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A Freudian Reading of Amory’s Personal Development in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s This Side of Paradise

Year 2016, Issue: 45, 7 - 32, 01.10.2016

A. Deniz Bozer

Abstract

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s first novel, This Side of Paradise 1920 is not only an explicitly autobiographical narrative replete with characters that can be traced back to real people from Fitzgerald’s own life, but also a colorful account of the 1920s American youth. The novel was highly popular for its realistic and lively representation of the Jazz Age which was marked for its hedonism. The protagonist of the novel, the romantic egotist Amory, who is Fitzgerald’s fictional self, is a conceited young man who enjoys a flamboyant lifestyle along with many other well-to-do members of his generation. Amory, the hedonist, considers pleasure as the most important good and seeks to maximize this pleasure. Following the publication of Freud’s work “On Narcissism” in 1915, the 1920s is also significant as it witnesses the flourishing of this prominent scientist’s views on psychoanalysis and the publication of his works “Beyond the Pleasure Principle” 1920 and “The Ego and the Id” 1923 . Thus, the self-absorbed Amory’s quest for pleasure can be read as an act in accordance with Freud’s Pleasure Principle which is the driving force behind the id. Drawing additionally on Freud’s views on narcissism and his tripartite theory of the psyche, this paper aims at discussing the psychosexual development of Amory from early childhood into his early twenties

Keywords

F. Scott Fitzgerald This Side of Paradise Sigmund Freud Psychosexual Development Narcissism

References

  • Fitzgerald, F. Scott. This Side of Paradise. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1974. Print.
  • “1920s Music.” http://www.1920-30.com/music/. Web. 10 February 2015.
  • Barnett, Mark A., et al. “Perceptions of Self-Oriented and Other-Oriented Help-Providers.” Altruism, Narcissism, Comity: Research Perspectives from Current Psychology. Ed. Nathaniel J. Pallone. New Brunswick and London: Transaction Publishers, 1999. 97-120. Print.
  • Brooke, Rupert. Collected Poems. Cambridge: The Oleander Press, 2010. 130-132. Print.
  • Bruccoli, Matthew J. Some Sort of Epic Grandeur: The Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald. 2nd Revised Ed. Columbia, SC: U of South Carolina P, 2002. Print.
  • ---. “Fitzgerald’s Eras.” Literary Masterpieces: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Judith S. Baugham and Matthew Bruccoli. Detroit: Manly/The Gale Group, 2000. Print.
  • Clark, Richard M. “Dick Humbird and the Devil Wagon of Doom: Cars, Carnivores, and Feminine Carnality in This Side of Paradise.” The F. Scott Fitzgerald Review 11 (2013): 32-53. Project MUSE Web. 10 February 2015.
  • De Koster, Katie. Readings on F. Scott Fitzgerald. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1998. Print.
  • Donaldson, Scott. Fool For Love. New York: Delta, 1983. Print.
  • Fitzgerald, F. Scott. “Echoes of the Jazz Age.” The Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Crack-Up with Other Pieces and Stories. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1974. 9-19. Print.
  • ---. “My Lost City.” The Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Crack-Up with Other Pieces and Stories. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1974. 20-31. Print.
  • Freud, Sigmund. (1905). “Three Essays on Sexuality” The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works. Eds. and Trans. James Strachey
  • A Freudian Reading of Amory’s Personal Development in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s This Side of Paradise et al. London: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of PsychoAnalysis, 1973. VII: 125-248. Print.
  • ---. (1914). “On Narcissism: An Introduction.” The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works. Eds. and Trans. James Strachey et al. London: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1973. XIV: 67-102. Print.
  • ---. (1915). “Thoughts on War and Death.” The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works. Eds. and Trans. James Strachey et al. London: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1973. XIV: 273-302. Print.
  • ---. (1917). “General Theory of the Neuroses.” The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works. Eds. and Trans. James Strachey et al. London: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1973. XVI: 241-463. Print.
  • ---. (1917).“A Difficulty in Psycho-Analysis.” The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works. Eds. and Trans. James Strachey et al. London: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1973. XVII: 135-144. Print.
  • ---. (1917). “A Childhood Recollection from ‘Dichtung und Wahrheit.’” The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works. Eds. and Trans. James Strachey et al. London: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1973. XVII: 145-156. Print.
  • ---. (1920). “Beyond the Pleasure Principle.” The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works. Eds. and Trans. James Strachey et al. London: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1973. XVIII: 1-64. Print.
  • ---. (1923). “The Ego and the Id.” The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works. Eds. and Trans. James Strachey et al. London: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1973. XIX: 1-66. Print.
  • ---. (1917). “Civilization and Its Discontents.” The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works. Eds. and Trans. James Strachey et al. London: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1973. XXI: 64-145. Print.
  • ---. (1933). “New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis.” The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works. Eds. and Trans. James Strachey et al. London: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1973. XXII: 1-182. Print.
  • Giles, Paul. American Catholic Arts and Fictions: Culture, Ideology, Aesthetics. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2013. Print.
  • Gourley, Catherine. Flappers and the New American Woman: Perceptions of Women from 1918 through the 1920s. Minneapolis, MN: TwentyFirst Century Books, 2008. Print.
  • Hill, Robert W. and Gregory P. Youssey. “Adaptive and Maladaptive Narcissism among University Faculty, Clergy, Politicians, and Librarians.” Altruism, Narcissism, Comity: Research Perspectives from Current Psychology. Ed. Nathaniel J. Pallone. New Brunswick and London: Transaction Publishers, 1999. 87-96. Print.
  • Horton, Robert S. “Parenting as a Cause of Narcissism: Empirical Support for Psychodynamic and Social Learning Theories.” The Handbook of Narcissism and Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Eds. W. Keith Campbell and Joshua D. Miller. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2011. 181-190. Print.
  • Kahn, Sy. “This Side of Paradise: The Pageantry of Disillusion.” The Midwest Quarterly VII (January 1966): 177-194. Web. 15 February 2015.
  • Maynard, Barksdale W. “Invasion of the Devil Wagon.” Princeton Alumni Weekly Nov. 16, 2011. . Web. 8 February 2015.
  • Meyers, Jeffrey. Scott Fitzgerald: A Biography. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Print.
  • Millon, Theodore, et al. Personality Disorders in Modern Life. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley &Sons, 2004. Print.
  • Pelzer, Linda C. Student Companion to F. Scott Fitzgerald. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Press, 2000. Print.
  • Seiters, Dan. Image Patterns in the Novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Research Press, 1976.
  • Stavola, T. J. Crisis in an American Identity. London: Vision Press, 1979. Print.
  • Turnbull, Andrew, ed. The Letters of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1968. Print.
  • “U.S. Constitution.” www.law.cornell.edu/constitution. Web. 10 February 2015.
  • Vaknin, Sam. Malignant Self-Love: Narcissism Revisited. Skopje: Narcissus Publications, 2013. Google Books. Web. 8 February 2015.

Year 2016, Issue: 45, 7 - 32, 01.10.2016

A. Deniz Bozer

Abstract

F. Scott Fitzgerald’ın ilk romanı This Side of Paradise 1920 , Fitzgerald’ın kendi hayatından gerçek kişileri andıran karakterlerle dolu özyaşam öyküsüne benzer bir anlatı olmanın yanı sıra, 1920ler Amerikan gençliğinin renkli bir tasviridir. Bu roman, hedonizm ile özdeşleştirilen Caz Dönemi’nin gerçekçi ve canlı bir temsili olduğu için çok popüler olmuştur. Romanın başkarakteri ve Fitzgerald’ın kurgusal benliği olan romantik egoist Amory, kendi neslinin hali vakti yerinde olan diğer üyeleriyle birlikte gösterişli bir hayat sürmenin keyfini çıkaran kibirli bir genç adamdır. Hedonist Amory zevkin en önemli unsur olduğunu düşünür ve aldığı zevki en üst seviyeye çıkarmaya uğraşır. 1915’de Freud’un “On Narcissism” adlı eserinin basılmasının sonrasında 1920ler, bu önde gelen bilim insanının psikanaliz konusundaki fikirlerinin yayılmasına ve “Beyond the Pleasure Principle” 1920 ve “The Ego and the Id” 1923 eserlerinin yayınlanmasına tanıklık etmiştir. Bu bağlamda, bencil Amory’nin zevk kovalaması, Freud’un ‘id’in itici gücü olan ‘Zevk İlkesi’ çerçevesinde incelenebilir. Bu çalışma, Freud’un narsisizm üzerine olan diğer fikirlerini ve zihnin üç bölümden oluşması kuramını da kullanarak Amory’nin erken çocukluktan yirmili yaşlarına kadar olan psikoseksüel gelişimini tartışmaktadır.

Keywords

F. Scott Fitzgerald This Side of Paradise Sigmund Freud Psikoseksüel Gelişim Narsisizm

References

  • Fitzgerald, F. Scott. This Side of Paradise. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1974. Print.
  • “1920s Music.” http://www.1920-30.com/music/. Web. 10 February 2015.
  • Barnett, Mark A., et al. “Perceptions of Self-Oriented and Other-Oriented Help-Providers.” Altruism, Narcissism, Comity: Research Perspectives from Current Psychology. Ed. Nathaniel J. Pallone. New Brunswick and London: Transaction Publishers, 1999. 97-120. Print.
  • Brooke, Rupert. Collected Poems. Cambridge: The Oleander Press, 2010. 130-132. Print.
  • Bruccoli, Matthew J. Some Sort of Epic Grandeur: The Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald. 2nd Revised Ed. Columbia, SC: U of South Carolina P, 2002. Print.
  • ---. “Fitzgerald’s Eras.” Literary Masterpieces: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Judith S. Baugham and Matthew Bruccoli. Detroit: Manly/The Gale Group, 2000. Print.
  • Clark, Richard M. “Dick Humbird and the Devil Wagon of Doom: Cars, Carnivores, and Feminine Carnality in This Side of Paradise.” The F. Scott Fitzgerald Review 11 (2013): 32-53. Project MUSE Web. 10 February 2015.
  • De Koster, Katie. Readings on F. Scott Fitzgerald. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1998. Print.
  • Donaldson, Scott. Fool For Love. New York: Delta, 1983. Print.
  • Fitzgerald, F. Scott. “Echoes of the Jazz Age.” The Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Crack-Up with Other Pieces and Stories. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1974. 9-19. Print.
  • ---. “My Lost City.” The Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Crack-Up with Other Pieces and Stories. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1974. 20-31. Print.
  • Freud, Sigmund. (1905). “Three Essays on Sexuality” The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works. Eds. and Trans. James Strachey
  • A Freudian Reading of Amory’s Personal Development in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s This Side of Paradise et al. London: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of PsychoAnalysis, 1973. VII: 125-248. Print.
  • ---. (1914). “On Narcissism: An Introduction.” The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works. Eds. and Trans. James Strachey et al. London: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1973. XIV: 67-102. Print.
  • ---. (1915). “Thoughts on War and Death.” The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works. Eds. and Trans. James Strachey et al. London: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1973. XIV: 273-302. Print.
  • ---. (1917). “General Theory of the Neuroses.” The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works. Eds. and Trans. James Strachey et al. London: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1973. XVI: 241-463. Print.
  • ---. (1917).“A Difficulty in Psycho-Analysis.” The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works. Eds. and Trans. James Strachey et al. London: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1973. XVII: 135-144. Print.
  • ---. (1917). “A Childhood Recollection from ‘Dichtung und Wahrheit.’” The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works. Eds. and Trans. James Strachey et al. London: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1973. XVII: 145-156. Print.
  • ---. (1920). “Beyond the Pleasure Principle.” The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works. Eds. and Trans. James Strachey et al. London: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1973. XVIII: 1-64. Print.
  • ---. (1923). “The Ego and the Id.” The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works. Eds. and Trans. James Strachey et al. London: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1973. XIX: 1-66. Print.
  • ---. (1917). “Civilization and Its Discontents.” The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works. Eds. and Trans. James Strachey et al. London: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1973. XXI: 64-145. Print.
  • ---. (1933). “New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis.” The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works. Eds. and Trans. James Strachey et al. London: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1973. XXII: 1-182. Print.
  • Giles, Paul. American Catholic Arts and Fictions: Culture, Ideology, Aesthetics. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2013. Print.
  • Gourley, Catherine. Flappers and the New American Woman: Perceptions of Women from 1918 through the 1920s. Minneapolis, MN: TwentyFirst Century Books, 2008. Print.
  • Hill, Robert W. and Gregory P. Youssey. “Adaptive and Maladaptive Narcissism among University Faculty, Clergy, Politicians, and Librarians.” Altruism, Narcissism, Comity: Research Perspectives from Current Psychology. Ed. Nathaniel J. Pallone. New Brunswick and London: Transaction Publishers, 1999. 87-96. Print.
  • Horton, Robert S. “Parenting as a Cause of Narcissism: Empirical Support for Psychodynamic and Social Learning Theories.” The Handbook of Narcissism and Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Eds. W. Keith Campbell and Joshua D. Miller. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2011. 181-190. Print.
  • Kahn, Sy. “This Side of Paradise: The Pageantry of Disillusion.” The Midwest Quarterly VII (January 1966): 177-194. Web. 15 February 2015.
  • Maynard, Barksdale W. “Invasion of the Devil Wagon.” Princeton Alumni Weekly Nov. 16, 2011. . Web. 8 February 2015.
  • Meyers, Jeffrey. Scott Fitzgerald: A Biography. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Print.
  • Millon, Theodore, et al. Personality Disorders in Modern Life. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley &Sons, 2004. Print.
  • Pelzer, Linda C. Student Companion to F. Scott Fitzgerald. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Press, 2000. Print.
  • Seiters, Dan. Image Patterns in the Novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Research Press, 1976.
  • Stavola, T. J. Crisis in an American Identity. London: Vision Press, 1979. Print.
  • Turnbull, Andrew, ed. The Letters of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1968. Print.
  • “U.S. Constitution.” www.law.cornell.edu/constitution. Web. 10 February 2015.
  • Vaknin, Sam. Malignant Self-Love: Narcissism Revisited. Skopje: Narcissus Publications, 2013. Google Books. Web. 8 February 2015.
There are 36 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language Turkish
Journal Section Research Article
Authors

A. Deniz Bozer This is me

Publication Date October 1, 2016
Published in Issue Year 2016 Issue: 45

Cite

MLA Bozer, A. Deniz. “A Freudian Reading of Amory’s Personal Development in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s This Side of Paradise”. Journal of American Studies of Turkey, no. 45, 2016, pp. 7-32.

JAST - Journal of American Studies of Turkey