The American lost generation of the 1920s is the generation of the American women and men who came of age immediately after the First World War or during the war. This is the generation that is considered to be experienced in war following their involvement in the war and social upheaval of the time. This group lacked cultural identity because of the cynical nature of the war and the emotional stability. Additionally, the lost generation also includes the writers like the John Dos Paso’s, Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemmingway, F. Therefore, the lost generation focuses on the United States writers of the post world war. In 1926, Hemmingway Ernest in the novel, The Sun Also Rises, he stated that “you are all lost generation” (Blastland, para. 6). This novel captured the attention of all fast living and hard drinking expatriates who were disillusioned in the post war Paris. This generation was considered lost because it inherited values which were not consistent with the United States culture. These disillusioned young expatriates adopted the cultures which were not relevant in the postwar United States. Additionally, these values and culture adopted by these expatriates were not consistent with the United States spiritual alienation. For this generation to return to the normalcy and adhere with the United States policy, it proved challenging and hapless. The literacy work of Archibald Mac Leish, Scot Fitzgerald, Hart Crane, EE Cummings and John Dos Paso’s and other writes of the time got lost. This is because these writers based their literatures on the Paris activities, thus in 1930s when they changed their focus into others works; their literature lost the distinctive identity of the postwar era. In fact the last works of the lost generation were recorded in 1936 and 1934, the Big Money and Tender is the Night by John Dos Paso’s and Scott Fitzgerald respectively.
The lost generation group was disenchanted with America during and after World War 1 and they opted to move to Paris in France. They never wanted to live in United States anymore because US lacked the Bohemian lifestyle that they were looking. These poets, intellectuals, writers and artists were not motivated by the American materialism and values and they believed it is in Paris that the bohemian lifestyle was found. Thus Paris was the center, beginning and the end of the lost generation. In fact it is the statement by Gertrude Stein that coined the phrase “lost generation” during their conversation with the Earnest Hemmingway (Wahl, 74). This term used by Stein, after the conversation has remained in the memories of the Americans and still fascinates many. These young men wanted a lavish life, and they excessively drank because of the youth idealism that they valued and looked for throughout their youth stage. Indeed they created some of the finest America works in literature, but their bohemian lifestyle and love affairs could not enable them to thrive in the American soil.
Ernest Hemmingway is regarded as the leader of the lost generation because he took the term “lost generation” from their conversation with Gertrude Stein and he later used this word in the epigraph of his novel, The Sun Also Rises. Like other young American workers who offered to give their all to the First World War, Ernest Hemmingway accepted to volunteer and give his services to the Italian combat. During the fight of the Italian Central Power Caporretto, the Italians lost contributing to his Midwest American ignorance. Hemmingway was able to survive the war and he cursed his willingness to volunteer and assist the Italians in war. Indeed Hemmingway was reported as a survivor in that defeat, and he managed to escape carrying another man who was wounded in the war. At that time Hemmingway also suffered serious leg injury which was heroically reported in newspapers of the time, along with his act of assisting another wounded man. After these events Hemmingway received applause in the American newsreel and his first works were developed based on his experience when he volunteered. Thus the war time experience gave Hemmingway the basis for his book, The Sun Also Rises which he wrote while in Paris. In 1929 he also authored a novel, A Firewall to Arms which has got its background on the war and experiences that Hemming gained in the war as a volunteer. His immigration to France was motivated by the fact that he never wanted to live a boring life that many war survivors in United State was exposed to. Most of the youth who went to the war, either died or returned home emotionally disturbed. Some war physically crippled and mentally impacted with the aftermath of the war, and this is the life that disillusioned most of these young artists, writers and intellects including Hemmingway. That is why after fleeing this disillusioning life in America, he went to Paris where he could enjoy the bohemian life and continues with his literatures. In fact most of his works immediately after the World War 1 consisted of the natural and shocking expression that resulted from the post war disillusionment (Hemmingway, 12).
John Dos Paso’s like Hemming had also experienced the negative impacts of war. He experienced the brutality that comes with war as well as the disillusioning life that one is exposed to after war. This made John Dos Paso’s question the meaning and the need to lead a contemporary life after war. Thus with the knowledge of the life after war in the American cities, John never wanted to go through such a boring life. Instead he opted to go look for bohemian life in Paris and wrote a novel where he explained his displeasure with the disillusioning life in the United States of America after the First World War. The Novel Manhattan Transfer contains John’s pessimism and the negative look about life. He vividly revealed the disillusion and hopelessness of one’s life in the American cities following return from war (Murrin et al. 834).
As noted by Baker (110), Scott Fitzgerald was another prominent writer who makes the list of three prominent writes of the lost generation. Like his counterparts, John Dos Paso’s and Earnest Hemmingway, he became an expatriate in Paris. However, his life was somewhat different when compared with other expatriates in France, because he toured United States occasionally. He also roamed in many European countries as well as in North America. Scott is well known and remembered for his role of chronicler during the prohibition era. In fact many people still remember him as one of the contributing figures to the Jazz age, a spirit which he portrayed almost his entire life. Fitzgerald best hit was Great Gatsby novel; however his bestselling book was the Side of Paradise. Many literary critics still consider The Great Gatsby his greatest novel of the time. In 1933 in a passage in Fitzgerald Tender is the Night, Fitzgerald vividly explains the impact that war had on the writer of his generation, the lost generation. In this passage Fitzgerald noted that “this land here cost twenty lives a foot that summer..see that little stream..We could walk in two minutes and it took British a month to walk ita whole empire walking very slowly” (Howe, 260). He also noted that most of the youths who volunteered in the war lost their lives in bloodless fights. Those who survived were left to suffer by leading a disillusioned life. This is why he also stated that “a whole empire walked very slowly, dying in front and pushing forward behind and yet another emperor walked slowly some inches backward, a few inches a day, leaving the dead like a million bloody rags” (James, 450). For sure as noted by Fitzgerald, no European country will ever again allow such things to happen.
Since lost generation can also be considered as the group of people who became adults during or immediately after World War 1, all the people who were 18 and above after World War 1 became the cohort of the generation. This group consisted of the young people who served in the war or those who were born during the time of the war and became of age immediately after the war. They are considered as a lost generation because they experienced the impacts of the World War 1. According to Mellow (273) this group of people endured a time when the United State was being created a new with target of ensuring that it becomes a bountiful society. Many Americans during this time suffered from the economical changes which took place due to the effects of World War. At this time unemployment was very high and many of the lost generation lived a disillusioning life, with a big number of them living in fear. Immediately after World War I there were the constructions of the cities and yet many members of the lost generations felt that they were not benefiting from these social changes and the new developments and infrastructures. Thus the signs that abound and influenced the prosperity of the lost generations didn’t pick well within the lost generations cohort, instead they looked at them as opportunity to benefit the settlers and the Europeans. The lost generation group was therefore resistance to change and this is what partly led to the turning away of the writers. Furthermore, ethnic minorities during this time suffered discrimination, even though there was little freedom for their growth. Nevertheless the Republican Party however struggled during this time to engineer economic change, and they were successful if not only people’s resistance.
In conclusion, the lost generations writers were very prominent in the 20th century and their works are still remembered today. For sure it is their creativity, and their innovations that led to the today’s writing and expressions. Thus the work of the lost generations played an important role in the creation of the current generation of writers. However, after the remarks by Gertrude Stein “you are all lost generation” (Robert, para. 6), all Americans who lived after World War 1 are considered as members of the lost generation. These people went through the changes in the American social and political life. However, they resisted most of the initiatives during the time.
Work Cited
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Hemingway, Ernest. “A Movable Feast”. New York: Scribner. 1996, pp. 12
Mellow, James. “Charmed Circle: Gertrude Stein and Company”. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1991, pp. 273.
Mellow, James. “Hemingway: A Life Without Consequences”. New York: Houghton Mifflin. 1992, pp. 33.
Baker, Carlos. “Hemingway, the writer as artist”. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press. 1972, pp. 101-111
; Strauss, William. Generations: The History of Americas Future. 1584 to 2069. New York: William Morrow and Company. 1991. pp. 247–260.
James, Winter. . Population Studies, November, 1977, 31 (3): 449–466. Web 25.11.12. .
Murrin, M. J., Johnson, E. P., et al. eds. “Liberty, Equality and Power, 6th ed”. New Jersey: John, Willy and Sons. 2011, pp. 834-835. Web, 25.11.12.
Robert, Grave. “The Lost Generation of the First World War”. Time. 25 November 2012. Web 25.11.12
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