Babylon Revisited

“Babylon Revisited” by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a fascinating story with many themes. It is about an American man named Charlie Wales. He recently returned to Paris after the stock market crash of 1929. He had previously been in Paris with his deceased wife and had a past of major partying. Charlie is back now attempting to regain custody of his daughter, Honoria, who is staying with his wife’s sister and her family. Marion, his wife’s sister, is very angry with Charlie and does not want Honoria to live with him. He almost convinces her to allow the custody of his daughter when old partying friends show up at their house. The story ends by going to the Ritz bar where he has his one-drink-a-day and sadly begins to plan what he can do before he gets his daughter back.

The first theme seen in this story is that the past shapes the present. The memory of it is unable to be escaped. No matter how much Charlie tries to convince Lincoln and Marion that he has changed, they cannot forget what he had done before. Not only can they not forget the memory, but his past follows him. For example, Charlie’s old friends show up a few times in the story. They cannot be escaped and change Charlie’s present – he could not take his daughter.

The second theme is transformation. This is almost the same as the first. Throughout the story, Charlie is attempting to turn his life around. His past follows him, but he is experiencing some transformation. For example, his loss of money caused him to rethink his decisions. He no longer parties and will only allow himself to have one drink a day. He also cut off all of his old friends. The difference between the first theme and the second is that Charlie himself is beginning to transform; the outside world is what has not.

The third theme is family. In his past is his wife. In his present is his daughter and his wife’s family. His life as told in the story has always been centered around family – whether he was making good decisions at that point in his life or not. Even greater than the theme of family, though, is the theme of paternal love. Fitzgerald shows the readers that the love of fathers and daughters is pure. For example, Charlie had gone to America for many months. When he came back, though, his daughter still wanted to live with him, be with him, and call him Daddy. This love is also contrasted to the marital love. Charlie and Helen fought; they abused each other; Helen kissed other men; Lincoln and Marion have financial and familial difficulties. However, Honoria and Charlie have a love for each other that is unadulterated. Paternal love is the greatest kind of love.

The past, transformation, and family are all themes in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Babylon Revisited”.