| Author |
|
Mrs Weisgerber
New Member
Joined: 09 November 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 23
|
| Posted: 09 November 2005 at 4:59pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Is there a working definition of what the "lost generation" is? If so, how can
it be applied to John Dos Passos, William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and
Ernest Hemingway? What year was "The Sun Also Rises" written... and what
social/political/economic forces are acting upon Hemingway as a writer?
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Mrs Weisgerber
New Member
Joined: 09 November 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 23
|
| Posted: 09 November 2005 at 6:42pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Edited by Mrs Weisgerber on 16 November 2005 at 2:03pm
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JarretP
New Member
Joined: 13 November 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 4
|
| Posted: 13 November 2005 at 10:54pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I believe that the "lost geneartion" is Hemingway's own description of a society with no morals, no sense of nationalism, and a hardened view of romance. Both Brett and Cohn clearly exhibit these traits.
Edited by JarretP on 16 November 2005 at 1:04pm
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
HeatherN
New Member
Joined: 14 November 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 4
|
| Posted: 14 November 2005 at 10:35am | IP Logged
|
|
|
World War two was started in 1939, and Hemingway's book, The Sun Also Rises, was published in 1926. This means that a lot of the forces acting on Hemingway in Europe at the time were things fought over in World War two. This is where the anti-semetic remarks originate. Since Hemingway was living in Europe at the time this book was written - Paris to be specific - these antisemetic ideas were especially harsh, especially since France has an anti-semetic feeling, even today.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
SteffanieE
New Member
Joined: 14 November 2005
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5
|
| Posted: 14 November 2005 at 10:47am | IP Logged
|
|
|
The term "lost generation" applied to F. Scott Fitzgerald can be seen in his novels and his actual life. The definition of the lost generation as a generation which has the illusion of happiness hiding a sad loneliness is portrayed in both Hemingway's and Fitzgerald's writing.
For the character Jake, he is unable to really connect with people and become intimately close to Brett causing him to be lonely. Also, Brett, who apparently lost her "true love" during WWI constantly moves from man to man trying to satisfy her needs. In the end, however, both of them seem like they are walking a winding path of loneliness.
In Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Gatsby is portrayed as a popular man holding parties in his house every weekend. Although he is surrounded by people, he seems as if he doesn't belong in that kind of lifestyle and he constantly tries to get with his one true love, Daisy. All the characters seem like they should be happy with what they have, however, they long for something more and are somehow unable to achieve their goals. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9034427
Edited by SteffanieE on 18 November 2005 at 1:56pm
__________________
-steffaniee
kung alam mo lang kaya ang tunay ng nadarama...
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Samantha S.
New Member
Joined: 12 November 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5
|
| Posted: 14 November 2005 at 10:48am | IP Logged
|
|
|
It seems as though the Lost Generation is mainly a group of artists (writers, poets, etc) who lived in Paris during the 20s and 30s. They, not impressed in the least by the world and the way it was turning, took a rather depressing, pessimistic view of things in their writing and poetry. This sense of futility stems from, in many cases, World War I and World War II. Dos Passos and Hemingway were both right there, up close and personal. Faulker, too, served in the Air Force during World War I. It's only to be expected that, when people so connected to the ink and paper they surround their lives with stumble into battle fields and watch countless people fall, they turn to writing more realistic accounts of life and its negatives.
For instance, even though Faulkner's "Barn Burning" had nothing to do with either of the World Wars, it had a rather depressing ending. The main character's father (spoiler warning... by the way) has an injured leg, and is very, very stubborn. He also happens to be a pyromaniac, and when someone offends him, he likes to burn down their barn and run off before he's caught. Likewise, As I Lay Dying, originally published in 1930 (note that this coincides with the Lost Generation dates of the twenties and thirties), ended with Darl (my favorite character, of course) losing his sanity and getting taken to an asylum. It was injustice and the greed of his wretched father that put him there. His own brother and sister turned on him--just because he was more observant than anyone else, and they didn't want their "family secrets" getting out. It was an excellent book, but it really showed that Faulkner had taken leave of believing that blood was thicker than water. Through many sets of deeply depressed eyes, he brought about the "stream of consciousness" writing style in an attempt to really get into his characters' heads--and show just how dark life can be. The Lost Generation of authors brought stunning truth to their readers.
~S*S
http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/1949/faulkner-bio .html
http://ok.essortment.com/whatlostgenera_nkj.htm
Edited by Samantha S. on 14 November 2005 at 6:36pm
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Andrew S
New Member
Joined: 14 November 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 4
|
| Posted: 14 November 2005 at 10:49am | IP Logged
|
|
|
The "Lost Generation" was a phrase coined to describe the period shortly after World War I, during which the world was recovering from the casualties and catastrophies of history's first world war. Many people during this time began to drink excessively and pursue false romances or false love, while still creating some of the most influential works of literature of the generation. Some authors who wrote during or about this generation included: Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, T.S. Eliot, and William Faulker.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Generation
__________________
Holler
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
BrigeshB
New Member
Joined: 14 November 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 4
|
| Posted: 14 November 2005 at 10:49am | IP Logged
|
|
|
The idea of the lost generation was first coined by Gertrude Stein when speaking with a garage mechanic. Because his students couldn't do the full repairs, he refferred 'le generation perdue' which translates to the lost generation in english. This then came to represent the period after WWI in which many soldiers took up residence in France for a wide range of reasons. John Dos Passos, who would later take up residence with Hemingway in Key West, was considered a lost generation author. He is labeled as so because of the period of his writing not his personal beliefs. His first works, because of the preceding war, focused on many of his experiences. His first novel was autobiographical in a sense that he reflects upon his time as an ambulance driver during the war. His next novel was an anti-war story called "Three Soldiers" which gained him amazing recognition. With his unattached feelings towards the war and then his downright shooting down of war, he ends up taking a turn towards socialism over capitalism which became a characteristic of "Lost Generation Writing".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dos_Passos
__________________
~B~
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Christina C
New Member
Joined: 13 November 2005
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6
|
| Posted: 14 November 2005 at 1:01pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
It seems that, when Hemingway was but a young boy, he was all set out to be a transcendentalist. His love of hunting and nature showed no mark of the cynical, depressing views that he later felt. If anything, he seemed like the average kid, being decently upbeat and sweet.
Of course, his naivity had lead him into trouble, him being so eager to get into the Wars. His lack of experience with the darker aspects of war shattered his optimism, and he went down hard. "I died then. I felt my soul or something coming right out of my body, like you'd pull a silk handkerchief out of a pocket by one corner. It flew all around and then came back and went in again and I wasn't dead any more"
Yet this soul of his that he recieved... it seems imbued with all this darker knowledge, that pessimism that weaved its way into his writing. Like many other writers/poets/artists of his time, he was probably dishearted by the wars, the constant suffering he saw through his travels, and the general moodiness emanating off everyone around him.
As everyone was being overcome with this desperation, this gloomy outlook of life, it became known as the lost generation, the people's hearts truly lost through the devastation of war.
For example, Jake and Brett live in this state of the lost generation mindset. Jake is incapable of becoming close to people; even Robert Cohn, who he claims to like(best friends!), is scorned and looked down upon.
And Brett, for all her affectionate advances, is just as phony in her cynical love. Instead of distancing herself from everyone, she binges on love and lust, trying to convince herself that she's desirable, that she's a needed part of this world. Afterall, the world was falling apart in such a way that to be treasured, to be liked, was all anyone valued.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
SeanM
New Member
Joined: 09 November 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 8
|
| Posted: 14 November 2005 at 1:15pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
According to Dictionary.com, the definition of "the lost generation" is:
| Main Entry: |
lost generation |
| Part of Speech: |
noun |
| Definition: |
young people coming of age during and shortly after World War I, esp. disillusioned by the number of people killed in the war. |
Obviously Hemingway was a child of this generation, and he also
feels entirely removed from the world. Hemingway is an author who gives
deatils of his characters through inferences. Hemingway brings up many
controversial topics in his novel, like homosexuality, anti-semitism,
and drowning away sorrows in alcohol. Though Hemingway's characters in The Sun Also Rises
try to run away from their troubles or they try to hide from them, they
are constantly haunted by these issues. Hemingway most likely wrote The Sun Also Rises not as a coming of age novel for individuals, but as a coming of age novel for America.
Edited by SeanM on 14 November 2005 at 8:27pm
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
|
|
Active Topics
Memberlist
Search
Help
Register
Login
Forum Locked)
Topic: The Fab Four
