Does Money Cause Unhappiness In F. Scott Fitzgerald's Babylon Revisited

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Money can have many effects on a person. While lack of money can make a man miserable, wealth can do the same. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Babylon Revisited” shows that wealth can still cause unhappiness and therefore shouldn’t be viewed as an ideal. A person should rather work towards constantly improving oneself.

Charlie, who is the protagonist of the story, was once very rich. One could say that he practically had embodied the successful American dream of wealth. He was at a point where, as he says, he would give “thousand-franc notes to an orchestra for playing a single number”, and toss “hundred-franc notes to a doorman for calling a cab”. Yet his life was far from perfect. He would drink and party. His wife would fraternize with other men.