Popularity

What I found most interesting is that Amory has finally started to realize that social status is not as important as he think it ought to be after he fails to study for the exam. Amory considers his failure to have lead him to rediscovery of himself, I, however, think that he has been discovering himself since his first entrance into Princeton. Before entering Princeton, Amory has valued social popularity over anything, and this is understandable because of his family’s social status, and his handsome feature. Having been raised by his mother who possesses great wealth and social status, Amory is preconditioned to value social status. Amory also believes a greater social status for him is not optional because he grew up in a wealthy family and has a handsome figure. His handsome features plus his arrogant attitudes cause Amory to expect popularity, and if he is not popular he strives to be. This is evident when Amory is in Minnesota, St. Regis, and freshmen year in Princeton. Because of his personality, he is not well-liked in school so he strives to be popular in Minnesota. He thus plays football to gain popularity. At St. Regis, Amory is again disliked by most of the students. He then again plays football to gain status in school. At Princeton, Amory’s strive for social hierarchy becomes more evident. He joins the school newspapers and the Triangular Club in attempt to gain more popularity. His obsession for social popularity is even highlighted when Amory creates “Slickers” and “The Big Man” to analyze the social status. However, things start to change for Amory when he is at Princeton. Amory makes friends with Tom, and this reveals that popularity is slowly losing its ground in Amory’s mind. Although when Tom invites Amory to his room to look at his book collections, Amory hesitates because Tom is not socially popular in Princeton. But regardless, Amory agrees, and he and Tom become friends. I also think that Dick Humbird’s death also symbolizes a wake-up call for Amory and has the possibility of revealing that Amory is slowly becoming less class conscious. Dick Humbird possesses everything Amory admires of, and Amory wants to become more like Dick. His tragic death might convey an end to a power struggle.