I have recently become extremely interested in the hero of two worlds, but I can't seem to pinpoint his personality/how he acted. I've had one site say he was rather arrogant and liked to show off his physical prowess, but another claim he was extremely humble and quiet. Yet just by looking at some quotes yet another site said, it almost seems as if he was funny/had a good sense of humor.
So I'm just wondering what he was like outside of what my textbook can tell me.
(Also, this is my first time posting on this subreddit, and I'm terribly sorry if I misinterpreted what questions were supposed to go on here).
I would recommend Sarah Vowell's brand new book, Lafayette in the Somewhat United States. She is not a historian, she's an essayist but what I love about her is how she plays historian, historiographier, and essayist in how she melds history with public perception of the history.
As such, a majority of the book is focused on Lafayette and his role in the American Revolution. With this she describes Lafayette as glory hound and looked toward America as a place to gain glory from battle outside France since it was the place of a major war. However, there might have been other things, as Vowell also alludes to the very close father-son relationship that both seemed to have been wanted by both.
As usual, Lafayette was complex individual and I feel that the sites that you are referencing only one example out of many. There is another book I would recommend Lafayette in Two Worlds: Public Cultures and Personal Identities in an Age of Revolutions by Lloyd S. Kramer.