I offer a brief thematic comparison of "Babylon, Revisited" to "The Yellow Wallpaper" and then address the renewed relevance of this story to hardships that have befallen American life in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Published in 1931, this story reflects the struggles many American faced in the years immediately following the stock market crash of 1929. Reading the story in 2022, it becomes apparent just how closely American life today resembles American life in the great depression of the 30s and 40s.
I read from Matthew J. Bruccoli's collected short stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald, published by Scribners in 1989.
Content/Trigger Warning:
Alcholism and Manic Depression are alluded to. Spousal neglect and domestic violence are suggested.
