Gutenberg Articles

Appearance

Excerpt ​

Excerpt from This Side of Paradise, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

  Next day, by a merciful chance, passed in a whirl. When Amory was<br />
  by himself his thoughts zigzagged inevitably to the picture of<br />
  that red mouth yawning incongruously in the white face, but with<br />
  a determined effort he piled present excitement upon the memory<br />
  of it and shut it coldly away from his mind.

  Isabelle and her mother drove into town at four, and they rode up<br />
  smiling Prospect Avenue, through the gay crowd, to have tea at<br />
  Cottage. The clubs had their annual dinners that night, so at<br />
  seven he loaned her to a freshman and arranged to meet her in the<br />
  gymnasium at eleven, when the upper classmen were admitted to the<br />
  freshman dance. She was all he had expected, and he was happy and<br />
  eager to make that night the centre of every dream. At nine the<br />
  upper classes stood in front of the clubs as the freshman<br />
  torchlight parade rioted past, and Amory wondered if the<br />
  dress-suited groups against the dark, stately backgrounds and<br />
  under the flare of the torches made the night as brilliant to the<br />
  staring, cheering freshmen as it had been to him the year before.

  The next day was another whirl. They lunched in a gay party of<br />
  six in a private dining-room at the club, while Isabelle and<br />
  Amory looked at each other tenderly over the fried chicken and<br />
  knew that their love was to be eternal. They danced away the prom<br />
  until five, and the stags cut in on Isabelle with joyous abandon,<br />
  which grew more and more enthusiastic as the hour grew late, and<br />
  their wines, stored in overcoat pockets in the coat room, made<br />
  old weariness wait until another day. The stag line is a most<br />
  homogeneous mass of men. It fairly sways with a single soul. A<br />
  dark-haired beauty dances by and there is a half-gasping sound as<br />
  the ripple surges forward and some one sleeker than the rest<br />
  darts out and cuts in. Then when the six-foot girl (brought by<br />
  Kaye in your class, and to whom he has been trying to introduce<br />
  you all evening) gallops by, the line surges back and the groups<br />
  face about and become intent on far corners of the hall, for<br />
  Kaye, anxious and perspiring, appears elbowing through the crowd<br />
  in search of familiar faces.

Explanation ​

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s This Side of Paradise (1920) is a semi-autobiographical Bildungsroman that follows the life of Amory Blaine, a privileged but disillusioned young man navigating love, ambition, and identity in the early 20th century. The novel captures the restless energy of the Jazz Age, the disillusionment of the post-World War I generation, and the tensions between romantic idealism and harsh reality. The excerpt provided occurs during Amory’s time at Princeton, where he is entangled in a fleeting but intense romance with Isabelle Borgé, a young woman who embodies both his desires and his eventual disillusionment.

Detailed Explanation of the Excerpt ​

1. Context Within the Novel ​

This passage takes place during Amory’s sophomore year at Princeton, a period marked by his infatuation with Isabelle, a coquettish and socially adept young woman. The scene is set against the backdrop of Princeton’s vibrant social life—dances, club dinners, and torchlight parades—which serve as a microcosm of the glamour and superficiality of the era. Amory, ever the romantic, idealizes Isabelle and the moment, but the undercurrents of transience and performativity hint at the fragility of his emotions.

The "red mouth yawning incongruously in the white face" (likely a reference to a disturbing or unsettling image from the previous night) suggests a moment of disillusionment or grotesquery that Amory is trying to suppress. This could symbolize his subconscious awareness of the artificiality beneath the glamour—a theme that recurs in Fitzgerald’s work (e.g., the "valley of ashes" in The Great Gatsby).

2. Themes ​

A. The Fleeting Nature of Youth and Romance ​

The passage is drenched in the ephemeral highs of youth. Amory and Isabelle’s love is declared "eternal" over fried chicken, a moment both tender and ironically trivial. The whirlwind of activities—dances, parades, late-night revelry—creates a sense of time accelerating, mirroring the transient nature of young love. Fitzgerald often contrasts the intensity of youthful emotion with its inevitable fade (e.g., Amory’s later disillusionment with Isabelle).

B. Performance and Social Rituals ​

The Princeton social scene is a carefully choreographed performance:

  • The torchlight parade is a spectacle of tradition and hierarchy, where upperclassmen observe the freshmen with a mix of nostalgia and detachment.
  • The stag line at the dance is a "homogeneous mass" moving as one, a metaphor for the conformity and competition underlying male social dynamics. The description of men surging forward to cut in on attractive women reduces romance to a kind of sport, where desire is collective and impersonal.
  • The private dining-room lunch and overcoat-pocket wines highlight the exclusivity and hedonism of elite college life, where rules are bent for the sake of pleasure.

These rituals are both thrilling and hollow, reinforcing the novel’s critique of the superficiality of upper-class society.

C. Idealism vs. Reality ​

Amory’s determination to "shut [the disturbing image] coldly away" reflects his struggle to maintain his romantic illusions. The "brilliant" night he recalls from his freshman year is now something he observes with detachment, suggesting his growing awareness of the gap between memory and experience. The "dark, stately backgrounds" of the clubs contrast with the "riot" of the parade, symbolizing the tension between tradition and youthful rebellion.

D. The Homogenization of Desire ​

The stag line’s collective reaction to women—"a half-gasping sound," the ripple surging forward—depersonalizes desire. The men are a "mass" with "a single soul," reducing individuality to a shared, almost predatory instinct. This reflects Fitzgerald’s critique of how social structures (like Princeton’s elite culture) shape and limit personal identity.

3. Literary Devices ​

A. Imagery and Sensory Detail ​
  • Visual: The "red mouth yawning incongruously in the white face" is a striking, almost grotesque image that disrupts the otherwise glamorous setting. The contrast between the "gay crowd" and the "dark, stately backgrounds" of the clubs reinforces the duality of light and shadow in Amory’s experience.
  • Kinetic: The passage is full of movement—"rode up smiling," "torches rioted past," "the line surges forward"—creating a sense of restless energy that mirrors Amory’s emotional state.
  • Tactile/Gustatory: The "fried chicken" and "wines" ground the scene in sensory pleasure, emphasizing the hedonism of the moment.
B. Metaphor and Simile ​
  • The stag line is compared to a single, swaying mass, suggesting both unity and mindlessness.
  • The freshmen’s parade is described as riotous, evoking chaos beneath the ordered traditions of Princeton.
C. Irony ​
  • The declaration that Amory and Isabelle’s love is "to be eternal" is undercut by the reader’s knowledge (or suspicion) that such youthful passions are rarely lasting.
  • The "brilliant" night Amory recalls from his freshman year is now something he watches with detachment, highlighting the irony of nostalgia.
D. Symbolism ​
  • Torchlight: Represents both illumination (youth, passion) and transience (the fleeting nature of these moments).
  • The stag line: Symbolizes the performative, competitive nature of male desire and social hierarchy.
  • The "red mouth": Could symbolize unchecked passion, artificiality, or even a warning of the grotesque beneath the surface (a motif Fitzgerald later explores in Gatsby with the "valley of ashes").
E. Stream of Consciousness (Subtle) ​

Amory’s attempt to "pile present excitement upon the memory" of the disturbing image suggests a moment of psychological repression, a technique Fitzgerald uses to show the gap between perception and reality.

4. Significance Within the Novel and Fitzgerald’s Oeuvre ​

  • Amory’s Development: This passage captures Amory at the height of his romantic idealism, before his later disillusionment. His ability to "shut away" unpleasant thoughts foreshadows his eventual emotional detachment.
  • Critique of Elite Culture: The Princeton scenes expose the performativity and exclusivity of Ivy League life, which both captivates and ultimately fails Amory.
  • Foreshadowing: The "red mouth" image hints at the grotesque or unsettling realities that lurk beneath the glamour—a theme that culminates in The Great Gatsby with the decay beneath the Jazz Age’s glitter.
  • Fitzgerald’s Style: The passage exemplifies Fitzgerald’s signature blend of lyrical prose and sharp social observation, where beauty and cynicism coexist.

Conclusion: The Text’s Core Meaning ​

This excerpt is a microcosm of This Side of Paradise’s central tensions: the allure of youthful passion versus its inevitability of fading, the thrill of social performance versus its emptiness, and the idealism of the individual versus the conformist pressures of elite society. Amory’s experience is both exhilarating and fragile—his love for Isabelle is real in the moment, but the reader senses its impermanence. The "whirl" of activity is a defense against the "red mouth" of reality, a metaphor for how Amory (and Fitzgerald’s generation) uses glamour and distraction to stave off disillusionment.

Fitzgerald’s genius lies in making the reader feel the intoxicating highs of Amory’s world while simultaneously revealing the cracks beneath the surface. The passage is not just about a college dance; it’s about the human struggle to reconcile dream and reality, a theme that defines both the novel and the era it depicts.