Response to F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Babylon Revisited"

In F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Babylon Revisited," a theme I noticed was the recurrence of past situations in the main character, Charlie's, current life. In the story Charlie is a former party boy who seemed to have a bit of an untrustworthy reputation among a few of his friends. He meets and falls in love, it seems, with a girl Honoria. Throughout the story he attempts to convince his friends that he is a changed man who is capable of being trusted with Honoria and living with her. Something I noticed and thought was a little ironic was that in every section of this story there seems to be an element of his past that comes up. For example, Charlie has trouble finding a restaurant that does not remind him of past drunken meals when trying to find somewhere to take Honoria for lunch. Throughout the story the hints of his past life remind him of his former lifestyle and of his previous failed marriage with his ex wife. In my opinion the central theme of this story is the inability to run from your past. It is fairly obvious that Charlie has not faced the demons of his past. This story emphasizes the incapability to move forward with your life when you have not faced the problems of the past.