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The Lost Generation In F. Scott Fitzgerald's Babylon Revisited

1340 Words6 Pages

Money is worth more than children. To those adults living before the worldwide stock market crash in 1930’s, this statement is true. However, after this great downfall, many adults lost the feeling of security and invincibility, coined in Gertrude Stern’s label of the “Lost Generation.” In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Babylon Revisited,” the protagonist, Charlie, strives to change his life after living irresponsibility due to the misconception of his wealth. After the death of his wife, Charlie’s sister-in-law and brother-in-law have been taking care of his daughter, Honoria, because Charlie could not stay sober. After years of working, all Charlie wants is to have his daughter back. Fitzgerald uses Charlie’s effort to have custody of his daughter …show more content…

After having dinner with Marion and Lincoln Peters, Charlie walks toward the Montmartre, and the narrator states, “So much for the effort and ingenuity of Montmartre. All the catering to vice and waste was on an utterly childish scale, and he suddenly realized the meaning of the word ‘dissipate’--to dissipate into thin air; to make nothing out of something” (Fitzgerald 250). Fitzgerald recalls the feelings of the “Lost Generation” in Charlie at this moment. To Charlie, the Montmartre symbolizes the instability of being monetarily wealthy in this time period. Money seems to be able to vanish so easily and quickly, especially after the effects of the stock market crash. In addition to the stock market, Fitzgerald uses “childish” to exploit the attitude people used to have towards their money. In his past adventures in Paris, Charlie has spent unnecessary amounts of money on alcohol, entertainment, and nightclubs. He now realizes that the seemingly overwhelming wealth he had dispersed into nothing, resulting in him to never to feel content in what his money can get him. Charlie wishes to recreate himself from the void money has caused. He yearns for a lasting source of gratification in his daughter, for he has made her from nothing to into

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