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F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald as an adult.
Fitzgerald when he was young.
The story opens in the middle of a conversation between Charlie and the bartender, Alix, at the Ritz. Charlie, now sober for a year, explains how he now lives in Prague and is visiting to see his daughter. He travels to his brother’s home where Honoria, his daughter, lives. He takes her to a toy store. After, they go out to eat and run into two ghosts from Charlie’s past, Duncan and Lorraine. They invite him to dinner, but he declines. He sees them again at the vaudeville and is forced to have a drink with them. On the way home, Honoria tells Charlie she wants to live with him, which thrills him immensely. Later, Charlie meets with Marion and Lincoln. He says he wants his daughter to live with him and that he is a changed man. He says he drinks one drink per day so he can keep his urges under control. Despite this, Marionś dislike for him was too strong and he could not get her to agree. Marion believes Charlie is responsible for the death of Helen, her sister and Charlieś wife. After a fight, Lincoln finally tells Charlie he can take Honoria. After interviewing potential governesses, Charlie went to Lincoln and Marionś home. While he was there, Duncan and Lorraine showed up, drunk. They asked Charlie to dinner, but he refuses several times before they leave angrily. Marion was furious. After dinner, Lincoln checked on Marion. When he came back, he told Charlie plans had changed. Charlie went to the Ritz bar and thought back on the things he did to Helen. In that time, he received a call from Lincoln saying he could not ask Honoria to live with him for six months. Not liking that, he planned to go back and try again.
Themes
Symbols
Setting
Ritz Bar: It symbolizes Charlie’s home. The reader never sees him in his true home in Prague, and he only visits the home of Marion and Lincoln as an unwelcome guest. The Ritz bar is also where the story begins and ends. Similar to a home, the bar has seen many changes that have happened to him. It was the place where he once spent too many nights and is now the place where he has his one drink.
Babylon Revisited takes place in Paris, France during the Great Depression (1930s).
The melancholy mood of the story comes in part from the period in which it is set. It is set in the 1930s, post-Jazz Age. Everyone is sober and full of regrets.
Before the time of the story, Americans were revered in Paris because of the money they had to spend. When the stock market crashed in 1929, the characters become gloomy and regretful. Charlie lived his life similarly to those in the Jazz Age: luxurious parties and alcohol. Then when the stock market crashed, he lost all of his money. He got sober and tried to fix his life, including getting his daughter back.