Errnest Hemingway—The Speaker of the Lost Generation

Wang Yi

【Abstract】The lost generation is a group of people losing their former beliefs in the past World War I years.Hemingway is one of them and his two great novels The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms are the representations of the lost generation.

【Key words】lost generation； Ernest Hemingway； The Sun Also Rises； A Farewell to Arms.

Introduction

A writers works have intimate connections with their life experiences； meanwhile their writings are the symbols of the times.Ernest Hemingway is a famous American author of the twentieth century who centers his novels on personal experiences and affections.

After joining in the World War I，Hemingway began his literary creation in 1919.The American poet Gertrude Stein once said to Ernest Hemingway： “You are all a lost generation”，which was quoted on the title page of his first long piece of fiction The Sun Also Rises published in 1926.Therefore，Hemingway became the symbol of the lost generation in the western modernism literature.

1.The Birth of the Lost Generation

In the 1920s，holding the typical adventurism thoughts， inspired by the so-called “patriotism” advocated by the politicians ，many American young people enlisted in military to join the First World War.

Meanwhile，the war was not so exciting as they imagined.They experienced and witnessed the cruelty of the war： there was no safety and peace，but only danger and death.The theme of the war was not valiant fighting against enemies，but human beings resisting human killers.Seeing an entire world of moral ，and political values shattered in the chaotic butchery of WWI，they understood that WWI was to be the first great war of the machine，the first war in which mechanics were far more important than heroes.The war in which masses of men slaughtered each other with little or none of the “glory” or test of manhood that was supposed.

Yet when they came back home，they discovered their jobs were taken away by the stay-at-homes and they themselves were not desirable.This group of volunteers was trying their best to express the reality of the past war period.But what was the dependable and practical value？ They failed to find the answer.So they got lost，they felt empty： they were worried，suspicious and disappointed，but they were not completely in despair，instead，they were making great efforts to realize this new world.This feeling was a kind of revolution without a dominate idea.

The impact of the war on the group of writers in the lost generation was great.The lost generation writers all gained prominence in the 20th century literature.Their innovations challenged assumptions about writing and expression，and paved the way for subsequent generations of writers.

Ernest Hemingway is the symbol writer of the lost generation.He experienced a lot during the First World War period，which has great impact on his early works.

2.Causes of Ernest Hemingways Lose

Hemingway is one of the major American novelists of the 20th century.He had a happy boyhood，and loved outdoor activities.So his articles are full of adventures.Like so many young men of the American Midwest，he was bored and waiting...Waiting for some chance of adventure that would combine glory with danger.The European war seemed to offer such a chance.When American entered the great Crusade in 1917，Hemingway promptly tried to enlist.

His eye injury，however，kept him out of service，and he had to settle for a job as cub reporter on Kansas City Star.But it was impossible for Hemingway to remain in Kansas city while thousands of other Americans were going off to earn their “red badge of courage”in battle and adventure.He volunteered to serve as an ambulance driver on the Italian front，and left the countury with high expectations：if he could not be a solider ，he would nevertheless taste the bitter glory of war.

But only a few weeks after arriving in the combat zone，he was “blown up” by a stray shell，receiving a serious wound which was to leave scars on his mind and spirit no less than on hid body.It was in many ways，an absurd wound，and one that had very little to do with “soldiering” at all：the mortar had punctures Hemingways body with little bits of metal without even being aware of his existence.At the time of his wound，futthermore，he had been engaged in an activity，which was rather ludicrous：he had been “blown up” while handing out chocolates to Italian soldiers.

According to Hemingways own testimony，he neverforget the impact of that experience.It was not so much the pain that he remembered，as the manner in which his pain was inflicted-a helpless ，passive receiving of a blow from an invisible “first” of machinery and death.His patriotic dream in the past vanished.The war destroyed the civilization，his dream of life and the moralities based on humanism.His The Sun Also Rises is the representation of his life experience in the post world war years.

3.The Sun Also Rises--Documentation of Life of Lost Generation

Hemingways The Sun Also Rises concerns a number of American intellectuals living in Paris in the Post WWI years.The young generation had their dreams and innocence smashed by the war，emerged from the war bitter and aimless，and spent much of the prosperous 1920s drinking and partying away their frustrations.These people were to some extent physically，mentally ，psychologically hurt or economically morally frustrated.Disillusioned，they wanted to replace their inherited 19th century values；on the other hand，they also struggled to find meaning and definition.

The narrator and principal character is Jake Barnes，a newspaper correspondent，who got a disabling injury on combat by a shell fragment without having any time to judge he was a hero or coward.Jake epitomizes the Lost Generation； physically and emotionally wounded from the war；he is disillusioned，cares little about conventional sources of hope-famiy，friends，religion，work--and apathetically drinks his way through his expatriate life.Even travel，a rich source of potential experience，mostly becomes an excuse to drink in exotic locales.Irresponsibility also marks the Lost Generation；Jake rarely intervenes in others affairs，even when he could help.

The leading female character id lady Brett Ashley，whose husband，a British officer，was killed in World War I，and that she was a nurse in the hospital where Jake Barnes was sent.Brett carelessly hurts men and considers herself powerless to stop doing so.

Jakes injury left him in the supremely frustrating condition of being impotent without diminishing his sexual desire.Jake embodies this new emasculation；most likely physically impotent，he cannot have sex and therefore，can never have the insatiable Brett.Instead，he is dominated by her，as is Cohn.Jake is even threatened by the homosexual men who dance with Brett in Paris；while not sexually interested in her.They have more “manhood” than Jake，physically speaking.Despite the deep love between Jake and Lady Brett，Jake was forced to keep the relationship strictly platonic and stood watch as different men float in and out of Lady Ashleys life and bed.

Though a veteran，Jake now works in an office and fritters away his time with superficial socializing；he admires bullfighters so much，and Romero in particular，because they are far more herioc than he is or ever was.Though Romeros appearance is more feminine than Jakes.he fulfills the code of the Hemingway hero，commandingly confronting death as a man of action with what Hemingway has called “grace under pressure.”Jake ，on the other hand，has returned from his confrontation with death feeling like less of a man，physically and emotionally.

The bullfights in Spain help them recapture the excitement of the war and forget their own pain.In the brave bullfight process，they caught in sight of power and sourage，which formulates the eternal life and where the sun also rose.

4.A Farewell to Arms--Meditation of the Causes of the Lost Generation

Lieutenant Frederic Henry，a young American ambulance driver with the Italian army during World War I，takes a winter leave from the front.When he returns，he meets and quickly falls in love with Catherine Barkley，an English nurses aide in the towns British hospital.She mourns the death of her fiance from the war last year，and she eargly enters the pleasurable diversion the game of love offers with Henry.Henry，too，is revived by love after the horror he has seen of war.

Henrys knee is badly wounded during an artillery bombardment，and he is sent to a hopital in Milan for an operation.Catherine transfers to his hospital and helps him recuperate from the surgery.They spend all their free time together，and their love deepens as they gradually acknowledge that they stand-alone against the cruel world.Before Henry returns to the front，Catherine reveals she is pregnant.They are both pleased with this，however，and cannot wait to see each other again.

Back at the front，the Germans and Austrians break through the Italian line，and the Italians are forced to make a lengthy retreat.Henry travels with some other drivers，two Italian engineering sergeants，and two Italian girls.When the sergeants abandon the drivers when their car gets stuck，Henry shoots one of them，and another driver finishes him off.Later，the trigger-happy Italian rear guard mistakenly shoots one of the Italian drivers.One of the drivers deserts the group，choosing to be taken prisoner rather than face potential death.At a bridge over a flooded river，the corrupt Italian military singles out Henry as a lieutenant and accuses him of treachery leading to the Italian defeat.Knowing he will be executed，Henry jumps into the river and escapes with the current.

Henry manages to get out of the fast-moving river and jump a train to Milan.He thinks he has made a “seperater peace” and is no longer attached to thw military.He finds Catherine in the town of Stresa and，prior to Henry ‘s arrest for desertion；the two make a daring nighttime escape by a borrowed boat to Switzerland.They enjoy an idyllic，isolated life that winter in the Swiss town of Montreax，spengding time outdoors and preparing for arrival of their baby；Henry is not completely without guilt，however，for abandoning his friends at the front.

They move to the town of Lausanne in the spring to be close to its hospital，and Catherine soon goes into labor.The pregnancy is lengthy and painful，and the baby，delivered through a Caesarean，is stillborn.Catherine dies soon after of multiple hemorrhages with Henry by her side.He tries to say goodbye to her，but it is like saying goodbye to a statue，and he walks back to his hotel room in the rain.

Although A Farewell to Arms appeared three years after The Sun Also Rises，it is in many ways the key novel of Ernest Hemingways career，a carrer affected deeply by the authors experiences in WW1.It is A Farewell to Arms which deals directly with the futile butchery of mass，technological warfare-“the circus of deathwhich produced 10 million corpses and seemed，to young writers like Hemingway，final proof of the bankruptcy of western Civilization.”I was always embarrassed by the words sacred，Glorious，and sacrifice，and the expression in vain，remarks Frederic Henry，the“Hemingway hero”in A Farewell to Arms：“Ihad seen nothing sacred，and the things that were glorious had no glory and the sacrifices were like the stockyyards at Chicago if nothing was done with the meat except to bury it.”

In the eyes of Henry，human beings are just like ants on a log.“As it commenced to burn，the ants swarmed out，and went first towards the center where the fire was，then turned back and ran towards the end then there were enough on the end they fell off into the fire.Some got out，their bodies burnt and flattened，and went off not knowing where they were going.But most of them went towards the fire and then back towards the end and swarmed on the cool end and finally fell off into the fire”.Henry and his campanions hate the war and oppose it.After he makes a “seperate peace”with the war，Catherine becomes the very content of his life，but now she is gone，the “pole of spirit” falls down，the play is over，and Henry falls completely into despair and he is also disillusioned.He discoverers the insanity of the world in which he lives.He clears his mind，but he cannot overstep his world and himself.

Conclusion

Hemingways dissatisfaction with society prompts him to create charaters that share his difficulties，partially to laugh at the world，and partially to console him.His literature makes certain that others in the world are aware of the dangers of society and the sorrows of the outcasts.He molds men and women in the likeness of himself，providing them a world in which to flounder and blindly grope through moral and social darkness to illustrate the cruel nature of the world and provide examples of the unfortunate results of discrimination and neglect.

The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms represent some life experiences of Ernest Hemingway and hid thoughts.Aa a speaker of the lost generation，his early works shows us the smash of the traditional moralities and beliefs after WW1.He defined the moral，emotional，and physical emptiness of the young post-WWI generation，devastated by war and aimlessly seeking comfort in the superficial，hedonistic atmosphere of the 1920s.War disfigures and tears away precious lives.Its horror is like an infectious disease in the minds of the survivors.These are the poor souls who suffer for mankind and endure abandonment by a world that wants to forget suffering.

But he is not totallly a nihilist and pessimist.He has his belief and hope.He wants to portray his novels as to help people set up beliefs and achieve hope.Just as Lu Xun says “There is no road on the earth.But people trample it.”

References：

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