Babylon Revisited Wealth Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Part.Paragraph)

Quote #1

He was not really disappointed to find Paris was so empty. But the stillness in the Ritz bar was strange and portentous. It was not an American bar any more – he felt polite in it, and not as if he owned it. It had gone back into France. (1.9)

In many ways, we see that Charlie is in exile. He's in exile from America because he's now living abroad. He's in exile from the world of wealth and extravagance to which he belonged in the 1920s. He's in exile form his daughter, and from the other members of his family. And even in France he feels like a stranger; he's in exile from Paris as well. He can't even feel at home in his own bar because he's not really a drinker anymore.

Quote #2

He looked at her, startled. With each remark the force of her dislike became more and more apparent. She had built up all her fear of life into one wall and faced it toward him. (3.35)

How much of this comment is objective, and how much of it is the narrator's rendering of Charlie's own thoughts?

Quote #3

"Do what you like!" she cried, springing up from her chair. "She's your child. I'm not the person to stand in your way. I think if it were my child I'd rather see her – " She managed to check herself. (3.48)

Does anyone else think that Marion was about to say that she'd rather see Honoria dead than with Charlie? It's lines like this one that shift the reader toward Charlie's side and away from Marion's.