F. Scott Fitzgerald 's Babylon Revisited

Yet another article concerning the analysis of Babylon Revisited by Joan Turner gives insight on Fitzgerald’s use of time to explain how his chance to regain his daughter is slipping away just as his wife had slipped away (Turner). With a scene where cohorts of his days of carousing appear at a time when Charlie is discussing guardianship of his daughter, Honoria, Charlie realizes how intertwined the past, present and future are (Mizner 319-320).

In Babylon Revisited, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the pains and suffering of a man are exposed. The vices of life has been experienced by the man, and he, tired and consumed by the regret that such vices have brought, decides to give his life true meaning by way of redemption. Throughout the story, the reader meets a battered man who works unceasingly to recuperate his honor and goodness in a world of depravity and open rebellion. His friends, who represent his past life, pull him towards the mountain of abundance and lust, while he constantly fights to overcome his natural desire. And this pulling reveals his own moral inability to attain the honor and ethics he never possessed. His life is a Babylon of modern times, where every sin can be tasted & truly enjoyed, but unfortunately, his last descent into this city culminated with the death of his wife.

Knowing the historical context of a work is crucial to understanding both its general meaning and its deeper essence. Often times, authors use their works as outlets to freely express their personal feelings toward a social trend or issue. As such, the time in which a story is written can have a strong influence on the message the author is trying to convey to his or her reader. Their personal reflections can be asserted in many ways; among the most common being through the characters themselves and their development throughout the work, the setting, and the implied themes.

In the poem Babylon Revisited, one of the few addictions Charles Wales had was towards alcohol use. When Charles first arrived in Paris he let his addiction of alcohol blind him. He took to the streets of Paris,

“By the Waters of Babylon” is a short story written by Stephen Vincent Benét. The story involves a son of a priest named John going east to explore a ruined city which is known as the “Place of the Gods.” As the name implies, the city was believed to have been inhabited by gods. As John explores the city, he realizes that the gods were not actually deities; they were humans who were killed in a calamity that John refers to as the “Great Burning.” It is implied in the story that the gods were ultimately responsible for their own destruction. Many literary elements are present in “By the Waters of Babylon,” but arguably the most important element is theme. The theme of the story gives meaning to the story as a whole. The theme of this story is that knowledge can be dangerous if consumed too quickly. Benét presents this idea of knowledge being dangerous several times in the story—notably the at the end of the story, during John’s interactions with his father, and during John’s exploration of the Place of the Gods.

In the story F. Scotts Fitzgerald dubbed, "Babylon Revisited" a story about a man named Charlie Wales who goes on a quest to go to Paris and bring back his daughter, Honoria, back home to live with him instead of his sister and brother-in-law. Charlie was a man who had a drinking problem when him and his wife were still together even when they had Honoria. Eventually, Charlie 's bad temperment led him to lock his wife out of his house which indirectly led to her untimely death and Honoria being taken away from him and put into the care of his sister/brother-in-law in Paris. Charlie tries to convince his brother and sister-in-law, Lincoln and Marion, to release Honoria into his custody to return back home in Prague. Charlie eventually convinces the both of them to give him back Honoria, but in the end after reflecting on the things that Charlie has done in the past and is current state the couple change their mind and tell him to first completely fix his drinking problem. Before diving into the analysis, a little background context for this time era is neccessary before going any further. This story occurs towards the end of the Great Depression where Charlie returns to Paris from a sanitarium because of his alcholism problem. The Great Depression was a time where the stock market crashed in 1929 and as a result, Charlie 's money crashed along with it which could have been the cause of his severe alcholism. Now that Charlie has returned to Paris though after a few years, he

The pictures in the collage represent parts of the story, By the Waters of Babylon. This story is about a young man, John, a son of a priest. He goes on a journey east to The Place of the Gods, though it is forbidden. John believes it is his duty to explore and uncover the truth about this forbidden land. When John returns from his journey he wants to spread the truth, but his father warns him, “If you eat too much truth at once, you may die from the truth.”

The characters are John son of the tribal priest. John’s father priest who conducts the ceremony initiating his son into the tribal priesthood and John’s brothers the hunters. John is brave, and curious. Throughout the story John shows ambition and curiosity. He is determined to get to the place where the gods are. When John went back to the village he brought knowledge about the place people thought to be sacred.

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Babylon Revisited, Charlie is considered a tragic figure. A tragic figure is a protagonist (main character) that does not overcome his or her conflict in the story. For Charlie, his main goal in his trip to Paris is to get his daughter, Honoria, back. Honoria lives with Charlie’s sister and brother in law, Marion and Lincoln. At the end of the story, Charlie fails to get his daughter back.

In “Babylon Revisited,” the story is told from the perspective of the audience, however, it follows Charlie Wales, a man with a reckless background. After losing his wealth and, consequently, his role as a father, Wales is seeking to remedy his life during the time of the story. He visits Honoria - his daughter - and the family of his deceased wife in an attempt to regain custody of Honoria. Marion, Charlie’s sister-in-law, is very reluctant because she believes her sister, Helen, died due to his mistreatment. Though the fact of Helen’s death remains a mystery, it is the effect of Charlie’s recklessness that still haunts his future, thus providing a simple basis for the plot to build upon and to sustain the theme.

In Stephen Vincent Benét’s prestigious narrative “By the Waters of Babylon”, a somewhat primitive, yet curious young man embarks on a journey towards the forbidden Place of the Gods in the east to challenge the fundamental principles of his faith, seeking to uncover new truths of both the gods and his marred world. Through the viewpoint of the protagonist, John, Benét slowly unveils to readers the truths of the world in which the Hill People and the Forest People live in. During the development of Benét’s highly esteemed short story, significant events and technological advancements within the gruesome years of the Second World War serve as influential cornerstones for the post-apocalyptic setting of Benét’s renowned narrative.

In 1931, Fitzgerald published “Babylon Revisited” in the Saturday Evening Post. The 18th amendment was still in effect until 1933. The way that this story portrays alcohol was still based on a prohibition-era way of thinking, but looking back on the raucous living of the twenties. Fitzgerald’s own experiences with alcoholism and the consequences of it after the boom heavily influenced this story. Regardless, it is still valuable as an example of contradiction because it shows prohibitionist thought by warning against the dangers of alcoholism while exaggerating alcohol’s prevalence. This story takes place in France and some may argue that there is the possibility that French culture influenced these characters more than American culture. The main reasoning behind this claim is that drinking was legal in France and therefore might have been more popular. However, according to an article in The New York Times, the opposite was true. The author writes, “I saw no drunken people in Europe except a couple of young Americans in London who were a bit lively…I have seen plenty in American cities who were staggering drunk and have seen nothing of the kind in England, France, Germany or Italy” (Hahn). If anything, Americans influenced the French to drink more.

Alas, Babylon, by Pat Frank, takes place in Florida, USA, during a nuclear war between them and the USSR. Much like the small, ancient city of Babylon, the United States of America was destroyed and its citizens, the ones still alive, had the immense task of rebuilding the former superpower nation of the world. Dan Gunn, Fort Repose`s doctor explained to Randy Bragg, our protagonist that “some nations and some people come apart like fat in the pan. Others meet the challenge and harden. [He thought he was going to harden]” (Frank 133). Although he was talking to Randy, the quote applied to him as well. Randy had to figure out how to lead a very scared city that was falling apart and Dan had to treat the many patients without the luxury of having conventional methods available.

Both “By The Waters of Babylon” and Fahrenheit 451 are set in a dystopian future after Nuclear war has taken place, Beside that, John from “By The Waters of Babylon” written by Stephen Vincent Benét and Guy Montag Fahrenheit 451 written by Ray Bradbury have so many similarities that are definitely worth looking into as they go on a search for knowledge and answers. Examples of the similarities would be; that they both have been set on a quest for knowledge, they both found new life both physically and spiritually in the rivers, and that they had to go against society to find knowledge.

In Babylon Revisited, F. Scott Fitzgerald introduces the reader to a character by the name of Charlie Wales. The reader learns that Charlie is a recovering alcoholic hoping to reestablish a relationship with his daughter, Honoria. Fitzgerald shows evolvement through the character of Charlie Wales. When readers are first introduced to Charlie, he is on his way to visit his daughter. Honoria has been living with her Aunt Marion and Uncle Lincoln after the death of Helen, Honoria’s mother and Charlie’s wife, as well as Charlie being committed to a sanitarium. Charlie was at a crossroad in his life; he had already lost his wife and his daughter and he was forced to make a major decision in his life. While Charlie is visiting Honoria, she mentions wanting to live with him. He decides to talk to Marion and Lincoln; Lincoln seems to be receptive of him taking on a larger role in his daughter’s life. However, Marion is not so acceptant. Marion believes Charlie to be partially responsible for her sister’s death and questions his drinking. Charlie mentions Helen’s death was due to heart trouble and he hasn’t “had more than a drink a day for over a year, and I take that drink deliberately, so that the idea of alcohol won’t get too big in my imagination (Fitzgerald 682).” Just as in life today people are faced with tough decisions that could greatly impact their lives, Charlie is faced with tough choices that could not only hinder his chances of getting his daughter back but once again