Handling Responsibility in Roman Fever and Babylon Revisited - Essay Example

Taking Responsibility There are instances when one has done things in the past that no matter how much they would want to forget the experience, it always haunts them. Three characters from two novels have tried to keep the events from the past in the past where they belong. The more the numbers add up on the years of their lives, the more their past actions haunt them. How does a person know the proper time to tell the truth and finally hold responsibility for the actions done? Can a person be blamed or hated because of keeping vital information that have affected more than just a person’s life? Is repentance enough for the culprit to be forgiven by the victims of his actions? Grace Ansley is one of the main characters in the short story Roman Fever written by Edith Wharton in 1934. As she says one thing can be described differently by different people: …what different things Rome stands for to each generation of travelers. To our grandmothers, Roman Fever; to our mothers, sentimental dangers – how we used to be guarded! – to our daughters, no more dangers than the middle of Main Street. They don’t know it, but how much they’re missing! (Wharton 145) There are things that happened in the past that when a person becomes a parent, they are often scared that their children will do the same or suffer the consequences of what has been done. As the saying goes, all secrets are eventually revealed. The other main character of the short story is Alida Slade. As Mrs. Slade recalled her youth with Mrs. Ansley: I always used to think…that our mothers had a much more difficult job than our grandmothers. When Roman fever stalked the streets it must have been comparatively easy to gather in the girls at the danger hour; but when you and I are young, with such beauty calling us, and the spice of disobedience thrown in, and no worse risk than catching cold during the cool hour after sunset, the mothers used to be put to it to keep us in – didn’t they? With the statements that have been expressed by the two main characters, one can conclude how differently life is perceived. Grace Ansley was more concerned of the others while Alida Slade was more concerned of the self and how the self would be perceived by the others. At the end of the novel, it was revealed that Mrs. Ansley gave birth to an illegitimate child fathered by the husband of her great friend – Mr. Delphin Slade. Between the two female characters mentioned, it is Grace Ansley who stood up and took responsibility for what happened in the past. Though Alida Slade married the man whom they both loved, it was Mrs. Ansley who loved Delphin Slade’s child regardless of whom she was with. It took a lot of courage for Mrs. Slade to admit the letter wrote some 25 years ago; however Mrs. Slade loved her husband more than she loved their children (Wharton 144-51). Pride was truly prevalent in the character of Mrs. Slade. It was the only thing that was keeping her in an upper state compared to Mrs. Ansley. Being married to Delphin Slade was her pride and honor. Mrs. Slade expressed that though Mrs. Ansley had a rendezvous with her husband 25 years ago, no grudge was taken at that very point. This was until Grace Ansley dropped the bomb on her when Mrs. Ansley stated, “I had Barbara (Wharton 151).” It was an indication that Mrs. Ansley had a love child with Mr. Slade. Babylon Revisited is a short story written by F. Scott Fitzgerald which was published in 1931. The main character of this story is the third character to be analyzed. Charlie Wales enjoyed every single moment together with alcohol and women. However, everything was now just a mere reflection of what it used to be. As Fitzgerald detailed, “He was thirty-five, and good to look at. The Irish mobility of his face was sobered by a deep wrinkle between his eyes (121).” The wrinkles on his face were just a notion that there were some mistakes in his past life that he would want or rather need to correct. Because of his carefree or careless actions in the past, Charlie Wales lost the custody of her only daughter. Just like the character of Grace Ansley, Charlie Wales thinks more of his daughter now rather than of himself. Others may perceive that this action of Wales is too late since he had already lost custody of her daughter, Honoria, to his sister-in-law and her husband. However, as long as a person is still alive, nothing can be considered as an act done too late. Because of the wrong doings he committed in the past, Wales has a tendency to be overprotective towards his daughter. This was expressed by Fitzgerald in the statement: A great wave of protectiveness went over him. He thought he knew what to do for her. He believed in character; he wanted to jump back a whole generation and trust in character again as the eternally valuable element. Everything else wore out (122). Comparing the two characters, Grace Ansley and Charlie Wales, it would be the latter that became more responsible for all the mistakes and neglects done in the past. Though the consequences of his actions had been too much not just for him but most particularly for his daughter, he took a stand to get up from the slump that he had gone to regain what he had lost. One may not live a luxurious life any more, however, what was more important is something that cannot be bought and that is the time to be with his daughter. A person’s life is like a blank sheet of paper that once blemished or crumpled, cannot be returned to its original state. Charlie Wales knows that he may have made millions of mistakes in the past, and all his ghosts are haunting him. Yet it did not discourage him, he took a stand and fought for the most important part of his life. Wales knows that things will not change overnight and lots of work is needed to be done to get his precious child back. When Charlie Wales dreamt of his dead wife, Helen, it expressed how determined the main character is about getting back the life he once had: He woke up feeling happy. The door of the world was open again. … The present was the thing – work to do and someone to love. But not to love too much, for he knew the injury that a father can do to a daughter or a mother to a son by attaching them too closely; afterward, out in the world, the child would seek in the marriage partner the same blind tenderness and, failing probably to find it, turn against love and life. (Fitzgerald 130) Works Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. Babylon Revisited. Wharton, Edith. Roman Fever. Read More