Life itself is a perplexing labyrinth, where one will encounter positive and negative experiences and must learn to utilize the lessons derived from those experiences. The lessons are to be applied to one’s life and contribute to the development of one’s ethics and morals. If one does not wish to grow out of his or her youth mentally, then his or her ethical and moral growth will be virtually impossible. The main character in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel This Side of Paradise, Amory Blaine, is a young man who encounters many tribulations in an upper class society while facing his difficult school years. His personality traits are exceedingly egocentric and convey a personal craving for success in his youth. These traits attribute to his mental downfall and deterioration of motivation as he ages. Amory strives for perfection and through losing many of those who are close to him and struggling …show more content…
His high expectations for himself translate into a developing egotism: “[he] had formulated his first philosophy, a code to live by, which, as near as it can be named, was a sort of aristocratic egotism” (Fitzgerald 19). Amory continuously conveys dignity and self-admiration in his youth because he sees himself as having “charm, magnetism, poise, the power of dominating all contemporary males, [and] the gift of fascinating all women” (Fitzgerald 19), all traits which are included in his code. With these narcissistic ideas of himself, he cannot grow morally or ethically. The success with his code only further pushes Amory to believe his youth will last forever and what is important now will be important for the remainder of his life. Already consumed with egotism in his youth, he is prevented from forming legitimate relationships in the future because he is afraid of failure and disappointment, especially with