The Lost Generation free essay sample

A look at the group of writers, poets and artists who rejected American materialism in post WWI America and relocated to Paris. This paper discusses the group of writers referred to as The Lost Generation, among them Gertrude Stein, who coined the phrase. It examines the commonalities between these writers including their search for meaning, their moves to Paris, and the themes of their writings. The works of Ernest Hemingway, T.S. Elliot, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein are examined. The name The Lost Generation comes from an epigraph to Ernest Hemingways The Sun Also Rises. In this epigraph, Gertrude Stein wrote you are all a lost generation. This name stuck and refers to a group of writers, poets and artists who left post World War I America and relocated to Paris to live the Bohemian lifestyle (Kaiser). The years following World War I are described as bringing a highly vocal rebellion against established social, sexual, and aesthetic conventions and a vigorous attempt to establish new values (Encyclopedia. We will write a custom essay sample on The Lost Generation or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page com). These writers had several things in common including that they searched for meaning, drank excessively, had love affairs, and created some of the finest American literature to date (Kaiser). The Lost Generation also refers to the fact that these writers were culturally lost. Unable to find meaning they moved to Paris to try to find something greater. This is one of the common themes of their writing, with these themes being described as spiritual alienation, self-exile, and cultural criticism (Kaiser).