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Ellen McDaniel
Professor Leith
American Literature II
29 April 2016
Buying Happiness: Debunked
Throughout its history, America has put great value on money. American society paints
the wealthy life as glamorous, care free, and fulfilledgiving everything a person could want.
This was a belief that was particularly true during the 1920s, popularly called the Roaring
Twenties. It was a time of economic prosperity. For many, especially the younger generations in
cities, it became a time of glitz, glam, parties, and drinking. However, when the stock market
crashed and the Roaring Twenties came to its end, writers emerged to reveal the unflattering
reality of this former lifestyle. Authors such as Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald make
similar statements about the rich life in their works, debunking what was previous believed about
wealth and happiness. In their stories, they strip away the glamour of the wealthy life in order to
reveal how the wealthy life strips people of what is truly important. As Hemingway signifies in
his short story Snows of Kilimanjaro, Fitzgerald was once part of this young crowd enthralled
by the rich and had learned the bitter truth the hard way; Fitzgeralds Babylon Revisited
captures this idea, as well as contains strong parallels to Fitzgeralds own life.
In Snows of Kilimanjaro, Hemingway explains that a wealthy life deprives people of
their drive and determination for action. Harry, the central character of this short story, married
into his wealth. Harry believed that if he were to become rich, then he would be happier.
However, after marrying his wife and adopting her lavish ways, he fell into the sloth, unsatisfied

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lifestyle of the rich. As Harry lays dying and recalls his pre-wealthy life, it is clear that he was
much happier then. While being poor had given Harry purpose, being rich had stripped him of it.
When he had no money, Harry had been determined to write. Even when he first married into
wealth, he believed he could write about this breed of humanity: the rich. As time passed,
however, he became less of a third-party observer of the rich and more like one of the flock. He
explains, You kept from thinking and it was all marvelous. You were equipped with good
insides so that you did not go to pieces that way, the way most of them had, and you made an
attitude that you cared nothing for the work you used to do, now that you could no longer do it
(Hemingway). Although Harry repeatedly told himself he would soon write all the stories,
experiences and people he had planned to write about, he would never do it, because each day
of not writing, of comfort, of being that which he despised, dulled his ability and softened his
will to work so that, finally, he did no work at all (Hemingway). Charlie is the echo of a group
of people who allowed luxury to lead to laziness, and from their laziness grew an unquenchable
dissatisfaction and discontentment for life.
Also in this short story, Hemingway uses another mentioned character to symbolize a
man who has become the face of the Roaring Twenties: F. Scott Fitzgerald. While dying and
reflecting on his past, Harry recalls a man named Julian. Julian was fascinated by the rich; he had
a romantic awe of them. This man was representative of Fitzgerald. In one famously telling
line, Hemingway captures Fitzgeralds experience with the wealthy: He thought they were a
special glamourous race and when he found they weren't it wrecked him just as much as any
other thing that wrecked him (Hemingway). Not only is this description of Fitzgerald true to the
themes of much of his works, but it also a theme to his life.

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Fitzgeralds short story Babylon Revisited also attacks the idea that wealth has a
harmful effect on a person, specifically through its cultural context and its autobiographical
influences. In this widely anthologized story, there is the undeniable recognition of the
pernicious influence of money [and] its ability to waste lives (Explanation of: Babylon
Revisited by F. Scott Fitzgerald). Fitzgeralds own experiences during the 1920s and 30s are
embodied through Charlie Wales. Charlie is the protagonist of this story who is attempting to
leave his drunken, irresponsible, and wasteful past behind to secure a family-oriented future.
This transition is not a smooth one, however, and the past is not so easily escaped. When the
stock market crashed in 1929, Charlie lost more than his money. In a conversation with his sisterin-laws husband, Charlie admits that he lost a lot in the crash, but I lost everything I wanted in
the boom (Fitzgerald). His excesses as a wealthy playboy of 1920s Paris contributed at least in
part to the death of his wife and subsequent removal of his daughter to the custodianship of his
bitter and resentful sister-in-law, Marion (Explanation of: Babylon Revisited by F. Scott
Fitzgerald). By giving into the drunken Jazz Age, Charlie eventually lost his family, and he
possibly lost some of himself, too, which he now tries to re-discover through his respectable
lifestyle. Charlies story is one that captures how the persuasions of wealth can create the poorest
man.
Though Fitzgerald did eventually come to this conclusion, he, like Charlie, had loved his
spoiled and reckless lifestyle of the Roaring Twentiesuntil it was over. It was not until after the
Twenties had ended that he could see what it had truly cost. To understand his downfall in the
Depression, it is important to understand his success of the twenties, in which his career and
wealth thrived. Following the publication of his first novel This Side of Paradise in 1920,
Fitzgerald became instantly famous as the voice of his generation. His marriage seemed to be

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based off of this success, as his wife Zelda had rejected him while his book had been denied by
publishers; however, a week after his hit novel was published, he married Zelda in New York,
and the couple began their life together as young celebrities. In order to support their lavish
lifestyle, Fitzgerald wrote short stories for mass-circulation magazines for the remainder of his
life (F. Scott Fitzgerald).
As so much of his works are biographical, Fitzgerald was as known for his lifestyle as he
was for his writing. Babylon Revisited is a clear demonstration of how his life was reflected in
his work. Like Charlie and his late-wife Helen, Fitzgerald and Zelda drank too much, and their
drinking was the catalyst for many marital problems. It became known that with their increase in
wealth, Fitzgerald and Zelda were increasingly fighting, often after heavy drinking (F. Scott
Fitzgerald). Publicly, the two, especially Scott, were quickly gaining a well-deserved reputation
as hard drinkers. Although he claimed never to have worked while under the effects of
"stimulant" Fitzgerald's reputation as a carouser did damage his literary standing. (F. Scott
Fitzgerald). Moreover, Fitzgerald did lose his wife. Though he did not lose her to death, as
Charlie lost Helen, Fitzgerald and Zelda parted ways during the 30s, though they never officially
divorced. It could be argued that Fitzgerald lost his wife in more way than one, for she was inand-out of sanitariums for her mental breakdowns (F. Scott Fitzgerald). Though Fitzgeralds
works reflect the negative experiences of his life caused by the wealth and wastefulness of the
time period, one cannot help but feel the wistful way that he looks back upon the decade. Even in
novels like The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald retains the theme of the destruction of wealth while also
painting a mesmerizing picture of the time.
There is an often-quoted remark by Fitzgerald that goes as follows: There are no second
acts in American lives. This is a line that is not only relatable to a wide audience, but, like much

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of what Fitzgerald wrote, has strong ties to his personal life. Ones understanding of this quote is
dependent on the interpretation of second acts. Though it is certainly up for debate, many
might interpret no second acts to mean no second chances. This analysis is certainly
applicable to Fitzgeralds life experiences and his many works, as his characters seem to lack the
ability for or chance at redemption. For example, in Babylon Revisited, Charlie has a very
difficult time convincing his late-wifes bitter sister of his reformed sobriety. If he can convince
her that he is done with that part of his life, then he can once again have custody of his daughter.
Due to his past, his mistakes, and her refusal to forgive, it takes very little to diminish any
progress Charlie made convincing her, and he ultimately fails to earn back his daughter. Charlies
inability to escape what hed done during his careless years will always haunt him. Though he
has and will continue to try, he may never be able to redeem himself for past faults. For Charlie,
it seems there may be no second chances.
However, others believe that in this quote Fitzgerald may have been referring to the
second act of a play, as Fitzgerald had experience writing for theater. Writer Hampton Stevens
believes that Fitzgerald was certainly referring to a traditional, three-act drama, in which Act I
establishes the major conflict, Act II introduces complications, and Act III is for the climax and
resolution (Baker). If one were to analyze Fitzgeralds quote in this way, one would understand
that Act II, filled with the motions, drama, learning, and self-discovery of a persons story, does
not occur in American life. Without this critical part of a persons tale, their resolution will
ultimately be disappointing and unsatisfactory, as they remain static between their problems
introduction and its conclusion. Fitzgerald could very likely be suggesting that the final act of
a persons life would result more positively if Americans were to [take] a little time for
character development, for figuring out who we are, before [they] race to the finish line (Baker).

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In conclusion, writers like Fitzgerald and Hemingway have been able to open the eyes of
their audiences, not only to the dangers of dependency on wealth but on an entire decade.
Though outwardly glamorous, the era of the Roaring Twenties caused more individual hardship
that many perceived while it was happening. Fitzgerald was able take his experiences from life to
the pages, and write characters that reflected his lifes calamities and his personal shortcoming,
particularly in his acclaimed short story Babylon Revisited. These parallels drawn between his
characters and his particular wealth, fall from fame, marriage, and alcoholism only succeed in
making his recognition of the dangers of a wealthy life more impactful to readers.

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Works Cited
Baker, Wayne. "Second Acts: Was Fitzgerald Decrying American Shortcuts?" Our Values. N.p.,
13 Aug. 2013. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.
"Explanation of: 'Babylon Revisited' by F. Scott Fitzgerald." LitFinder Contemporary Collection.
Detroit: Gale, 2010. LitFinder. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.
"F. Scott Fitzgerald." St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. Detroit: Gale, 2013. Biography
in Context. Web. 29 Apr. 2016.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "BABYLON REVISITED." BABYLON REVISITED. Gutenberg, n.d. Web.
29 Apr. 2016.
Hemingway, Ernest. "The Snows of Kilimanjaro." The Snows of Kilimanjaro - E. Hemingway.
Ed. Stefan Pollklas. University of Virginia, n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.