In “Babylon Revisited,” Charlie’s loss happens on a physical and mental level.
Physically, he has lost his wife, money in the stock market, and custody of Honoria, his
daughter. Mentally, he has loss the luxury of happiness and replaced it with guilt. The
guilt stems from the loss of his wife as well from the gallivanting life he used to lead,
and the alcoholic he had become. Charlie knows he will never have the plans that
Helen and he had planned or the “normalcy” of a family unit. That is described in the
scene where Charlie visited his sister in law: “It was warm here, it was a home,
people together by a fire. The children felt very safe and important, the mother and
father were serious, watchful (Fitzgerald p. 361). He realizes his daughter will never
have the mother/father home. This is why Charlie quits drinking and works on being a
father to Honoria. He is trying to compensate for the absence of his wife. The story
progresses through his guilt and......
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Approximate Pages: 3 (260 words per double-spaced page) |