Discussion Post: The Lost Generation, Essay Example

Scott Fitzgerald’s story “Babylon Revisisted” explores the bitter aftermath of the Lost Generation’s age of debauchery. The story is autobiographical and makes an appeal to the reader’s sense of sympathy and identification by presenting his protagonist Charlie Wales as a man who longs to reform himself. The story also describes the way in which the boom market of the 1920’s adversely impacted many middle class Americans who began to live well beyond their means only to have the stock-market crash of 1929 bring them harshly back to reality. Another theme that is dealt with in the story is alcoholism, which can be viewed as the root of Charlie’s problems and also as symbolically representative of the overall indulgences of the Roaring Twenties. The basic premise of the story is that a sober, more mature Charlie Wales visits Paris in the aftermath of the twenties and through fragmented memories and chance encounters with old acquaintances, must confront the responsibilities he once neglected.

Chief among these responsibilities are his daughter, Honoria, and his employment as a businessman. Charlie’s emotional state is one of contrition for his former lifestyle and amazement at his juvenile and irresponsible past. When he encounters two of his former drinking companions, Duncan Schaeffer and Lorraine Quarrles, he is reminded of just how decadent and purposeless his former life was, although the presence of his old friends also seems to threaten his resolve to remain sober and focused on repairing his life. Charlie’s primary goal is to regain custody of his daughter who lives with his sister-in-law due to the fact that his wife passed away from heart problems. The implication is that their former lifestyle is what actually killed her. The way that Charlie remains haunted by his past while simultaneously remaining faithful to his pledge of sobriety and maturity is the aspect of the story that creates the most emotional tension. The story fails to blame anyone or anything for the decadence of the twenties or the crash of the thirties; instead, Fitzgerald simply attempts to portray a man who has found himself, but perhaps too late, after years of waste and debauchery. This same theme is present in Earnest Hemingway’s story “The Snows of Kilamanjaro” where the protagonist, facing death, reviews his life and begins to sense what is really meaningful beneath an exterior of decadence, drinking, and lies. An opposite theme is conveyed in Faulkner’s story “Barn Burning,” which seems to glorify the idea of vengeance and criminality. “Barn Burning” is a fragmented story, that is difficult to follow and was my least favorite of this unit’s readings.