Fitzgerald and Hemingway: The Lost Generation of American Writers and what They Lost

618 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Creative writing about war

Following World War I, American society enjoyed high levels of prosperity during the "roaring" 1920s as the economy soared. At the same time, Prohibition made bootleggers rich and led to an increase in organized crime. During the 1920s a group of American writers were able to be recognized as the lost generation. The term "Lost Generation" was originally coined in a conversation by Gertrude Stein, a member of the expatriate circle in 1920's Paris. These men went off to fight in World War One, and returned home to find that things have changed. World War I seemed to have destroyed the idea that if you acted virtuously, good things would happen. Many good, young men went to war and died, or returned home either physically or mentally wounded. These writers were so discontent with the changes that many of them left America and went to Paris, France. In Paris, the Lost Generation writers expected to find freedom in literary and a multi-ethnic way of life. Due to the fact that France was the hotspot for such an environment, the Lost Generation writers went there. For a brief per...

Show More
Related

  • Sara Smolinsky in The Bread Givers

    1005 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the early 1920s the Great Depression took place. The Great Depression affected many people's lives. The immigrants caught the worst of it. They had just come from another country and were trying to start their new lives when the depression hit. They had to struggle once more with poverty and desperation in taking care of their families, the main reason they had left their old countries was to escape the same epidemic that was now overtaking ?the land of the free?. Immigrants, such as the Jewish immigrants, had to live in poverty-stricken ghettos without the necessities they needed to live healthy lives. The 1920s was the time of rapid change, it was the time of risque fashion, it was the time of which that if you were rich and had all the latest fashions then you were ?in? but if you did not then you were an outcast.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Lost Generation In The Great Gatsby

    962 Words  | 2 Pages

    1920’s Post World War I Long Island, New York is where F. Scott Fitzgerald chooses to set his novel, The Great Gatsby. A majority of character in Fitzgerald’s novel are seen to be a part of the Lost Generation. The Lost Generation is known as an individual's loss of identity, lack of family support, disappearance of moral values, etc. Being a part of the Lost Generation was people’s way of getting their lives back together or searching for something that they feel like they are missing now that the war is over.

    Read More

  • Ernest Hemingway's Essay 'By Flannery O' Connor

    543 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the passage a servant describes the class difference between himself and his masters. He is discontent servant whose ideas about his masters portrays his belittling and resentful attitude towards them.

    Read More

  • Comparing F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway

    1215 Words  | 3 Pages

    F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, though both evolved from the same literary time and place, created their works in two very dissimilar writing styles which are representative of their subject matter. The two writers were both products of the post-WWI lost generation and first gained notoriety as members of the American expatriate literary community living in Paris during the 1920's. Despite this underlying fact which influenced much of their material, the works examined in class dramatically differ in style as well as subject matter. As far as style, Fitzgerald definitely takes the award for eloquence with his flowery descriptive language whereas Hemingway's genius comes from his short, simple sentences. As for subject, Hemingway writes gritty, earthy material while on the other hand Fitzgerald's writing is centered around social hierarchy and longing to be with another person. Although the works that these two literary masters are so uniquely different, one thing that they have in common are their melancholy and often tragic conclusions.

    Read More

  • The Life & Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald

    561 Words  | 2 Pages

    Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896 in St. Paul, Minnesota. There, he attended Saint Paul Academy where his passion for writing began. At thirteen, he completed his first story that was published in the Academy’s newspaper. Later, Fitzgerald moved to New Jersey and attended the Newman school for two years from 1911 to 1913. Fitzgerald went on to attend Princeton University; there he wrote scripts and lyrics for the musicals performed at the University. He also contributed greatly to the Princeton Tiger and Nassau Literary Magazines.

    Read More

  • Horrors of WWI Reflected in F. Scott Fitzgerald's Writing

    2584 Words  | 6 Pages

    Certain authors, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, wanted to reflect the horrors that the world had experienced not a decade ago. In 1914, one of the most destructive and pointless wars in history plagued the world: World War I. This war destroyed a whole generation of young men, something one would refer to as the “Lost Generation”. Modernism was a time that allowed the barbarity of the war to simmer down and eventually, disappear altogether. One such author that thrived in this period was F. Scott Fitzgerald, a young poet and author who considered himself the best of his time. One could say that this self-absorption was what fueled his drive to be the most famous modernist the world had seen. As The New Yorker staff writer Susan Orlean mentions in her literary summary of Fitzgerald’s works, “I didn’t know till fifteen that there was anyone in the world except me, and it cost me plenty” (Orlean xi). One of the key factors that influenced and shaped Fitzgerald’s writing was World War I, with one of his most famous novels, This Side Of Paradise, being published directly after the war in 1920. Yet his most famous writing was the book, The Great Gatsby, a novel about striving to achieve the American dream, except finding out when succeeding that this dream was not a desire at all. Fitzgerald himself lived a life full of partying and traveling the world. According to the Norton Anthology of American Literature, “In the 1920’s and 1930’s F. Scott Fitzgerald was equally equally famous as a writer and as a celebrity author whose lifestyle seemed to symbolize the two decades; in the 1920’s he stood for all-night partying, drinking, and the pursuit of pleasure while in the 1930’s he stood for the gloomy aftermath of excess” (Baym 2124). A fur...

    Read More

  • The legendary Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald

    1168 Words  | 3 Pages

    The legendary Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald reflects onto his readers and exceptional childhood and educational background emmating from his life experiences. It is believed The Great Gatsby reflects his point of view of his fortunate life as an author. F. Scott Fitzgerald is an author of many short stories and novels in Americas history primarily however his works explimfied the era of the nineteen twenties.

    Read More

  • F. Scott Fitzgerald's Youth

    543 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are countless great authors in the world nowadays. Conversely, many believe that authors of the past were considerably more enjoyable. One of these fecund authors is F. Scott Fitzgerald. The end of his ephemeral life may not have been the best; nonetheless, it was his younger years that breathed life into his writing.

    Read More

  • Free Great Gatsby Essays: Social Attitudes

    700 Words  | 2 Pages

    This novel is in general about middle and upper class American citizens and their lives a few years after the first world war had concluded.  The author, a World War I veteran himself, shows insight into the lives and minds of American soldiers who fought in Europe during the conflict and the interesting experiences some may have had in the years following their return.  Through written conversation, the novel deals with many of the social attitudes and ideas that prevailed during the early 20's.

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby and The Sun Also Rises

    2155 Words  | 5 Pages

    Americans in the 1920s were fresh off of World War I and freshly into the Prohibition Era. The American Dream was well defined- a life of wealth, comfort, and exuberance. After a World War I victory, the Dream was thought to be in the near future for every American. The country was seen as a world superpower, wealthy after the devastation of a war fought entirely overseas and brimming with hope and possibility- at least on the surface. Despite the highs experienced by much of the country, it wasn't without its problems. Crime violence was benevolently running the streets and the Speakeasies beyond the reach of full Prohibition, the world was being set-up for The Great Depression, and America was brimming with members of the "Lost Generation." This generation and the hypocrisies and idiosyncracies of the "American Dream" inspired a rising and influential set of artists, poets and writers, and a list of best-selling books that both reflected and inspired the generation that devoured them. Authors such as Ernest Hemingway, Edith Wharton, Anita Loos, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Sinclair Lewis were some of the popular fiction authors of the 1920s who both entertained and delighted their readers, while also offering an intelligent reality check about the limits and realities of the American Dream.

    Read More

  • The Roaring Twenties: A Time Of Confidence

    1300 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...e Americans came back from World War I experienced disenchantment with modern America and were unconnected from society, these people were known as The Lost Generation (O). This term was first coined by Ernst Hemingway to describe the atrocities witnessed by the soldiers in World War I, and whom came back to write literature. Among the people of the Lost Generation was Ernst Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, ad T.S. Eliot. The war was backed by the people who lived in the U.S. and did not go off to fight, only the soldiers know the true reality of the situation, and how horrible the war actually was and how the war changed them when returning to the United States.

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby A Criticism Of The Twenties (grade 11 Essay)

    1454 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Roaring Twenties is considered a time of mass corruption and excessive absurdity. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses his novel, The Great Gatsby, to criticize the American society and its values in this era. This criticism is best shown in the behaviour of the people who go to Gatsby's parties; they are careless, rude and only looking out for themselves. It is also shown in the corruption of the police, who are easily paid to look the other way. It is finally apparent in the corruption of friendship and love, the truth being that there is none. This society and its values are self-centered and materialistic, caring very little for consequences and others. Fitzgerald's message is delivered magnificently and causes one to be appalled by the behaviour of the people during this time in history.

    Read More

  • The American Dream In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

    1299 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although the end of World War II brought immense joy to the world, it was a turning point for American literature. Though the war was over, it was like starting over for America as it donned a new post war era. Authors and poets used their stories and characters to portray the grim era of that time and many of them reflected a guilt and disillusionment in the American dream. Though various writers had their own ideas of what the new post war America would shape out to be, not all had positive outlooks. It was a time of change as the United States was beginning its foray to the forefront of being the new cultural center and world power. Not only did a new generation come out of the war, but its ethnic, regional, and social character was

    Read More

  • Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby

    647 Words  | 2 Pages

    F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, reveals thin threads woven between himself and the novel, revealing the truth about a corrupted society filled with discontentment and superficiality. From marriages to women to an impossible dream, all these aspects of Fitzgerald’s life influences his work, The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald’s novel quite closely resembles his own circumstances through his portrayal of the characters and the society of the 1920’s. Though Fitzgerald himself lived in a society of shallowness, he was able to portray that the emptiness in society would not bring anyone happiness. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the characters in The Great Gatsby to represent the people in his own life and to show that wealth causes corruption.

    Read More

  • F Scott Fitzgerald And Modernism Essay

    1004 Words  | 3 Pages

    Following the Great War, new writers emerged and so did many cultural aspects of America, like music, poetry, and art. Americans were looking for a place in order to be able to express themselves. New York was becoming the cultural central of the new American life. American writers were slowly being discovered and this era is called Modernism. F. Scott Fitzgerald was one of those writers that quickly began to express himself though literature during the era of Modernism.

    Read More

More about Fitzgerald and Hemingway: The Lost Generation of American Writers and what They Lost

Open Document