This Side of Paradise · Chapter
The Egotist Becomes a Personage explained
Amory Blaine, now impoverished and disillusioned, engages in a deep internal dialogue about his past, his loss of faith in people and institutions, and his contempt for poverty.
What happens
Amory Blaine, now impoverished and disillusioned, engages in a deep internal dialogue about his past, his loss of faith in people and institutions, and his contempt for poverty. He rides an autobus through New York, then debates social class and progress with two strangers in a car, coining the phrase 'spiritually married man' to describe those trapped by family and economic conservatism.
Themes in this chapter
Disillusionment and Loss of Innocence
Amory's internal monologue reveals his complete loss of faith in heroes, women, and the possibility of virtue; he feels he has no more 'calories of virtue' to give off.
Social Class and Wealth
Amory expresses profound distaste for poverty and argues that the moneyed class controls intellectual conscience; he debates the role of class in social progress.
Identity and Self-Definition
Amory questions his own corruption, his drifting purpose, and whether he is 'spiritually married' or 'spiritually unmarried,' seeking to define his place in a changing world.
Characters to notice
- Amory Blaine
Amory reflects on his past cruelties, his loss of heroes, and his fear of poverty; he engages in a philosophical dialogue and coins the phrase 'spiritually married man.'
- Burne Holiday
Mentioned as sunk from sight, as if he had never lived, symbolizing Amory's loss of heroes.
- Monsignor Darcy
Mentioned as dead, contributing to Amory's sense of abandonment and disillusionment.
- Isabelle Borgé
Listed among the women Amory once idealized but now sees as removed by their beauty from contributing anything meaningful.
- Clara Page
Listed among the women Amory once idealized but now sees as removed by their beauty from contributing anything meaningful.
- Rosalind Connage
Listed among the women Amory once idealized but now sees as removed by their beauty from contributing anything meaningful.
Key passages
“I detest poor people. I hate them for being poor. Poverty may have been beautiful once, but it's rotten now. It's the ugliest thing in the world. It's essentially cleaner to be corrupt and rich than it is to be innocent and poor.”
Amory declares his hatred for the poor, arguing that poverty is now ugly and that being corrupt and wealthy is morally preferable to being innocent and destitute.
This reveals Amory's deep class prejudice and his cynical rejection of romanticized poverty.
“When life gets hold of a brainy man of fair education, that is, when he marries he becomes, nine times out of ten, a conservative as far as existing social conditions are concerned. ... He's done! Life's got him! He's no help! He's a spiritually married man.”
Amory coins the phrase 'spiritually married man' to describe a man who, after marriage, becomes conservative and trapped by the need to provide for his family, losing his radical potential.
This is a key philosophical statement in the chapter, encapsulating Amory's critique of domesticity and economic conservatism.
“Modern life changes no longer century by century, but year by year, ten times faster than it ever has before—populations doubling, civilizations unified more closely with other civilizations, economic interdependence, racial questions, and—we're dawdling along. My idea is that we've got to go very much faster.”
Amory argues that the pace of modern change has accelerated dramatically, and society must adapt more quickly to keep up.
This reflects Amory's progressive, almost radical, call for rapid social transformation.
