Project - Research Proposal Example

American Puritan Culture in “This Side of Paradise” Being American is not defined by one’s nationality status recorded on a piece of paper, but by the fundamental values and morals that are engrained in the American Puritan Culture. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, “This side of Paradise”, the character Armory Blaine embodies what it means to be American by the manner in which he displays the American Puritan culture, in the manner in which he feels, and most times fights, the constraints that result from the American Puritan Culture.

The fundamental aspects of the American puritan culture are depicted in three ways.LoveThe American puritan culture is based on a belief that love is sacred and should be honored and respected on levels. Armory depicts this in the manner in which he falls in love with Rosalind. However, he comes to fight this very belief the point at which she abandons him for a wealthier man.Morality vs. SexMorality and sex are terms that have largely become interchangeable. Armory depicts this by the manner in which he is involved with numerous ladies, having doubts about the state of his morality.

He finds himself almost abandoning his puritan culture when he finds himself on the verge of kissing Myra at a party. The whole incident is appalling to him.WealthWealth is an essential element in American culture. However, the American puritan culture is founded on wealth gained honestly and earned the hard way. Armory finds himself at crossroads with this very concept at the end when almost buries his puritan culture by preaching socialism so that he may find himself growing wealthy at the onset of a revolution.

Works CitedFitzgerald, Scott F and Jeff Woodman. This side of paradise. Prince Frederick: Recorded Books, 1999. Print.Fitzgerald, Scott F. This side of paradise. New York: C. Scribners Sons, 1948. Electronic Source.Parrish, Timothy. The Cambridge companion to American novelists. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013. Print.Pelzer, Linda C. Student companion to F. Scott Fitzgerald by Linda Claycomb Pelzer. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2000. Print.