Charlie and Marion in Babylon Revisited

Charlie

In Fitzgerald's "Babylon Revisited" Charlie is an American in Paris, estranged from his in-laws and desperate to be re-united with his daughter Honoria. Throughout his stay in the city, the narrative allows glimpses of Charlie's decadent past lifestyle -- during the hey-day of the riotous Jazz Age prior to the 1929 market crash and the ensuing Great Depression. It is in that period of loss that Charlie's life begins to change -- but not without a cost. Charlie's sister-in-law Marion cannot forgive Charlie for what he did to her sister, his wife: he locked her out of their home in the middle of winter after he saw her kiss another man. That night wandering in the cold was the "beginning of the end" for her and she later died. Marion and her husband Lincoln now look after Charlie's daughter Honoria, who also wants to be re-united with her father. Charlie's past lifestyle -- the drunken nights -- continues to haunt him, both literally (as it serves as the pretext for Marion refusing to give custody of Honoria over to Charlie) and figuratively (as "friends" from his past continuously pop up to tempt him back to his old ways). However, Charlie shows no signs of going back or of wanting to go back. The past for him is as dead as his wife. He has sworn off drinking and is sober for more than a year. It is a condition he hopes to maintain "permanently" as he says Marion during one particularly unpleasant inquisition. This paper will show that because of Charlie's clear turning of a new leaf, the remorse he feels for having locked his wife out, and the love that still bonds him and his daughter together, Charlie is not as "bad" as Marion makes him out to be and deserves custody of his daughter.

One of the most compelling reasons that the reader should recognize as sign of Charlie's good-nature is his rapport with his daughter Honoria. When the two have reconnected, she is so happy to see him and he her. They go out together yet Charlie recognizes that the time away has created a distance in their relationship. She has grown while he has been in Prague and he feels compelled to make up the lost time by buying her gifts -- yet she is mature enough to understand that everyone is hurting from the Depression and that there is no need for gifts. Besides, he has already bought her a doll. Yet even this doll becomes a symbol of how much older Honoria is getting: Charlie sees that he needs to bridge the gap between them (an indication that he is not only good-natured but also astute and emotionally intelligent) so he pretends to just be meeting his daughter for the first time. It is a playful but very heartfelt gesture that allows them to instantly fill the gap of time and space that has arisen between them. He sees the doll and after asking if Honoria is married (still pretending to be getting to know her for the first time) he says, "But I see you have a child, madame." The jest is a pure one and makes Honoria laugh. More telling of their connection is the fact that she plays along with the joke so marvelously: "Unwilling to disinherit it, she took it to her heart and thought quickly: 'Yes, I've been married, but I'm not married now. My husband is dead.'" Thus, the reader realizes immediately that Charlie and Honoria share a special bond. They care for one another, love one another, and feel great affection for one another.

However, Charlie's past lingers. Even the mention of the dead spouse by Honoria is a haunting moment that Charlie wishes to leave behind quickly. But the dead spouse is an issue that Marion will not allow him to forget. She holds it over his head because it was her sister who died and she views Charlie as responsible. This unwillingness to forgive on her part coupled with the holdovers from Charlie's past -- his friends who show up at inconvenient times to remind Charlie of the man he used to be -- the carefree drinker -- and to give Marion more excuses to refuse his request to take custody of his daughter.

Yet, Charlie truly has turned his back on these friends and turned over a new leaf -- as he angrily shows when two of his old drinking companions crash his in-laws home to invite Charlie out. Lorraine and Dunc want a drink and their old friend Charlie to go with them -- but Charlie is attempting to prove to Marion that he is reformed. He sends them away and then exclaims his innocence. Unfortunately, it is not enough. Marion has seen what she wants to see -- namely, a fresh reminder of his sins from the past and she will hold it over his head.

Should she? In fairness, no. Her judgment of him is rather a judgment of herself: she sees him as inhuman, yet she acts with the same lack of compassion that she accuses him of demonstrating so long ago.

The fact is Charlie has changed. He has sobered up, acted more responsibly, taken care to manage his finances a bit better. He still has his flaws: he wants to impress; he still has a weakness for alcohol -- but he is managing it. Does that mean he should not be able to take custody of his daughter? No -- the reason he is denied her is not a failing within himself but rather a failing in Marion: she withholds his daughter from him out of spite. He locked her sister of the house long ago, and now she wants to lock Charlie out of their home. It is quid pro quo arrangement that she has made -- but it does not reflect the actual nature or condition of Charlie, either as a moral man or as a capable one. Charlie's virtues are evident enough throughout the story, as he turns down one temptation after another (the lady of the night, the capricious friends, the drinks) -- and the fact that his heart truly is in the right place is evident enough in the moments he shares with Honoria, who clearly loves him and wants to be with him.

Works Cited

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "Babylon Revisited." Gutenberg. Web. 30 Oct 2016.