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F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'Babylon Revisited'

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Literary Research Report: “The Big Party’s Over Now” “You’ve got to sell your heart, your strongest reactions, not the little minor things that only touch you lightly […] when you begin to write” (Fitzgerald). In a letter to a family friend, Fitzgerald offered advice on writing. You have to write what you know and more importantly, how you feel. F. Scott Fitzgerald certainly wrote both what he knew and how he felt in his story, “Babylon Revisited”. The parallels between Fitzgerald’s own life and “Babylon Revisited” (along with his other stories) are apparent. Perhaps he was able to write such masterpieces by utilizing the pain and joy he felt in his own eccentric and somewhat depressing life. “Dear Pie” starts out a letter from Fitzgerald to his eleven year old daughter, Frances. He continues, saying “I am glad you are happy but I never believe much in happiness. I never believe in misery either. […] All I believe …show more content…

Fitzgerald was part of a literary group known as “The Lost Generation” in the 1920s, which included brilliant authors including Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, T.S. Eliot and Ernest Hemingway (O’Connor). This group shared a sense of moral loss due to World War I. World War I destroyed the idea that if one possesses good virtues, good things will happen to them (soldiers dying etc). They basically rejected current American values. “The Lost Generation” often met in France and other parts of Europe, with Fitzgerald moving to France in 1924 with his wife and daughter. The family alternated between the Riviera and Paris. The story is set in Paris, and Charlie, returning after its glamour days in the 1920’s now sees what the Great Depression has done to it. “Paris was so empty” (Fitzgerald 1). In real life, Fitzgerald probably felt this way about his old home and was reflecting on it through this story, which was written right after the Great Depression

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257 Words | 2 Pages

In Scott Fitzgerald’s “Babylon Revisited,” Honoria is placed in the custody of her aunt and uncle due to her father Charlie being away dealing with his alcoholism, the lifestyle he lives regarding alcohol and the people he is associated with, and her mother dying of heart problems. When the reader is first introduced to Charlie, we are given Charlie Whales who is in Paris trying to regain custody of his daughter after being away to deal with alcoholism. Fitzgerald writes “"No, no more," Charlie said, "I 'm going slow these days, I’m here for four or five days to see my little girl."(12). Charlie is back in town to try and regain custody of his daughter Honoria. The main reason Honoria is living with her aunt and uncle is because of her mom’s

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942 Words | 4 Pages

"Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay. " Then it had not been just the stars to which he had aspired on that June night. He came alive to me, delivered suddenly from the womb of his purposeless splendor. " He wants to know," continued Jordan, "if you'll invite Daisy to your house some afternoon and then let him come over." (Fitzgerald 78).

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Scott Fitzgerald follows Faulkner’s definition of a writer’s purpose in “Babylon Revisited” as he displays human compassion and sacrifice in Charlie’s letting go of Honoria. Throughout the short story, Charlie tries to redeem himself to prove himself worthy of taking Honoria with him. In an emotional quarrel, the reader learns that Charlie had struggled with alcoholism for two years and that his sister-in-law blames him for the death of her sister, Abner’s wife, (quote). Fitzgerald gives more insight into Charlie’s life, allowing the reader to understand why Charlie’s daughter does not currently live with him. On top of his past, the reader also knows that he has a exactly one drink everyday in the afternoon which may create more doubt as to whether he has actually recovered.

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1232 Words | 5 Pages

This statement given by Bodine explains the entire plot of the story. It also supports the main theme by giving a very brief summary of the story, in which this theme is heavily present. Another statement,made by the author of the original short story, shows this as well. In “Babylon Revisited,” Fitzgerald writes, “He thought he knew what to do for her. He believed in character;he wanted to jump back a whole generation and trust in character again as the eternally valuable element.

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The closing pages of the novel reflect on Gatsby’s desire to achieve everything he never had growing. Fitzgerald depicts the traditional American Dream as an American nightmare instead because becoming rich is not enough anymore during the decade the

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951 Words | 4 Pages

Francis Scott Fitzgerald once stated, “The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart and all they can do is stare blankly.” Throughout his famous work, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald portrayed the American Dream. Contrary to the ideology of the “Roaring Twenties” society, he described the American Dream as a delusion. People of the era focused on materialism in order to boost their wealth and status and forgot the importance of their relationships. Several characters within the novel sought to gain a higher status in society.

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702 Words | 3 Pages

F.Scott Fitzgerald is an American novelist and a short story writer. He is the author of the famous novel “ The Great Gatsby”, which is written in the 1920’s. The period of the 1920’s is well known as the roaring twenties due to lack of morales and the lowering of standards and expectations, people intended just to have a good time not caring about the outcomes of their and how they will effect their lives. Fitzgerald wants to prove in his novel the death of “The American Dream” it’s just a myth. The author of this novel shows the death of the american dream through the events surrounding Gatsby, and Daisy.

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725 Words | 3 Pages

Hope can be a driving force in our lives. It can pick up the phone to call that one girl back for a second date. It can move our fingers to type the first few words of a novel. It can push us to do more and be more than we ever thought we could be. On the other hand, hope can be like an opiate.

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After the devastation of World War I, the American people had a revolution in the social standards from traditional views to more modern. The moral compass of people was no longer based on basic religious rules but instead regarded ethics as a relative concept. This venturing out from traditional ways gave the people a door to start the extreme materialism and partying as a way of life. Along with the “roarin” side of the 20s, there also came a group of writers known as the Lost Generation. One of these writers that arose with the Lost Generation was F. Scott Fitzgerald.

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660 Words | 3 Pages

Through the empty lives of three characters from this novel—Myrtle, Daisy, and Jay Gatsby—Fitzgerald shows that chasing hollow dreams leads only to misery. All Myrtle wants is a perfect and luxurious life. The

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Gatsby then gets involved with the nightmare of the American Dream. Fitzgerald portrays the 1920s perfectly as an era of decayed social and moral values, evidenced in its overarching greed, and empty pursuit of pleasure. This novel shows the lack of social skills in newly made millionaires such as Gatsby that cannot even pick up on an invitation to lunch. This book was enjoyable to read because it set in when America was becoming an economic superpower and it was relatable in some ways.

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2162 Words | 9 Pages

Not only men went to fancy parties, but women as well were invited, sometimes appearing to have no company. Times were changing for women, for they could go out on their own and dress spontaneously. In many occasions throughout the book we get sights of the characters drinking, another big boom of this era; we know that prohibition was an enormous debate about this time as people began to drink more (Fitzgerald). All of this ties together, because Fitzgerald’s vision of the American dream was about discovery, individualism, and the pursuit of happiness. Were his works for the characters of his book and his readers, or for himself?

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1296 Words | 6 Pages

2.2. THE GREAT GATSBY Considered as Fitzgerald’s masterpiece, The Great Gatsby offers a similar point of view about women in the 1920s. In this novel, there are three remarkable female characters. The first of them is Daisy Buchanan, the leading female character.

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2717 Words | 11 Pages

Fitzgerald brings attention to the extravagant lives of the wealthy, the privilege they claim and the false sense of superiority they project. We are moved to assess the true nature of these characters. We acknowledge the duality of their characters; the part of themselves that are revealed to those around them and their true nature. The attempt

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733 Words | 3 Pages

Religion is a touchy topic to debate and every time it  is brought up in conversation, they become more attentive, tense up especially when two people disagree with each other, it is easy to see why a fight could break out. People are generally not upset that they don't believe in the same thing, but are simply upset that they were told that they were wrong. This will easily demonstrate that religion is not the main cause of fights because in this instance the two people would want to engage in a debate because they were told that they were wrong.                 Even though religion is often an underlying cause of war,the ultimate causes are political and economical gain, struggles for power,wealth and territory, and the leaders who seek power use religion as an excuse. They twist religion ideologies in order

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