F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story "Babylon Revisited" and other works earned him a famous name in American literature. Fitzgerald was a prominent figure in the "Roaring Twenties" due to both his published works and his marriage to an Alabama woman named Zelda Sayre. His writings brought the couple fortune and fame, and newspapers considered them the perfect example of what America was supposed to be in this era of prosperity. However, despite their seemingly happy and wealthy lifestyle, the Fitzgeralds' marriage failed due to the famous author's alcohol addiction. Fitzgerald died of a heart attack in 1940, 30 years after his wife's nervous breakdown. His relationship with his wife and his alcoholic nature gave him a negative view of the role played by memory and the past. While many famous writers argue that memory is a beautiful thing that brings cohesion and meaning to people's lives, Fitzgerald disagrees. He says that memories bring back sadness and that dealing with things that happened in the past can have a very undesirable effect on the human mind. This complicates life by making it extremely difficult to move on and start again when a mistake has been made. Fitzgerald's short stories are often melancholy in this regard. In his short story “Babylon Revisited,” Fitzgerald shows his negative view of memory and the past by subjecting the protagonist, Charlie Wales, to an awakening of sobriety, harsh criticism, and, ultimately, failure. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get Original Essay “Babylon Revisited” begins on the streets of Paris in the early 1930s. Charlie, newly sober, has returned to the city where all of his wrongdoings took place, not to relive them, but to get back his daughter, Honoria, who is in the care of Charlie's brother and sister-in-law. Marion and Lincoln Peters. One day, Charlie takes his daughter to a vaudeville show and is forced to interact with two old friends. Fitzgerald says: “Sudden ghosts emerging from the past: Duncan Schaeffer, a college friend. Lorraine Quarrles, a pretty pale blonde of thirty; he was part of a crowd that had helped them turn months into days in the glorious times of three years ago” (2206). Charlie is surprised but happy to see the two, and he gives them Marion and Lincoln's address in hopes of finding them later. However, as the conversation continues, Charlie realizes that his friends are still the same as they were three years ago and that he has changed drastically. His awakening becomes clear when Fitzgerald says: “As always, he [Charlie] felt Lorraine's passionate and provocative attraction, but his own rhythm was now different. » Charlie's sober awakening from his irresponsible past has left him feeling awkward around his old friends. He is forced, despite himself, to relive a memory of the past when Lorraine sends him a letter a few days later. Fitzgerald, in Lorraine's words, says, "We had such good times this crazy spring, like the night you and I stole the butcher's tricycle, and the time we tried to appeal to the president and you had the old derby hoop and wire cane. Everyone seems so old these days, but I don't feel old at all” (2212). Charlie's memories of these actions, which Lorraine describes as "good times", are no longer good to him. In fact, Charlie sees his past as a nightmare – one from which he can't seem to escape. Throughout.