The Lost Generation
The Lost Generation
The Lost Generation is a group of American writers who witnessed the daunting event of World War One (Jaracz). Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, John Dos Passos, Gertrude Stein, Sherwood Anderson, Waldo Peirce, Sinclair Lewis, Zelda Fitzgerald and T. S. Eliot are among the writers which compromised the group ( "The Lost Generation."). The term “Lost Generation” was conceived by Gertrude Stein who utilized the term emblematically to refer to the young generation of individuals who had served in the war and had experienced the same loss of hope and trust that the group of writers experienced as a consequence of horror they witness in the war (Matterson). It is rumoured Gertrude derived the term from a mechanic in France who labelled his incompetent young workers as “une generation perdue”. The term was popularized by Ernest Hemingway, who had Gertrude as a mentor early in his career, in his book The Sun Also Rises ("American Literature: The Lost Generation and After.").
The Lost Generation were defrauded of their innocence when their identity was hijacked by the demon of war. They experienced a loss of hope and trust. They lost their trust in their elders, especially the ones in power as they were responsible for the ghastly tragedies the war emanated (Jaracz). This resentment was amplified when the government neglected their war heroes as well as with the push for Prohibition (Jaracz). Seeing that they could not look up to their elders for a model to follow, the generation felt that the values and morals their elders had inculcated in them could no longer be trusted, and they began to defy them (Jaracz). The group sought to escape the grasp of tradition and the prospects of society. The group established their own values and social mores to elude the ones of their elders (Jaracz). This generation of writers became independent and self-sufficient. Many of the members of the Lost Generation embarked to Europe, to discharge the
The Lost Generation is a group of American writers who witnessed the daunting event of World War One (Jaracz). Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, John Dos Passos, Gertrude Stein, Sherwood Anderson, Waldo Peirce, Sinclair Lewis, Zelda Fitzgerald and T. S. Eliot are among the writers which compromised the group ( "The Lost Generation."). The term “Lost Generation” was conceived by Gertrude Stein who utilized the term emblematically to refer to the young generation of individuals who had served in the war and had experienced the same loss of hope and trust that the group of writers experienced as a consequence of horror they witness in the war (Matterson). It is rumoured Gertrude derived the term from a mechanic in France who labelled his incompetent young workers as “une generation perdue”. The term was popularized by Ernest Hemingway, who had Gertrude as a mentor early in his career, in his book The Sun Also Rises ("American Literature: The Lost Generation and After.").
The Lost Generation were defrauded of their innocence when their identity was hijacked by the demon of war. They experienced a loss of hope and trust. They lost their trust in their elders, especially the ones in power as they were responsible for the ghastly tragedies the war emanated (Jaracz). This resentment was amplified when the government neglected their war heroes as well as with the push for Prohibition (Jaracz). Seeing that they could not look up to their elders for a model to follow, the generation felt that the values and morals their elders had inculcated in them could no longer be trusted, and they began to defy them (Jaracz). The group sought to escape the grasp of tradition and the prospects of society. The group established their own values and social mores to elude the ones of their elders (Jaracz). This generation of writers became independent and self-sufficient. Many of the members of the Lost Generation embarked to Europe, to discharge the
Cited: Jaracz, Jill. "How the Lost Generation Works." HowStuffWorks. N.p., n.d. Web. Sept.-Oct. 2013. "The Lost Generation." The Lost Generation. Montgomery College, n.d. Web. Sept.-Oct. 2013. Matterson, Stephen. "1920s-1930s Lost Generation." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. Sept.-Oct. 2013. "American Literature: The Lost Generation and After." Infoplease. Infoplease, n.d. Web. Sept.-Oct. 2013.