Charlie Wales in Relation P/P
The story is based around the life of Charlie Wales, but there are many gaps that are unrevealed about his experiences and feelings. Charlie has come back to regain control of his child, Honoria, but his sincerity and frame of mind are the things are what the readers are unsure of. His sister-in-law, Marion, feels that he is not ready or capable to be a father to Honoria, while also holding a personal resentment for his past happiness and wealth, when she could hardly provide for her own family. (Perosa, The Art of F. Scott Fitzgerald) He believes that he has overcome his past experiences with alcoholism; however, he takes a drink every day and still keeps his connections with people from his past that live the same lifestyle that he used to. The title holds significance in the short story of Babylon Revisited, as Babylon is a city from the world's innocence. Moreover, Paris was a place of innocence for them once upon a time. Before the Blitz, before Charlie's and Helen's fighting. They were young, and rich, and thought that the world was theirs. Now, he is visiting it after the fall, and it is not the same. It is not that happy carefree place anymore, he does not know anyone, and the ones that he does do not fill him with
Throughout this novel, Charlie seemed to be battling with the demons of his past. He claims to be a recovered alcoholic. The appearances of Lorraine and Duncan are also reminders and representations of his past that he so desperately wants to prove is behind him. It seems that he constantly boasting to Lincoln and Marion that he is now financially stable now and only drinks one drink every afternoon, which is an indication that under the surface there are still problems. (Gross) Lorraine and Duncan are "demons he was battling with". First, they appear during his outing with Honoria, at the Empire, and then later during a meeting with Marion and Lincoln. This shows that Charlie has not quite won the fight yet. Again, Charlie does not have the power to say "no" to their invitation, and instead says, "KTell me where you'll be and I'll phone you in half an hour". However, I think, he has been unknowingly sabotaging himself from the beginning. (Butterfield, All Very Rich and Sad) His first act of unconscious sabotage is when he leaves the address where he will be staying with the bartender for his old friend Duncan. (Why would he do this?) He is an alcoholic, but continues to take one drink a day (flirting with disaster?). He spends time with a prostitute (even though he just buys her a meal V questionable company). When he is out with Honoria he tells Lorraine and Duncan that they are going to the theater (knowing full-well they could follow). His motives are not clear, but what is clear is that there is some subconscious desire not to succeed in his mission to get Honoria. He may still be infatuated with his old lifestyle (read the way he describes it to Marion on his first visit to the Peters home). Or that he may not have forgiven himself for what happened to his wife and for losing custody of Honoria. With these events, Charlie has proven, unknowingly, to Marion that his demons have truly not left his life as of yet. the same joy t
Some common words found in the essay are:
Lorraine Duncan, Charles Wales, Gross Fitzgerald's, Charlie Wales, Charlie's Helen's, Marion Helen's, Rich Sad, Honoria Charlie's, Scott Fitzgerald, Lincoln Marion, lorraine duncan, short story, drink day, recovered alcoholic, drink afternoon, life charlie, past life, charlie's past,
Approximate Word count = 1327
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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