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In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel This Side of Paradise, Amory Blaine searches for his identity by "mirroring" people he admires. However, these "mirrors" actually block him from finding his true self. He falls in love with women whose personalities intrigue him; ....

Middle of Essay
.... that he maintains until he becomes bored or finds a new personality to imitate. Amory does not know who he really is, what he truly feels, or what he thinks. He merely cultivates his personality du jour depending on how he believes he would like to be. Essentially, Amory is shopping at a personality store, trying each one on until he can find one that fits. This personality imitation began when Amory spent his adolescent years in the presence of his flamboyant mother, Beatrice. Beatrice raised Amory to be what she wanted him to be, as long as it was stylish and acceptable to coeval virtues. When he goes to Princeton, the separation from his m ....