Babylon Revisited F. Scott Fitzgerald | Joan Turner (essay date 1990)
Joan Turner (essay date 1990)
SOURCE: "Fitzgerald's 'Babylon Revisited'," in The Explicator, Vol. 48, No. 4, Summer, 1990, pp. 282-83.
[In the following essay, Turner demonstrates that frequent references to time in "Babylon Revisited" support a theme important to the story.]
F. Scott Fitzgerald uses many references to time in his short story "Babylon Revisited." His almost constant use of words relating to time helps reinforce one of the main themes of the story: the past cannot be escaped.
Hours and minutes are noted during the narrative present of the story. In the opening, Charlie Wales tells the bartender that he is in Paris for "four or five days" to see his daughter. It is also mentioned that it is "late afternoon" when Charlie leaves the bar. Throughout the story the current time is cited, even down to the exact hour in some cases. For example, when Charlie first sees Honoria at the Peterses', it is said that the "cheer of...
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