Existentialism And The Lost Generation

Imagine losing all of your friends. Your loved ones gone forever. You do not know what will happen next, but you feel empty and unable to move one. Your family members left a hole in your heart that can never be filled. These were the exact feelings of the Lost Generation. Even though the Lost Generation tends to be forgotten in history classes, these people and their art are very important because it molded the world’s history greatly.

The Lost Generation is not studied intensively, but it had a great effect on the world today. It gave us many artistic values. The lost generation not only gave the world newfound views of humanity’s future, as seen in literary works from Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein, but found ways to express the pain and suffering that the Lost Generation experienced. The Lost Generation was the young people after World War I. These people had just witnessed the deaths of their family and friends. They were ‘lost’ and were trying to find their way. Gertrude Stein coined the term ‘The Lost Generation’ when she told Hemingway: “"That is what you are. That's what you all are ... all of you young people who served in the war. You are a lost generation”’ (Gertrude Stein). These people needed a way to vent their grief; this is where the art came in to play. Surrealism and Dadaism were inspired by the Lost Generation and Existentialism; existentialism being the idea that one gives himself his own life meaning and there is no set plan for one’s future. These two factors made surrealism and Dadaism some of the most unique movements of all time. Surrealism artists wished to be in a world of their own, one where their imagination could truly go wild and where dreams and reality meet; Dada artists cre...

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...pread peace; this effect was none other than World War II. In their efforts to better the world and clean their wounds, artists accidentally helped create World War II. The Lost Generation had positive and negative effects, however, it did help shape the world today.

Even though the Lost Generation is typically dismissed as a useless art time period, the artists and people of the time are very important because they molded the world’s outlook today. Artists such as Salvador Dali and writers like Gertrude Stein gave a new meaning to one’s future. They linked worlds together and gave the world hope. These people greatly impacted the world, resulting in both positive and negative effects. These effects were major shaping tools for the world as seen today. The Lost Generation was a truly amazing era for the world and one of the most important moments in history.