Negative Views on Memory in "Babylon Revisited" Anonymous 11th Grade

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story “Babylon Revisited” and other works gave him a famous name in American literature. Fitzgerald was a prominent figure during the “Roaring Twenties” because of both his published works and his marriage to an Alabama woman by the name of Zelda Sayre. His writing brought the couple fortune and fame, and newspapers saw them as the perfect example of what America was supposed to be like during this prosperous time. However, despite their seemingly happy and wealthy lifestyle, the Fitzgeralds’ marriage failed due to the famous author’s alcohol addiction. Fitzgerald died from a heart attack in 1940, 30 years after his wife’s mental breakdown. Both his relationship with his wife and his alcoholic nature gave him a negative view on the roles played by memory and the past. While many famous writers claim that memory is a beautiful thing that brings cohesion and significance to people’s lives, Fitzgerald disagrees. He says that memories bring back sadness and dealing with things that have happened in the past can have a very undesirable effect on the human mind. It complicates life by making it extremely difficult to move on and start over when a mistake has been made. Fitzgerald’s short stories are often...