lies to her and tells her that he was in an accident and has been smoking, which she disapproves of. Amory and Myra drive to the Minnehaha Club alone, where he tells her he has a crush on her and kisses her. Afterwards, Amory suddenly becomes disgusted and refuses to kiss Myra again, which angers her.

Amory spends two years in Minneapolis. He becomes friends with Frog Parker and becomes interested in literature and theater. Amory is very interested in girls and prone to falling in love. He writes poetry about the girls he loves and collects their rings and locks of their hair. He dreams of becoming a celebrated general in a war. Amory is very egotistical and believes himself to be exceptionally handsome and charming and more intelligent than his peers. He can also be cruel, cold, selfish, and indifferent to the feelings of others. At the same time, he is self-doubting, sensitive, and insecure.

At age 15, after two years in Minneapolis, Amory visits his parents at Beatrice’s father’s estate in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Seeing his mother again, he both admires her and feels distant from her, avoiding her at first. When he finally talks to her, she tells him that after her breakdown, she had many strange, vivid, and fantastical dreams. She also reveals that her doctors were concerned about her alcoholism, but that she is now cured. Amory feels embarrassed by what Beatrice has revealed, wondering what Frog Parker would think about his mother. He asks Beatrice if he can go away to boarding school because all of his classmates are doing it. She agrees and tells him that he will go to St. Regis in Connecticut. Beatrice tells Amory that she would have preferred to raise him abroad and send him to Eton. 

In September, Amory departs for New England, where there are many boarding schools—such as Andover, Exeter, Groton, and Choate—that prepare young wealthy men to go to elite colleges. After taking his exams at St. Regis, Amory visits Monsignor Darcy, a friend and former lover of his mother who is now a Catholic priest in upstate New York. Amory and Monsignor Darcy connect immediately and have engaging conversations about literature, religion, and their emotions. Amory stays for a week with Monsignor Darcy.

Amory has a difficult time starting out at St. Regis. He is disliked by his classmates, who consider him arrogant, and his teachers, whose authority he resents. He is very dedicated to playing football but disinterested in his schoolwork despite his intelligence. He feels lonely and does not feel attached to his friends, who are not among the school’s elite. A teacher offers Amory advice to connect with his classmates, which he rejects. When he returns to Minneapolis, he tells Frog that he is having a great time at school.

Amory begins to have a better time at school. In February, he sees a play in New York with a friend, and they both admire the beautiful lead actress. In October, Amory is the hero of St. Regis football game against Groton, which makes him happy. His time at St. Regis starts to influence his personality. Even though many of his fundamental character traits remain—his “moodiness,” “laziness,” and unseriousness—now younger boys look up to him. He spends much of his time reading. 

Towards the end of his second and final year at St. Regis, Amory becomes friends with Rahill, their class president, whom he considers a “co-philosopher,” though Amory still considers himself to be more intelligent than Rahill. Together they invent the concept of “the slicker,” a boy whom they consider has “social values,” dresses well, excels in activities, is successful in college, and slicks his hair back. They contrast the slicker with “the big man,” who is socially unaware, dresses carelessly, does activities out of a sense of duty, flounders in college, and does not have slicked hair. Amory decides to go to Princeton. After he leaves St. Regis he forgets the good times of his final year, remembering only when he was lonely and unhappy.