Lost Generation Theme - 745 Words

The Lost Generation and Camaraderie Created by War Rats scuttling around. Lice crawling everywhere. Diseases spreading like wildfire. Imagine living in conditions like this for weeks on end. Add bullets constantly whizzing past, bombs being dropped, poison gas permeating the air, and this is the reality for soldiers in the trenches, and the men in All Quiet on the Western Front. Paul, the narrator and a German soldier, along with fellow classmates, join the army after being persuaded by their teacher. Based on their teachers description of war, they enter believing war will be a glorious experience. Their beliefs are quickly shattered by the first death they witness. Throughout the novel Paul loses many of his friends and sees†¦show more content†¦The theme helps illustrate the power of war in irreversibly changing men, and making them feel uncomfortable or lost in previously familiar places. Before the war the young men did not have roots in the community, and after the w ar they have nothing to go back to. Remarque transmits the theme that the generation after the war feels foreign and uncomfortable in their environments with the motif of the lost generation. The use of comradeship emphasizes the importance of a brotherhood that comforts each other, and makes each other feel safe. Paul explains, They are more to me than life, these voices, they are more than motherliness and more than fear; they are the strongest, most comforting thing there is anywhere: they are the voices of my comrades (212). Paul shows that camaraderie in the war is of utmost importance to the soldiers. The close relationships and strong bonds developing during the war enable the soldiers to remain hopeful and sane. Comradeship motivates the men to keep going, especially when they want to give up. While explaining how war created comradeship, Paul says, What does he know of me or I of him? Formerly we should not have had a single thought in common—now we sit with a goose between us and feel in unison, are so intimate that we do not even speak (94). In the novel Paul and Kat share a goose. He explains that Wessinger 3 before the war they did not know each other, but sharing the experiencesShow MoreRelatedThemes Of The Lost Generation794 Words   |  4 Pagesfor the United States. After seeing countless deaths of soldiers in a war many didn’t believe in, the years after World War I were times when people lost hope in classic principles such as bravery and courage. The â€Å"Lost Generation† were people who saw the horrors of the war throughout their life. Ernest Hemingway shows major themes of the â€Å"Lost Generation† through his stories after the war; he shows the pursuit of decadence in â€Å"Hills of White Elephants,† impotence through â€Å"Soldier’s Home,† and idealismRead MoreTaking a Look at the Jazz Age1600 Words   |  6 Pagesof the Jazz Age, was Ernest Hemingways The Sun Also Rises. The novel is about a young soldier, who returned from the War, and went to work as a journalist in Paris. â€Å"Less than ten years after the end of World War I, the novel helped define his generation: disillusioned young people whose lives were profoundly affected by the war.† (Hemingway) The Sexual Revolution of the 1920s impacted novels like Married Love by Marie Stopes, and The Constant Nymph by Margaret Kennedy. (Ayers) Both of these novelsRead MoreEssay on Disillusionment in Hemingway ´s The Sun Also Rises1433 Words   |  6 Pagesfeeling of disenchantment dwells in the mind. 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Like Dostoevsky, Nikolayevich suffers from epilepsyRead MoreThe House of Mirth and Babylon Revisited Novel Comparisson1167 Words   |  5 Pages an author can create an immediate connection between the reader and the story through use of tragedy. Both The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton and â€Å"Babylon Revisited† by F. Scott Fitzgerald use the main characters, Lily and Charlie, to portray a theme of tragedy brought about by fate, which is relatable to every person who has experienced loss in their life. In The House of Mirth Lily Bart, the main character is a society miss at the mercy of the world that she lives in. Lily’s main problem isRead MoreThe Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald1625 Words   |  7 PagesWorld War I and â€Å" The Lost Generation†: These two historical ideas are significant to the novel because â€Å" the Lost Generation† is the generation that became adults during the time of war, which includes F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author of the novel. Authors born in this time tended to write themes that represented their experiences in the war. For example, the death of the American Dream was mostly referenced in The Great Gatsby, by the narrator Nick Carraway. Roaring 20’s: This is a historicalRead MoreThe Death Of Franz Ferdinand Of Austria1736 Words   |  7 Pagesat the end of World War I and, allegedly, the inspiration for British VAD Catherine Barkley in his romantic war novel, A Farewell to Arms (1929)† (Martin). As part of the Lost Generation, â€Å"a group of men and women who came of age during World War I and who felt disillusioned in this unfamiliar post-war world† (The Lost Generation) documenting their stories (or versions of it in this case) helped them to cope with pain, suffering, and other â€Å"ailments† accrued during the 1910s and 1920s. America wasRead MoreThe Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald1567 Words   |  7 Pagescheaper† (Fitzgerald 112, My Lost City). 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The interactions between the characters in this novel display a society living without convictions, affirming Gertrude Stein’s quotation at the beginning of the novel, â€Å"You are all a lost generation.† To paint this vivid picture of discontentment and disillusionment Hemingway