An Analysis Of Babylon Revisited

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Fisher 1
Blake Fisher
Correa
Eng 1302- 3rd
24 April 2014
Final Exam Essay
In “Babylon Revisited”, Charlie Wales, the main character of the short story, who’s goal is to get back custody of his daughter, Honoria. Before this point, Charlie has not exactly been the “perfect” parent he hopes to be. He often goes to bars all around Paris buying drinks and getting drunk. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses descriptive diction, detail, and imagery to show Charlie's growth from an unreponsible parent, to a more well-rounded and caring one.
In the beginning of the short story, Charlie’s daughter shows excitement when she sees her father through type of diction she uses. The author uses, “Flew up, struggling like a fish, into his arms”(Fitzgerald 2) to show her happiness to see him. Charlie kind of acts quiet and shows lack of energy in the beginning of the story. It seems like he does not really care about her. But she is happy to see him. Even though Willy is technically a stranger to his daughter, she still shows her excitement to see him. When Charlie starts talking to Marion Peters, he asks her what she thinks of Honoria. She replies, “Wonderful. I was astonished how much she's grown in ten months”(Fitzgerald 2) showing how mature Honoria has come, even though her mom or dad are around. The use of diction in the quote shows how Marion feels about Honoria. Even though Charlie has been away for most of his daughter's life, she still seems to be in “tact”. Charlie and Honoria act as two completely different people with different personalities. There seems to more of this in the detailed parts of the story.
Fisher 2
The use of details in the story, helps give the reader a better understanding what is going on. Th...

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...nd with those people from the past. He is trying to look to the future, and forget about the past. Toward the end of the book the quote, “He would come back some day; they couldn't make him pay forever”(Bodine Internet). At this time he is paying the bill at a restaurant, but also thinking about what more he needs to do to get custody of his daughter. He has not shown Marion Peters enough growth within himself to get his daughter back.
In “Babylon Revisited”, Charlie Wales character has had it highs and lows. His traits of responsibility and repentance best describe how much his character has grown in the story. He uses these traits to relate to the theme of hopeful ambition. All of this comes back to his desire to get custody of his daughter. He makes it his goal in life to become the parent he never was and give his daughter the life she deserves.

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