09 Feb 2010
The lost generation and its problems are still relevant since the modern society is in a way similar to the society of the lost generation. These similarities as well as differences can be traced in works of major writers who belong to the lost generation and who wrote about the lost generation. In fact, it is obvious that the lost generation faced similar ethical dilemmas as the present generation, it faced the problem of the social inequality, but, fortunately, the modern generation has never experienced what the lost generation had – the world war.
One of the most prominent writers of the lost generation is Earnest Hemingway. His “The Sun Also Rises” is a great story of the post war generation, or so called ‘the lost generation’. This topic was very close to the writer because he, in person, took part in those historical events and knew exactly all terrible consequences engendered by the World War I. Probably this personal experience explains that vivacity and reality of his characters among which we should put on the first place Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley. It is impossible to understand these characters without retrospection to the whole generation of people of their age of that time. Their problems are not unique and concerning only them, their fate is alike and it is quite symbolic because it shows the devastation that reigned in the post-war world and in souls of so many people.
As for the relations existing between the main characters, their past defines their present, especially the war that caused a great damage to both Jake Barnes and Brett Ashley. But if Jake had a physical injury the problem of Brett is rather of a psychological character. On the one hand they have some common traits and on the other hand they can hardly be compared to each other. So, what do they have in common? Certainly, it is their past: Jake has a very serious wound that does not let him lead a normal life, and Brett lost her beloved, moreover, it was her first true love. That is why they are two people who are physically and mentally, or better to say, psychologically damaged. Even though Jake and Brett passed through the war the modern generation has never faced, their love and interpersonal relationships are similar to those of the modern society.
The novel “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck has a tragic ending which raises a number of ethical issues, which are relevant to the modern generation as well. In this respect, the question whether George did the right thing for Lennie or not remains unanswered. In fact, each reader can have his own view on this question, but, in all probability, George had good intentions while helping his friend to die. At this point, it is possible to speak about such issues as euthanasia which are very important today. In fact, Lennie did not have a choice whether to live or die, he rather had a choice of how to die and George took decision for Lennie and shot him. Obviously, George understood that the death is inevitable for Lennie, but he wanted to ease the last minutes of his friend’s life. Hence, he decided to shoot him dead and die in the matter of seconds, instead of being lynched by the outraged crowd that was likely to kill Lennie slowly and painfully. In such a context, motives of George’s act are obvious.
On the other hand, they cannot fully justify his act because he did not have the right to kill Lennie since it is a crime from legal as well as moral point of view. At the same time, it is important to understand the fact that Lennie has died for his dream, which raised in his mind due to George who made Lennie convinced that he would have a better life. In such a situation, George’s act can be justified from the moral point of view for he maintained Lennie’s dream until the end of his life and did not allow other people destroy the dream, which made the life of Lennie purposeful. At the same time, George understood that Lennie’s life and dream was ruined by the rape and George simply helped his friend to avoid further sufferings both moral and physical.
The problem of social inequality and huge gaps between representatives of various social classes is one of the central problems of “Great Gatsby” by Scott Fitzgerald and this problem still persists and the modern generation is characterized by social disparity. In his work, the author depicts a variety of characters which represent different social classes. Each character is unique but it is difficult to find an ideal character in any of the social classes represented in the novel. Speaking about Tom, it is necessary to point out that he originates from a noble, upper-class family and he pretends to be a noble, aristocratic and idealistic representative of the upper-class, but, in actuality, he is absolutely opposite to the public image he attempts to create. In fact, Tom doesn’t have any purpose in the life and his social position allows him living purposelessly since he does not need to think of earning money, which he has enough. It seems as if he “would drift on forever seeking, a little wistfully, for the dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable football game” (Fitzgerald, 6). Tom attempts to find receive positive emotions and he believe that he can buy everything with his money. In fact, being a representative of the upper-class he just enjoys the life. He is sure that money can give him everything he wants and such attitude to money overshadows his noble origin and makes him a pragmatic, materialist person seeking for personal benefits in relationships with other people whom he plays as puppets. Moreover, he proves to be immoral even in relationships with his own wife for he has a mistress Myrtle. But he does not really love even his mistress whom he demands a total obedience. Thus, she means nothing for him as well as his own wife. In fact, Tom is cynic, immoral man. For instance, he reveals his hypocrisy when he becomes furious when he guesses about close relations between Gatsby and Daisy but, at the same time, he does not do anything to help his wife when she kills Myrtle. In this situation, it would be more natural for a noble and idealist man who loves his wife to act as Gatsby does but Tom demonstrates his indifference to Daisy’s fate. Even though he does not love his wife, Tom uses his wealth as the mean to keep Daisy as his wife, as his toy.
In this respect, it should be said that Daisy turns to be a woman, which also represents the upper-class, but, in actuality, she is totally dependent on her husband. Moreover, it is even possible to estimate that she is enslaved by her social status and benefits this position brings to her. In fact, she cannot leave her husband and it is not only the evil wish of Tom to keep his wife as a toy, but it is also the irresistible desire of Daisy to enjoy the wealth and the high social status she can benefit from, being the wife of Tom. In such a way, she cannot resist to her mercantile desire to be a representative of the upper-class, to the extent that she is even ready to sacrifice her personal life and happiness for the sake of wealth and prosperity.
As for Myrtle, she views her love affairs with Tom as an excellent opportunity to enter a new, better world since she believe she can benefit from her relationships with Tom. In such a way, her desire to take a higher social position dominates over her personal feelings in relation to Tom. In other words, she rather views Tom rather as a tool to improve her social position and increase her social status than as a person whom she really loves. Obviously, their relationships have little in common with love of Gatsby to Daisy. It proves beyond a doubt that neither Tom, nor Myrtle, or Daisy are able to love without any material or social benefits for themselves in person and, therefore, they view love and their relationships as a kind of tools of maintenance of their social position or its improvement.
In stark contrast, Gatsby does not originate from a noble family. In fact, “his parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people – his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all” (Fitzgerald, 99). In such a way, Gatsby is a representative of the lower social class who has achieved everything in his life due to his hard work and internal strength. Nevertheless, he proves to be the only person in the novel who is not corrupted by his money and who preserved internal nobility and remained an irrevocable idealist. He even invented himself for “Jay Gatsby… sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God… So he invented …. Jay Gatsby… and to this conception he was faithful to the end” (Fitzgerald, 99). To meet his actual position to his ideal, he works hard. In fact, everything he has in his life is his own gains, unlike Tom who actually does nothing but waste money which he takes for granted. In contrast, Gatsby earns for living through the hard work and his environment, his cars, clothes, mansion, everything are the result of his toil. This means that he is an honest, noble man who knows what it means to earn money, while Tom knows only how to waste them and, therefore, he is an egoist who takes everything he receives in his life for granted.
Thus, it is obvious that problems which representatives of the lost generation faced are, to a significant extent relevant to the present epoch and modern generation. This is why the two generations are similar.
Works Cited:
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Random House, 2004.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Letters of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Ed. Andrew Turnbull. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1963.
Hemingway, E. The Sun Also Rises. New York: Penguin Classics, 2006.
Lee Brian, American Fiction 1865-1940 New York: Continuum Publishing, 1988.
Lehan, Richard D. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Craft of Fiction. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1966.
Steinbeck, J. Of Mice and Men. New York: Penguin Classics, 2002.
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