Amory Blaine's "Mirrors" In Fitzgerald's This Side Of Paradise

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merely cultivates his personality du jour
depending on how he believes he would like to be. Essentially, Amory is
shopping at a personality store, trying each one on until he can find one that
fits.
This personality imitation began when Amory spent his adolescent years
in the presence of his flamboyant mother, Beatrice. Beatrice raised Amory to be
what she wanted him to be, as long as it was stylish and acceptable to coeval
virtues. When he goes to Princeton, the separation from his mother, who
essentially thought for him, leads Amory to search for himself. However, his
idea of searching for his identity entails merely simulating the personalities
of those he admires. This trend becomes obvious in the pattern of Amory's love
interests. His first conquest, Isabelle, is a strong-willed girl who knows what
she wants. Amory falls in love with her because of her distinct personality;
perhaps subconsciously he feels that by being in her presence he makes up for
not having a ...

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create an identity for himself. Speaking of Isabelle, Amory says
that there "was nothing at all to her except what I read into her" (170). This
seems rather ironic, considering the exact opposite of his statement reflects
the truth: Amory consists of nothing save the qualities others project into him
when he associates with them. However, Eleanor brings Amory to the point at
which he seems almost ready to shape his own individuality instead of mimicking
others. The shock he receives after Eleanor has a violent mood swing and nearly
rides her horse off a cliff makes him realize that his life is on a fateful path.
Eleanor and Amory hate each other after this realization, but the hatred ...

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