The Search for Identity This Side of Paradise In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel This Side of Paradise, Amory Blaine searches for her identity by "mirroring" the people she admires . However, these "mirrors" actually prevent him from finding his true self. He falls in love with women whose personalities intrigue him; imitates the actions of the men he looks up to. Eleanor Savage and Burne Holiday are great examples of this. Until Amory loses her all-important “mirror,” Monsignor Darcy, she searches for her soul in all the wrong places. When Monsignor Darcy dies, Amory has the spiritual epiphany she needs to reach her "heaven": the knowledge of who Amory Blaine truly is. Amory seems to be a rather hollow choice for a protagonist. She relies mostly on her breathtaking beauty and wealth to get by in life. He was gifted with brains, but it takes him years to learn how and when to use them. Amory spends his final years of high school and college having fun with his peers and rookies. By constantly associating with others, Amory creates an image of himself that he maintains until he gets bored or finds a new personality to imitate. Amory doesn't know who he really is, what he really feels, or what he thinks. He simply cultivates his personality du jour depending on what he believes he would like to be. Essentially, Amory is shopping at a store of personalities, trying them all on until she finds one that fits. This impersonation of personality began when Amory spent her adolescence in the presence of her extravagant mother, Beatrice. Beatrice raised Amory to be what she wanted her to be, as long as she was elegant and acceptable to contemporary virtues. When he goes to Princeton, the separation from his mother, who essentially thought of him, leads Amory to search for himself. However, his idea of ​​finding his own identity simply involves simulating the personalities of those he admires. This tendency becomes evident in the pattern of Amory's love interests. His first conquest, Isabelle, is a strong-willed girl who knows what she wants. Amory falls in love with her due to her distinct personality; perhaps he subconsciously feels that being in his presence compensates for the fact that he doesn't have a personality of his own. Amory's next love, Rosalind, represents Amory's latent desire for the riches and luxuries she lost with the death of her parents..