The Lost Generation
William Faulkner
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Ernest Hemingway
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 Arms
by 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 Arms
Overview
• 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