The Inescapable Past of “Babylon Revisited” by F. Scott...

The main theme in the short story â€Å"Babylon Revisited† is that you can’t repeat the past. Charlie has a lot of hope for the future, but his guilt from the past catches up with him. He tries to forget about the Paris he used to know, but memories from the past haunts him throughout the story. His past is inescapable and he has to pay great debts when the party comes to an end. â€Å"Babylon Revisited†, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald was published in 1931. The story is greatly affected by the time period it was written in, and by what was going on in Fitzgerald’s life. Charlie and his wife lived in Paris during the twenties, and just as any other night they were out drinking and having fun. They get into a fight witch results in his wife, Helen, kissing another man. Charlie storms home, and an hour later when Helen has stumbled herself home, Charlie locks her out of their apartment and she dies soon after. Charlie has a breakdown and is institutionalized right before he looses all his money in the stock market crash of 1929. As the story opens three years later Charlie is back in Paris, sober, determined to get custody over his daughter, Honoria, who lives with Helens sister, Marion. The story is narrated in a third person point of view. The reader sees things through Charlie’s eyes, witch means all his thoughts and observations are being narrated. The conflict in the story is that Charlie wants his daughter back. It is not going to be easy and there are a lot of obstacles fromShow MoreRelatedTheme of Time in Babylon Revisited Essay537 Words   |  3 PagesIn Babylon Revisited by F Scott Fitzgerald time is used to reinforce his theme of one’s past being inescapable. Through time it is seen where the main character Charlie’s past comes to haunt him in his present. References are made in time flying by and being lost due to the past indiscretions. Babylon Revisited is one of the most analyzed literary works. Many have torn the piece into bits to decipher the underlying meaning of Fitzgerald’s writing. His theme of the past being inescapable is oneRead MoreWealth, Fame, Glamour, and Hope in F. Scott Fitzgeralds Story Themes1369 Words   |  6 PagesWealth, fame, glamour, and hope; these are the basis to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s invoking themes. Fitzgerald, a man who lived with criticism and who once desired the American dream, wrote with a fiery style of arrogance, emblematic imagery, and surrealistic themes. His unique style of writing during The Roaring Twenties relates to the many social and cultural reforms that occurred – a period Fitzgerald coined, the Jazz Age. During his time, Fitzgerald completed four novels and over one hundred short stories