The Turbo fluctuosa, a saltwater snail, spends its life climbing and falling from kelp; the snail continually builds itself up, simply to be knocked down again.
This social pattern is likewise found in humans, who build up their egos to find what they need, lose it, and build again with little hesitation. Ego is built up in order to justify one’s education and. In addition, it can play a role in economic or financial proceedings. Along with education and economy, ego plays a role in the enjoyment of life, specifically the search to love and be loved.Egotism can play a profound role in one’s approach to education, economics, and social enjoyment, as exemplified by Amory Blaine in the novel This Side of Paradise by F.
Scott Fitzgerald. This Side of Paradise is a thought-provoking novel set in the Jazz Age, which follows the life of a privileged boy, Amory Blaine, through his struggles into adulthood. In the beginning of the book, Amory travels to America with his unconventional, high status mother. He goes off to boarding school, then Princeton, and then overseas in World War I.He is an egotist, expressing himself constantly, from when he discusses literature with his fellow Princetonians, to when his love life crumbles in his penniless hands, to when his mother passes away while he is serving overseas.
The novel points out his best and worst features, most specifically his inflated ego. Ego plays a large part in Amory’s approach to education and knowledge, even starting from a young age. Amory always, consciously or otherwise, surrounds himself with scholarly people. He trades a public education for an elite preparatory school, and eventually moves on to higher education at Princeton.He is only truly happy when surrounded by educated people.
As a boy, Amory imagines his future. In his imagination, life is about the destination rather than the journey. “It was always the being he dreamed of, never the becoming” (Fitzgerald 12). Amory knew what he wanted and he did what he could to get it, often unsuccessfully. Nonetheless, he reminds himself that he is a classy man and continues with poise that matches what he calls the “local snobbishness” and “having it” versus “lacking it” in society. Ego drives him on.
Ego also plays a role in Amory and his mother’s economic decisions. Because of their assumption of their own superiority, they spend beyond their means and lose everything. Amory executes moves in which he assumed superiority, sometimes successfully, but often not. For example, in his first years at Princeton, he goes on vacation with close to nothing in his pocket.
“This time they paid an even smaller percent on the total cost; something about the appearance and savior faire of the crowd made the thing go, and they were not pursued” (56).The young man acts as though he is worth more than he has, and consequently receives the proper treatment for his state of mind. Ego, although sometimes helpful with the making of economic decisions, is found to be destructive in sensitive, high-stakes situations. For example, when Amory all of his money and his current love interest leaves him for a wealthier man ego again plays a pivotal role in the outcome. Finally, ego affects Amory’s social life. As a high-class man, he is on the search for high-class women.
Although his degraded economic status drives away his first true love, even this does not serve to diminish his inflated ego. His first romantic experience sparks his long run of egotism to come. “As their lips first touched, rested in the high point of vanity, [it was] the crest of his young egotism” (66). Amory felt loved, and therefore loved himself more.
He creates and cherishes relationships because of his ego. Education, economics, and social enjoyment are all affected by egotism, as demonstrated by Amory Blaine in the novel This Side of Paradise by F.Scott Fitzgerald. Ego affects Amory’s education through his belief that he deserves more than the. It affects his economic situation by allowing him to rationalize otherwise crazy decisions.
Egotism affects Amory’s social as he assumes an unspoken superiority drives people away in the process. Much like the saltwater snail, Amory spent his life building himself up to get the best algae, and being forced to start the monotonous process again far too often as a result of simple egotism.
