The Effects Of War In The Great Gatsby And The Sun Also Rises
The effects of War World I are profoundly evident in the literary works of those who endured the war and the results thereof. Authors of this lost generation found themselves without purpose after having witnessed death on such a large scale. The crippling effects of their lost morality and disillusionment with society influenced them to lead lives of reckless decadence and an idealized past as expressed in such literary works as The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. The concept of a lost generation immediately following the end of World War I saw its beginnings in Paris, whereupon most American soldiers found themselves after the war. During the period after the end of World War I, Parisian patron Gertrude Stein coined the term “the Lost Generation” to describe the lack of
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Gatsby described a widespread “panic,” but this is simply a factor of his own personal confusion, characteristic of war veterans. Without any worth to his name, the only thing Gatsby knew was his love for Daisy prior to the war, which identifies with Stein’s representation of the idealism of the past. Gatsby’s past is briefly depicted with romantic imagery––on a greenery with white stallions and the alluring and young Daisy Buchanan. As a young man, Gatsby was in pursuit of a woman to marry before he was sent to war in Europe. His dedicated nature would not allow him to give up on her, as seen when Nick facilitates the revival of their long-lost love: “He hadn't once ceased looking at Daisy, and I think he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes. Sometimes, too, he stared around at his possessions in a dazed way, as though in her actual and astounding presence none of it was any longer real. Once he nearly toppled down a flight of stairs” (Fitzgerald
Gatsby described a widespread “panic,” but this is simply a factor of his own personal confusion, characteristic of war veterans. Without any worth to his name, the only thing Gatsby knew was his love for Daisy prior to the war, which identifies with Stein’s representation of the idealism of the past. Gatsby’s past is briefly depicted with romantic imagery––on a greenery with white stallions and the alluring and young Daisy Buchanan. As a young man, Gatsby was in pursuit of a woman to marry before he was sent to war in Europe. His dedicated nature would not allow him to give up on her, as seen when Nick facilitates the revival of their long-lost love: “He hadn't once ceased looking at Daisy, and I think he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes. Sometimes, too, he stared around at his possessions in a dazed way, as though in her actual and astounding presence none of it was any longer real. Once he nearly toppled down a flight of stairs” (Fitzgerald