This Side Of Paradise: One Night Only.

Throughout this section of the novel, I kept hoping that Amory would have some kind of personal revelation and be able to show some signs of maturity. However, this section only seemed to emphasize Fitzgerald’s failure to give the character any sort of depth whatsoever. As Book II begins, the writing switches from third person narration to that of a dialogue style. In this way, the reader begins to immerse himself in Amory’s life not by following his life through a narrator but rather experiencing like a show that he makes it out to be. This, to me, only emphasizes the superficiality of Amory’s life, as everything is a façade and a charade; all of his actions and feelings ultimately are representative of his desire to put on an act so as to pursue what he needs to pursue in his life.

The style of writing in the passages that contain dialogue and stage directions seem almost to mock Amory’s emotions as his relationship with Rosalind develops. Despite the fact that he seems deeply enamored with her, the highly dramatic dialogue and actions seem to downplay the sincerity and naturalness of their love affair. Everything about it seems like a very campy play in which the stereotypes are already established: the less-than-wealthy protagonist that makes up for his lack of money with wit and words, the beautiful, wild girl who is ultimately tamed by said protagonist and her scornful, reproachful, superficial mother who stands in the way of their love so as to financially better herself and her family.

While I wanted to take it seriously and I honestly hoped that this would make him emotionally grow and develop, he made no signs at doing so in any way. Rather than rationally hearing Rosalind’s side of why they could not be together, he threw a tantrum like a child and refused to take a step back from the situation. Overcome with emotion, one might argue that he was only demonstrating how much he loved her, but, again, this love was more of a façade. As he was passionately invested in the relationship, he reacted in this way so as to prove his love in the way he was supposed to: to be the devastated, scorned lover that the situation made him out to be. Even his retreat to the bar and his descent into his brief flirtation with alcoholism and quitting his job demonstrate his immaturity and inability to handle anything remotely serious or realistic in his life. When his illusion of this love affair with Rosalind was shattered by the reality that there was more to life than following one’s intrinsic desires, he was not emotionally ready to handle that, which only further demonstrates his immaturity and lack of growth throughout the novel (and play?). The dialogue-style that Fitzgerald presents the reader with ruins any chance of using his time with Rosalind as a learning experience that he has, as it makes it almost like a satire or farce of the archetype that Amory serves: that of the typical prep/school college student in the early twentieth century.