The Lost Generation

William Faulkner

Ernest Hemingway

F. Scott Fitzgerald

The ‘Lost Generation’ Authors

• Author and poet, Gertrude Stein, is attributed with coining the term ‘lost generation’

• Initially the term referred to those who lost their lives during WWI and those who had difficulty assimilating back into society after serving in WWI (All Quiet on the Western Front by E.M. Remarque exemplifies this idea)

• These authors were the disillusioned writers that wrote during the time following World War I.

• Many of these writers became expatriates, living in Europe after the war

The Big 3 of The Lost Generation

• William Faulkner – As I Lay Dying; The Sound and the Fury; Absalom, Absalom; Light in August; Barn Burning; A Rose for Emily; etc.

• F. Scott Fitzgerald – The Great Gatsby; The Last Tycoon; Tender is the Night; This Side of Paradise; etc.

• Ernest Hemingway – A Farewell to Arms; The Old Man and the Sea; For Whom the Bell Tolls; The Sun Also Rises; The Snows of Kilimanjaro; etc.

A Farewell to Armsby Ernest Hemingway

Hemingway's distinctive writing style is characterized by economy and understatement, and had a significant influence on the development of twentieth-century fiction writing. His protagonists are typically stoical men who exhibit an ideal described as "grace under pressure." Many of his works are now considered classics of American literature.

Ernest Hemingway• Hemingway was an author and a journalist• His writing style is objective and journalistic as

opposed to subjective• He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 and the Nobel

Prize in 1954 for the novella, Old Man and the Sea• Hemingway attempted to enlist in WWI, but his

poor vision prevented him so he joined the Red Cross Ambulance Corps and saw action on the Italian front

• The brutality and horrors of WWI, coupled with his own experiences as an ambulance driver and his relationship with an older woman nurse, inspired him to write A Farewell to Arms

A Farewell to ArmsOverview

• A novel with a decidedly anti-war tone• It is the story of a young American, Lt.

Frederick Henry, an ambulance driver on the Italian front who experiences the horrific nature of war

• He falls in love with a British nurse, Catherine Barkley, who has previously lost her fiancé in the war

• Tragedy befalls them when Catherine becomes pregnant and is unable to deliver the baby safely

• Considered a love story and an anti war novel

Characters• Lt. Frederick Henry – protagonist and

narrator; an ambulance driver who is stoic and courageous, yet has no real passion until he meets Catherine Barkley and falls in love

• Catherine Barkley – an English nurse who has lost her fiancé and at first approaches the relationship with Henry with trepidation, and then with reckless abandon

• Rinaldi – Henry’s closest friend, an Italian skilled surgeon whose primary objective is womanizing, he initially is after Catherine Barkley

Characters cont’d

• The priest – a kind, sincere, young man who provides spiritual guidance to those who want it but is primarily the butt of the officers’ jokes – abstract ideas like honor, glory and sacredness are topics of discussion between the priest and Henry

• Helen Ferguson – Catherine’s friend and fellow nurse, who is at first supportive of Henry’s and Catherine’s affair and then condemns it as immoral

Characters cont’d• Miss Gage – an American nurse who

befriends Henry while he is recuperating at the hospital after being wounded

• Miss Van Campen – the superintendent that oversees the nurses at Catherine’s hospital; cold, strict, and stern, she disapproves of Henry

• Dr. Valentini – an Italian surgeon who comes to the American hospital and disputes the fact that Henry must wait for leg surgery, and performs the surgery in question, inspiring confidence and decisiveness

Characters cont’d

• Count Greffi – somewhat of a father figure to Henry who admires his ability to remain spry at 94, and thinks for himself

• Ettore Moretti – an American soldier from San Francisco, he is an overbearing braggart who shows off medals, is impressed with himself, and instigates fights

• Gino – a young Italian that Henry meets at a decimated village, he believes his fatherland is sacred and has a contrasting view on the war compared with Henry

Characters cont’d

• Ralph Simmons – mediocre opera student, who Henry seeks out for help after deserting, Simmons gives him civilian clothes and help

• Emilio – a bartender and friend to both Henry and Catherine, helps them reunite, saves them from arrest and ushers them off to safety during their flight

• Bonello – an ambulance driver under the direction of Henry, displays brutality in the scene where he shoots an uncooperative engineer in the head that Henry has already shot

Themes • The grimness and

brutality of war – many characters are ambivalent towards it, Henry removes himself from it, a few are young and continue to glorify it (Gino, Ettore), most resent the destruction of it and are dubious of the glory it purportedly brings

Themes cont’d• The relationship

between love and pain – Catherine seduces Henry to ease the pain of losing her fiancé, both Henry and Catherine use their love affair as a means of escapism from the pain of the war, seeking solace in one another cannot keep the pain and tragedy of their relationship from happening

Motifs

• Masculinity – Hemingway has an archetypal male character in most of his works, domineering, virile, swaggering, competent

• Games and Diversions – the war itself is a diversion, the love ‘game’ initially between Henry and Catherine, diversions are needed later when their relationship intensifies (playing pool, horse races, etc.), and paradoxically, the relationship itself becomes something to seek refuge from

Motifs cont’d• Loyalty versus Abandonment – duty, honor,

loyalty in war is conflicted with loyalty in relationships, the underlying message is that loyalty is more important in love and friendships than to governments and political machinations

• Illusions and Fantasies – the seduction of Henry by Catherine is more an illusion for the benefit and sustenance of both in their present situations, however, neither can resist the temptation of fantasizing about a better, perfect world

Symbolism

• Rain – a pervasive symbol of disintegrating happiness throughout the novel, Catherine is scared of the rain and feels it will ruin everything, after she dies Henry walks home in the rain

Symbolism cont’d• Catherine’s Hair – has

beautiful cascading hair that is a symbol of ephemeral nature of love and protective waterfall quality of Catherine’s hair surrounds them and insulates them

Extended Reading

• All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

• Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo

• Catch – 22 by Joseph Heller

• On the Beach by Neville Shute

• The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane