So first off - place. Yes, the fact that I know Princeton affects my reading of it, very much so. I find myself a bit jealous of your ability to go visit the actual places in the book (or the places where the fictional places would be). But even being far away, when he talks about the Nassau Club, I can picture it. When he talked about the shore, that in particular resonated with me for some reason. And when he talked about the movie theater in Chapter 1, I thought of the Garden Theater, even though I sort of doubt it was around (at least in its present form) at that time.
I don't think I agree with your statement that you like Amory less as the chapter goes on. It's not that the chapter gives me things to like about him. It's just that his eyes-wide-open approach to the class system causes me to give him credit, even if I don't share his values. I think he's right about Tom when he says that Tom will never again be able to disconnect himself from the class system he's experienced at Princeton. I wish that weren't true, but I think there are plenty of people like Tom who enter places like Princeton with a fairly benign, class-blind disposition, but who leave it acculturated to a certain lifestyle, to having a certain place in society. And so no matter how much they may feel for the poor later in life they still cannot fathom having to actually exist in that social strata.
To me, Amory is refreshing in at least one major sense. Whenever I talk to a political professional, I long to hear the person admit that what they're doing is just silly politics. That as a real person they know their political machinations are largely artifice. When I talk to a business person, I long to hear them admit that while they are driven to succeed they also see the limitations of monetary wealth and business "success." Amory, though he's unable to extricate himself from the social ladder (and indeed embraces it), at least is able to see on some level the frivoloty of it all. That's what I appreciate about him, even though I wouldn't say it makes him a great guy.
It didn't occur to me to look up the definition of petting, but I will say that I found his description of the courting experience of the "Popular Daughters" and their suitors quite interesting. Isabelle's treatment of her admirers - the fact that most of it was a game to her and far more boys thought they'd caught her fancy than actually had - seemed to me to be a fitting un-masking of youthful courtship. Like when Isabelle resolved "that she would, if necessary force herself to like him (Amory) -- that she owed it to Sally.
As with the class system in general, I thought Fitzgerald did a nice job of exposing the sillyness of it all.
It's interesting how Amory sees right through social constructs - like the Princeton caste system and the courtship protocol - and yet he finds himself deeply longing for the apparent goals of those systems, even though he realizes they're meaningless. He wants to be atop the Princeton social system, even though he has a clear-eyed approach to the fact that everyone there - except maybe Dick - is a poser. He finds himself pining for Isabelle even though his conquest of her was largely a game. It's paradoxical, but also true to life, I suspect.
Although you've probably already read on, so you know all the secrets. Thanks for the photos, by the way.
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