Abstract
In his first novel This Side of Paradise, Fitzgerald plants and cultivates a theory about the hero's relation to his own character and his society. This and subsequent novels prove that, in Fitzgerald's view, society should both inspire the hero and produce occasions for him to act admirably and helpfully. Simultaneously, his heroes must reconcile their need to be needed with their need to be loved. Insofar as the hero aims exclusively at being loved, admired, and pleasing he will be a failure. Ideally, if the hero does work creatively and does meet the needs of others, as opposed to merely pleasing others, his life and character become relatively safe from his own weaknesses and from the pitfalls in society. Whether Fitzgerald found a tenable way for his twentieth century men to reconcile their ambitions with their society is the question this study will answer.