Babylon Revisited Symbolism

Babylon Revisited Analysis
Other than his many flaws, Charlie is a man who almost everyone can’t help but like. It’s surprising that Charlie’s so likeable because of his wild past of uncontrollable alcoholism, possibly more after in his wife’s death, and the fact that he left his child. He child gets taken away from him because he is an alcoholic and can’t take care of her. Charlie is hard to dislike sometimes. If we’re unsure of him in the beginning of the story, we increasingly trust him as he rejects his former friends and sticks to just one drink a day. That is a good accomplishment for him. Fitzgerald also conveys Charlie’s great personal charm. Charlie is a physically attractive man, a quality that clearly affects Lorraine and possibly even Marion. He is also a winning, good speaker, able to trick listeners without seeming to try.

Babylon Revisited it is deeply personal, Fitzgerald’s daughter Scottie was brought up by friends as Zelda Fitzgerald was committed due to her failing mental health and Fitzgerald’s alcoholism increased.

It was interesting to find out that “Fitzgerald uses symbolism to emphasize the emptiness”. Charlie is left with after the crash by giving his daughter the name, “Honoria”. Honoria is the Latin word for honor. Not only has Charlie lost most of his money, his daughter and his wife, but also his personal honor. By naming Charlie’s daughter Honoria, Fitzgerald is makes it clear the fact that Charlie not only finds his lost daughter in Paris, but also his lost honor. I thought that was very deep and meaningful to find out that her name has a powerful meaning behind

it.
Marion is Honoria’s aunt she felt the responsibility was on her to take care of her after her sister’s death, since her father cant. Helen is Honoria’s mother and was Charlie’s wife, who died due to “heart trouble”. Marion believes that it is Charlie’s fault for locking Helen out in a snowstorm even though it wasn’t his fault. Marion says Charlie is dead to her as well as Helen. She blames Charlie for her sister’s death. I believe the snowstorm represents a loss and the end of a new beginning because after that is when Charlie tries to change his old drinking habits so the old him is dead as well.
Charlie tries to go to Paris to hopefully regain custody of his daughter and he is hoping his sister in law Marion would let him do so. When Charlie comes to Paris he gives his daughter Honoria a doll. Honoria says her new doll is her daughter, which makes her the mother. That represents a family, he is trying to help her feel a sense of a whole family again, mother, father and daughter. Even though Honoria’s mother died. It’s a temporary good feeling and it is also teaching her to be a grown up and look after and take care of something else.
Marion is unhappy with her own life and focuses her frustrations on Charlie, but there’s no doubt that she is a good woman. She has taken Honoria in, treated her as her own child, and brought her up to be a happy girl. She also loves her husband. Her marriage to him is the most successful romantic adult relationship in the story, unlike Charlie’s horrible marriage, which ended badly. Still, Marion’s un-caring character. Because we see Marion from Charlie’s view, we focus only on her bad side rather than her good motivations.
Wales is nervous when he reaches his in-law’s house because he said there was "cramping in his belly." Honoria really loves her father and wants to be with him even though she can’t because of Marion’s response and his alcoholic ways. Their place is warm and a nice family home. Wales betrays his nerves as he boasts about his income and his business success. The Peters have always struggled as Wales and his wife lived a really easy, rich life. When Wales’s thinks back about his earlier life in Paris, he wishes he didn’t say those words. He says, "We were a sort of royalty, almost infallible." "Almost" is the key word here, as Helen Wales does not survive the heady days of their nice lifestyle.
Wales cannot tell whether the sisters were close, but Honoria tells him that she likes Uncle Lincoln best. Marion makes Wales feel guilty about everything such as, Helen’s death, his drinking and their lack of wealth. Many people drink to forget about their problems and lack of income. She had a "curious disbelief in her sister’s happiness:" not understanding that Helen loved Wales and their lifestyle probably as much as he did.
Charlie really wanted his daughter back so he can fill the empty space missing from his wife’s death and she would make him feel more whole instead of being alone with no wife and daughter. He believes that he is now financially stable again and that he plans to bring his sister to keep the house for him. He says the money “left as quick as it came” because he has had his ups and downs with money. Charlie does struggle to change for himself, his daughter and a better life. If he was not an alcoholic he would have his daughter but he is not stable enough to keep her. The author did a good job of telling the story, I like the fact that he gave us background information and didn’t make us feel left out so we could follow along throughout the whole story. The meaning was much deeper once I analyzed the story rather than just looking at the text and summarizing it. Analyzing this essay I noticed the author didn’t leave out any details in my opinion. I thought this was a strong essay, I liked most of the essay, of course I disliked the fact that Charlie had a drinking problem and couldn’t take care of his own daughter but I respect the fact that he turned that around and reduced his drinking to one a day.

Work Cited
Byam, Nina. “F. Scott Fitzgerald”. The Norton Anthology Of American Literature Volume D; 1914-1945 Ed. Nina Baym. New York; Norton, 2012.658-659.