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Dick Humbird is a classmate and friend of Amory’s at Princeton. Dick comes to Princeton from St. Paul’s, another elite New England prep school, and Amory initially desires his friendship. Amory tries to model his behavior after Dick’s, believing that everything Dick does seems proper and effortless. Amory is eventually shocked and disappointed to learn that Dick does not come from old money—Dick’s father had been poor and became wealthy through real estate in Tacoma. When Dick dies in a car crash while driving drunk near Princeton, Amory is horrified and realizes that Dick’s wealth did not prevent him from dying a gruesome, “unaristocratic” death. Later in the novel, when running from what he thinks is the devil, Amory sees an apparition of Dick’s face.
Dick Humbird Quotes in This Side of Paradise
The This Side of Paradise quotes below are all either spoken by Dick Humbird or refer to Dick Humbird. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Book 1, Chapter 4: Narcissus Off Duty
Quotes
The intense power Amory felt later in Burne Holiday differed from the admiration he had had for Humbird[…]. Amory was struck by Burne’s intense earnestness[…]. Burne stood vaguely for a land Amory hoped he was drifting toward—and it was almost time that land was in sight.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire This Side of Paradise LitChart as a printable PDF.
Dick Humbird Character Timeline in This Side of Paradise
The timeline below shows where the character Dick Humbird appears in This Side of Paradise. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 1, Chapter 2: Spires and Gargoyles
...shares his interest, but he worries that the group of boys from St. Paul’s, including Dick Humbird, will think of him as a literary snob like Tom. Amory and Tom become...
(full context)
...wakes Amory up one morning to skip class and drive to the beach with him, Dick, Kerry, and Jesse Ferrenby. Amory joins them despite being worried about cutting class. Amory thinks...
(full context)
...a girl whom the others consider ugly—still, she joins their party. Amory notices that though Dick is quiet, he seems to be the center of attention. Amory admires Dick and thinks...
(full context)
...the semester, Amory, Alec, and others are driving back from New York when they find Dick Humbird dead on the road after a car accident. Fred Sloane and Jesse Ferrenby, who...
(full context)
Book 1, Chapter 3: The Egotist Considers
...spirit who is haunting him to send “some one stupid,” and suddenly the face of Dick Humbird appears to him. When Amory returns to Princeton, he and Tom are reading together...
(full context)
Book 2, Chapter 4: The Supercilious Sacrifice
...in Atlantic City. Amory is preoccupied by the deaths of their friends, Jesse, Kerry, and Dick, as well as by his pain about Rosalind, yet he agrees to spend the night...
(full context)
