The Death Of His Wife

Throughout the novel, Charlie takes dangerous risks to help his family. Charlie started working for Squizzy Taylor after his father died. This was a risk considering that Charlie would be working for a criminal, Charlie continues working for Squizzy, until in Chapter 18, Charlie quits working for Squizzy due to him not caring that one of his runners, Norman got bashed up by Jimmy Barrow together with his gang after the liquor run. “...My days running for Squizzy Taylor were over, Now I was running for me.” (pg 170). For the events working for Squizzy Taylor, Charlie could’ve ended up in

Throughout the novel, the Character Charlie Bucktin has been constructed to highlight how innocence can shield us from the true corruption and immorality present in the world around us. In the beginning, Charlie represents innocence and obliviousness, traits that at the time came naturally to a ‘well off’ middle class white Australian. Silvey has constructed Charlie to be well read and well educated, a trait which in turn allowed him to view society in a way far beyond the era he lived in; in a way Charlie represents the change and non-discriminatory outlook to come in future years. However, because of his well-sheltered background, Charlie remains for the most part,

Charlie shows symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. He seems to also suffer from depression, which can root from PTSD. The symptoms that were correct of PTSD were having flashbacks of traumatic events. The symptoms of anxiety that were correct were worrying about feeling guilty, and not becoming happy. The symptoms of depression that were correct were blaming yourself for everything, and always putting yourself down. The things that were realistic about PTSD were having flashbacks, feeling guilty, not wanting to become happy, blaming yourself, putting yourself down, and worrying; for example, Charlie became mentally unstable as a result of being sexually abused as a child. He blocked (repressed) thoughts like that out, and they never come

To escape the daily struggles and to cope with how his life is going, Charlie begins smoking outside of his friend group. His sister catches him smoking and is amazed because of how innocent he seemed. This ignorance on her behalf just shows how much Charlie is changing for the worse. After numerous times of smoking, he starts going to parties and getting high. Most readers would expect him to react different to these situations but he welcomes them and makes small notes about other people at the parties. At one of his last parties, he’s on LSD and this just brought his whole emotional well-being to the ground. Even when he’s not under the influence of drugs, he’s still disconnected from what’s going on around him. By the end of the book, Charlie is stealing liquor from his parents and drinking it excessively to escape the realities of the

Charlie was a victim, Charlie was in an unfortunate situation that no

The reason Charlie travels to Paris in the first place is to attempt to regain custody of his daughter, Honoria. He lost custody of Honoria due to a problem with alcoholism. Because he was not fit to care for a child he gave up his custody rights to Honoria to his sister-in-law, Marion. When Charlie consents to the guardianship he states he “…was flat on my back in a sanitarium and the market had cleaned me out. I knew I’d acted badly and thought it would bring any peace to Helen, I’d agree to anything.” (Fitzgerald 707) He loves and cares for Honoria enough that he would sort through his alcoholism and become a fit parent mentally and financially. The only problem is that his past kept him from gaining custody of her and he had lost so much precious time with her. He knew he lost time but still remains optimistic of their future together and dreams of being apart of her life. He wants to put “…a little of himself into her before she crystallized utterly.” (Fitzgerald 704) But then states, “It was hopeless to try to know her in so short a time.” (Fitzgerald 704) Although Charlie talks Marion into considering giving him custody this consideration comes to a startling halt when Charlie’ old friends Duncan and Lorraine arrive at the residence uninvited and highly intoxicated. The short article “Fitzgerald’s THE GREAT GATSBY and BABYLON REVISITED” by Brian Sutton states that, “Although he treats them coldly, this reminder of his past misbehaviors temporarily destroys his bid to get his daughter back.” (Sutton 3) Marion heavily disapproves of this interaction even though it was uninvited and postpones giving Charlie custody rights for another

Since these events, however, law enforcement body cameras have been the talk of the nation. With regards to the case concerning the death of Michael Brown, many individuals across the country sternly believe that if there had been actual footage of the shooting that day, Officer Wilson would have been indicted for his actions. With that said, since this specific incident, 30 out of 54 Ferguson police officers have actually began wearing body cameras (Ponsi). Some proponents argue that body cameras will not help to indict officers or even hold them accountable for their actions. These individuals, of course, refer to the death of Eric Garner as an example of this.

This proves that Charlie cannot enjoy life as he used to, having had a taste of intelligence and seeing what the world was really like. The doctors should have felt ethically obliged to help Charlie adjust, but failed to do

He later claims that he only allows himself this one drink, so the idea of alcohol won’t grow too large in his head, which allows him to control his old addiction. After the bar he then makes way to his sister-in-law’s, Marion Peters, in order to convince her to allow him to regain custody of his daughter Honoria. Unfortunately for Charlie, Marion still views him as the irresponsible drunk that he used to be, and also blames the death of her sister, Helen, on Charlie himself. This barrier becomes hard to break when trying to convince her that he is a changed man, but Lincoln, Marion’s husband, reasons with Charlie and believes that he has changed. But Marion remains to resist the fact that even though Charlie has changed she cannot view him differently and states, “… It’s something you’ll have to square with your own conscience.” Showing that he has to live with the decisions he’s made. After she storms out, Lincoln states how he sided with Charlie and that Marion is just not being able to accept the fact that he is in fact a changed man. Charlie had finally won them over and was at last, going to get his daughter back, but to

Harrison argues that “Charlie has matured; he is reliable, sober, patient, kind, devoted to his daughter” (“Fitzgerald ‘Babylon Revisited’”). Harrison also explains

Charlie wants to make everyone believe, even himself, that he doesn’t have a problem anymore. He justifies that he only drinks one drink a day to help him overpower the temptation of alcohol. “It’s sort of stunt I set myself, It keeps the matter in proportion” (Fitzgerald 422). However, the author suggests that he may subconsciously want to resume to his past ways. Both of these characters need to deal with the problems they are consciously or subconsciously suppressing.

There was nothing wrong with Charlie but with the people surrounding him which led to his melancholic

Conformity is a dominating theme from start to finish and seen in several of the characters, but Charlie falls victim to this often. Beginning with him meeting Sam and Patrick, it can be said that he never says no to anything, he just goes along with it to stay friends. Two prime examples of this are: the drugs/drinking and the relationship that Mary Elizabeth forced onto Charlie. The first example is the drugs and the drinking; perceived as conformity, since they did not force either of the items down his throat. Identification is changing personal beliefs to be like the influencer, which is a primary motivator for Charlie’s actions. Charlie is compliant when Mary Elizabeth forces a relationship onto him, which is another example of conformity. Compliance motivates by either a reward or a punishment and in this case, both motivate Charlie. He states in the movie that he just accepted being her boyfriend

There are plenty of controversial moments in “Babylon Revisited” where the reader could argue whether or not Charlie has truly left Babylon. A scene that could be speculated on is when Charlie agrees to have drinks with Lorraine and Duncan. One could argue that this behavior is not appropriate nor responsible for a father-figure; Charlie has a duty to protect Honoria, and a bar is not a safe place for a child to be. Moreover, Lorraine and Duncan symbolize Charlie’s alcoholic lifestyle, so the moment Charlie agrees to have drinks with Lorraine and Duncan, is the moment he choses to familiarize Honoria with his past. Therefore, this scene can identify that Charlie is still not ready to let go of Babylon and resume his responsibilities as a parent.

In Fitzgerald’s “Babylon Revisited”, Charlie Wales is the protagonist. He is a recovering alcoholic who is in a fight to get his daughter back while still trying to prove that he has recovered from his alcoholism. Charlie is persistent on trying to get his daughter back from his brother and sister-in-law who now have his daughter after the death of his wife. He tries hard to persuade them that he no longer drinks as he used to and he desperately needs his daughter. He is adamant that he wants to be part of her life. Just as Charlie gets the approval from his in-laws to have his daughter back, two friends of the past show up at the door drunk. Charlie did not expect these two to show up, as he had not talked to them in years. The in-laws take