This Side of Paradise | Themes

Generational Conflict
Although Fitzgerald’s novel may seem less shocking now, it created a sensation when it was published because of its representation of a younger generation that perceived itself as departing entirely from the tradition of the generations before it. Amory’s vanity and egotism, his flirtatious affairs with young women, his startling ideas (such as about socialism), and his vague contempt for nineteenth- century tradition all struck a chord with a generation that blamed their parents, for example, for the horrors of World War I.

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