Why Is This Side of Paradise Entitled in Such a Way?

Originally, the story This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald was called The Romantic Egotist. The author changed the title as he was greatly affected by poem Tiare Tahiti written by Rupert Brooke. As Fitzgerald lived in the same epoch, he got familiar with Brooke’s masterpieces.

Brooke undoubtedly focuses on another world where we get after death in Tiare Tahiti. The following lines in this known poem are obviously devoted to the life after death:

 Hard for us to understand.
    Out of time, beyond the sun,

All are one in Paradise.

                                              

This Side of Paradise created by the author seems confusing because the paradise should be very beatific, and it does not matter which direction or angle a person looks at it from. However, this title is satisfying as well because the story demonstrates society’s flaws in achieving paradise.

The leading character in the story, Amory Blaine, constantly keeps falling in and out of love for different reasons. His first romantic relationships were short-lived because of his ego. Later, he fell in love with his close friend’s sister. However, these relationships did not last for long too, because the girl preferred a richer man. Such a situation could not become a suitable and unique background for any side of the fascinating paradise.

This Side of Paradise was written between 1917 and 1920 during the World War I. The author enlisted for the war. Fitzgerald was also a Princeton student and was familiarized with aspirations and blasé they experienced. The writer returned alive from the war, while a lot of contemporaries were not as lucky. Eventually, Fitzgerald capitulated to the discipline failing to achieve the paradise with the words: “I know myself, but that is all.”

This Side of Paradise is a well-known masterpiece devoted to different topics, such as society, war, and, of course, love. The main character’s relationships with women are short-lived and dissatisfying. This happens due to his egotist and self-focused character, as well as his inability to satisfy all the ambitions of his beloved one.