Alcoholism in Babylon Revisited

Mack Gayle

Mr. Hatley

ENGL 212 – 005

14 November 2013

Charlie’s Alcoholism in “Babylon Revisited”

Charlie Wales, the protagonist of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Babylon Revisited” is in many ways a reflection of the author himself. The most obvious shared trait between the two is that they are both severely alcoholic. It would appear that Charlie returns to Paris a recovered alcoholic. However by taking a closer look at the story we still see evidence of the damages caused by his alcoholism and that Charlie’s struggles with the disease are still very apparent.

The damages and consequences caused by Charlie’s alcoholism are innumerable. It seems as if Charlie reminds himself of this by focusing on the more realistic aspects and detriment of his revelrous past instead of idealizing it. This point is illustrated by Charlie’s reminiscent statement,

“He remembered thousand-franc notes given to an orchestra for playing a single

number, hundred-franc notes tossed to a doorman for calling a cab. But it hadn’t

been for nothing. It had been given, even the most wildly squandered sum, as an

offering to destiny that he might not remember the things most worth

remembering, the things that now he would always remember—his child taken

from his control, his wife escaped to a grave in Vermont.” (Fitzgerald 2168)

“Charlie’s recovery of character…which was implied in the opening scene in his being unafraid to confront the old life, is made explicit as he leaves the bar. Walking the street, he feels, all at once, ‘the sudden provincial quality of the left bank’” (Gross 1). Are Charlie’s intrepid feelings due to his confidence in complete rehabilitation or an anxiously excited return to his former haunts?

Charlie is certainly motivated to turn himself around in an attempt to regain custody of his daughter Honoria, but at the same time it seems as if he is romantically captured by the enticing allure of his days of extreme revelry. To that end, it is shown that...