Babylon Revisited

Factual Information

"Babylon Revisited" is a short story written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. This story first appeared in The Saturday Evening Post on February 21, 1931.

Characters

Charlie Wales

Charlie Wales is a man who has come to Paris from Prague to regain custody of his daughter, Honoria, from his sister-in-law.

Honoria Wales

Honoria is the daughter of Charlie Wales and his deceased wife, Helen.

Marion Peters

Marion is the sister-in-law to Charlie Wales and sister to the deceased, Helen. She also has custody of Honoria Wales.

Lincoln Peters

Lincoln is married to Marion Wales and shares custody of Honoria.

Lorraine Quarrles

Lorraine is a friend of Charlie's from his past.

Duncan Shaeffer

Duncan is a friend of Charlie's from college.

Plot

"Babylon Revisited" is a story about a man, Charlie Wales, who is tries to correct his past and regain custody of his daughter. He has to overcome his drinking and try to regain his wealth. He returns to Paris from Prague to try and convince his sister-in-law, who has custody of his daughter, that he has changed so that she will sign over custody to him. Charlie has to still overcome obstacles in his present while trying to prove that he has changed.

Themes

One theme of this story is Charlie's struggle to prove to everyone that he has changed from the person they knew that stayed out drinking and partying. There are still some passages in the story that can make the reader wonder if he has really changed.

Works Cited

Sipiora, Phillip. "Babylon Revisited." Reading and Writing about Literature. New Jersey: Upper Saddle River, 2002.