Abstract
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s first novel, This Side of Paradise, tells the tale of a young Midwestern university student who falls in and out of love, while eschewing his education for a life in the military. Fitzgerald’s book, a semi-autobiographical tale written around the time of the pursuit of his first love Zelda, combines varying literary styles with a powerful narrative voice to show the idleness and greed of American youth in the 1910s. In the world of This Side of Paradise, the youth of the nation is confused, lost and torn between love, obligation and opportunity, not really knowing where they ...