2020-2021

Tema 55 La generación perdida. S. Fitzgerald, J. Steinbeck, y

E. Hemmingway. La narrativa de W. Faulkner.

Topic 55 The Lost Generation. S. Fitzgerald, J. Steinbeck, and

E. Hemmingway. The narrative of W. Faulkner.
© 2021, Granada, by Stephen Pearse Hughes. All rights reserved. Any copying or
distribution, partial or otherwise, may not be undertaken without the express authorisation of
the author.

Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Authors from the Lost Generation
2.1 Francis Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940)

2.2 John Steinbeck (1902-1968)

2.3 Ernest Hemmingway (1899-1961)

2.1 William Faulkner (1897-1962)

3. Pedagogical considerations

4. Conclusion

References
1. Introduction
The Lost Generation is a name used to describe two related yet distinct collectives. In the first case, the
term refers to the effects and aftermath of World War I. With over 17 million deaths and 20 million
wounded, the war was unprecedented in the levels of suffering it created. In addition to this meaning,
The Lost Generation also referred to a group of writers and other artists who were influenced by the
times and who gained popularity during the 1920s. Essentially, then, the Lost Generation links together
the lives of millions of individuals who suffered the consequences of war with a specific and recognisable
group of writers from the time.
The Lost Generation is important for a number of reasons. Firstly, several works began to challenge
stereotypical gender roles as women took on unprecedented levels of protagonism in the work place
and in public life. In addition, there was a strong rejection of war; many Americans serving during the
war were killed and those who returned home did so with a very different perspective of life than they
previously had. These aspects are reflected in much of the literature produced by this generation,
indeed, there are several characteristics and themes employed by these authors which are still of
relevance today, including elements of escapism and youthful idealism combined with the search for
the meaning of life, disillusionment in materialism, rejection of authority and the horrors of war.
This topic, then, will examine the works of some of the major authors collectively known to form
part of this lost generation, including Fitzgerald, Steinbeck, Hemmingway and Faulkner. In addition to
examining these authors, a number of possible pedagogical considerations will also be proposed in terms
of dealing with the lives, times and works of these individuals. These considerations will take into
account current and future curricular guidelines (Consejería, 2016; 2020; 2021a; 2021b) and will focus
on the potential integration of cultural and literary contents within the overall development of
communicative competence.

2. The Lost Generation

At the beginning of the 20th century, the world was transforming at an unprecedented pace. Advances
in medicine, technology and transport gave some sense of idealism and security; recreation was an
element which was increasingly being enjoyed and there appeared to be hope in the future. The brutality
of war, however, was to violently dash this optimism and, for those who were born around the turn of
the century and who went on to survive the Great War, the reality experienced during their youthful
years was to provide them with a view of life that was deeply marked.
In order to understand some of the major features of the writings of the authors of the Lost
Generation, it is important to take into account the major historical events that were to have a profound

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influence on them. As Wilson (2006) mentions, World War I was to have extremely serious
consequences not only in terms of historical developments, but also in relation to its effects on the
literary world. Because of the brutality of the war, literary contents began to examine the potential
cruelty of individuals and groups.
This was a period of major change in America; the war led to an increase in mechanisation
processes, including that which took place in agriculture. Additionally, World War I was the first war to
unite northerners and southerners since the Civil War, and the labour-saving technology which was
present in the north began to be introduced more readily in the south. There were also significant
movements of population across the country, while at the same time there was movement between
America and Europe. This was particularly true for several members of the Lost Generation, for whom
England, France and even Spain were to become second homes. This interstate and intercontinental
movement had a high level of influence on the lives of individuals and common issues began to form
part of the literary panorama. Indeed, themes such as modernity, alienation and as well as population
movement and rootlessness, are reflected in much of the literature produced by American writers at
the time, including Fitzgerald, Steinbeck and Faulkner. The writings of these individuals was considered
to form part of American modernism (Monk, 2008).
The literature from the Lost Generation, then, took on a number of features which were salient in
the lives of individuals from the time. As mentioned by Demetriou et al. (2013), a series of common
characteristics from this generation included the fact that:
• Their inherited values were no longer valid in postwar America
• They felt unattached to any region or tradition
• They left America in exile, for they believed their country to be too provincial, materialistic and
devoid of cultural or literary tradition.

This distancing from inherited values and fortunes, lack of attachment from tradition and the gaining of
new perspectives from experiences in other regions are recurring themes to be found in the writings of
the Lost Generation. A number of these characteristics are discussed below, particularly in relation to
the authors Fitzgerald, Steinbeck, Hemmingway and Faulkner.

2.1 Francis Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940)

F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in Minnesota. He was considered to be an intelligent child, although he was
not a particularly successful student and failed to graduate. He enlisted in the army in 1917 as World
War I came to a close and became a second lieutenant. While in the army he fell in love with Zelda Sayre,

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who was a famous southern belle. Zelda initially refused to become involved with Fitzgerald and dated
other men. Fitzgerald, however made great efforts to publish and eventually won her over and, in 1920,
when publishers agreed to print This Side of Paradise, she decided to marry him.
Fitzgerald and Zelda’s marriage and lifestyle served as inspiration for several events and characters
that were present in his work, from lavish parties and a desire for riches to jealous entanglements and
escapism. However, as the great Depression took hold of America, the author’s own life fell into a state
of disarray as Fitzgerald, himself, fell into alcoholism and his wife was diagnosed with schizophrenia. In
order to support his lifestyle, Fitzgerald continued to write short stories and screenplays, until his death
at the age of 44.
As previously indicated, many of the elements of Fitzgerald’s life are present in his work. Works just
after his marriage included Tales of the Jazz Age and The Beautiful and the Damned (1922). These earlier
stories, which have been described as rather immature in comparison to later writings, contained
characters who were essentially projections of himself.
Fitzgerald’s most celebrated work, The Great Gatsby, was written in 1925. During this time,
Prohibition was in force and several bootleggers managed to make a substantial amount of money
dealing in illegal alcohol sales. After World War I, there was a major turn away from the conservatism of
the past and a move towards consumerism, a desire for wealth and enjoyment. This was the time of
what Fitzgerald called ‘The Jazz Age’, which was characterised for being a period of spontaneity,
glamour, freedom, celebration and the pursuit of the American dream. Much of this new-found luxury
and liberty is reflected in the novel as Nick Caraway describes Gatsby’s opulent parties.
In the story, Gatsby epitomises the American dream as he amasses his fortune in order to be with
the married Daisy Fay. The events here parallel Fitzgerald’s own life in terms of trying to have a
relationship with Zelda, in his efforts to make money and, eventually, in his disillusionment at the
emptiness of what had been attained.
Essentially, the novel tells the story of a frustrated love affair between Gatsby and Daisy, who is
married to Tom Buchannan. The critical part of the novel occurs when Gatsby confronts Buchannan and
tries to make Daisy leave her husband. Daisy, refusing Gatsby’s request, takes his car and accidentally
runs over Tom’s mistress Myrtle. Myrtle’s husband traces the car back to Gatsby and shoots him.
Many of the events that take place are symbolic or representative of the times. The empty pleasure,
greed and pursuit of ephemeral experiences act as corrosive elements on what is an attempt at obtaining
the American dream. At the same time, the characters in the novel epitomise different aspects of
American society. There is a clash, for example between old money, in the form of the Buchannans, and

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the nouveau riche, represented by Gatsby. The emptiness of the upper classes, however, is portrayed
throughout the story.
Fitzgerald did not publish another novel until Tender is the Night in 1934. The novel was not well
received by critics at the time, who claimed that his natural talent had been lost and replaced by
professional writing; literary critics of more recent times have been less harsh. Between the writing of
The Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night, Fitzgerald and Zelda had spent some time on the French
Riviera hosted by Gerald and Sara Murphy. The couple were also American expatriates who were famed
for their generous hospitality and who threw a large number of parties which were attended by artists
and writers of the Lost Generation. The couple served Fitzgerald as inspiration for the two main
characters of Tender is the Night.
In the novel set in the French Riviera, an American psychiatrist, Dick Diver marries his patient, Nicole,
who is schizophrenic and, after their divorce, Diver falls into alcoholism and returns to his home town.
Like Diver, Fitzgerald’s alcoholism became increasingly acute. After Tender is the Night he began to write
scripts for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, but was dismissed because of his addiction. In the end, Fitzgerald
died at the age of 44; at the time he was working on his unfinished novel, The Love of the Last Tycoon.

2.2 John Steinbeck (1902-1968)

California-born John Steinbeck was a student at Stanford University, although he did not manage to
graduate. Before becoming famous as a writer, he worked as a fruit-picker, a caretaker and a surveyor.
During that time, he experienced first-hand the effects of the severe drought in 1930 which led to a
large-scale failure of crops in many parts of the Southern Plains.
Steinbeck wrote about these events, but it was not until 1935 that he began to have some
commercial success with his writing, which arrived with Tortilla Flat. The novel is set in Monterey,
California and portrays a group of men called paisanos, who were a mixture of thieves and vagabonds,
but who were good-hearted. The success of the book, which was later made into a film in 1942, allowed
Steinbeck to dedicate himself fulltime to writing.
Three novels that dealt with the lives of migrant workers in California were to follow Tortilla Flat.
The first of these was In Dubious Battle (1936) and is considered by many to be his first major work. The
story is loosely based on a series of events that took place in California and deals with a group of activists
for ‘The Party’ (often associated with the American Communist Party) who organise a major strike
among fruit-pickers. Steinbeck’s portrayal of the migrant workers leads readers to be sympathetic with
their plight, there is a cynical portrayal of capitalism and the novel ultimately questions traditional
American values and the status quo and calls for some form of social justice. The answer to the social

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problems, however, is not to be seen in the ‘Party’, and readers are left to wonder if any real solution
exists.
Like In Dubious Battle, Steinbeck’s next work, Of Men and Mice (1937), also deals with the strengths
and weaknesses of humankind, as he juxtaposes characters who act with justice and moral strength with
those who are full of selfishness and violence. The story takes place during the Great Depression and
follows the lives of Lennie, a mentally disabled individual, and George, his guardian and best friend. Both
men were seeking employment dreamt of having their own farm, however, their dream does not come
true. The story, which forms part of reading lists in many schools, is based on Steinbeck’s own experience
as a vagabond in the 1920s.
Steinbeck’s most acclaimed masterpiece, The Grapes of Wrath (1939), takes on many elements from
the previous works. This novel deals with the Joad family who were ’oakies’ (derogatory term for people
from Oklahoma) and who travelled to California in search of a better life. A series of unfortunate events
ruin their plans: the grandparents die during the trip, they have to suffer the hardships of being fruit-
pickers when they actually manage to get work, Tom Joad kills a man who was responsible for a friend’s
death during a strike and is forced to flee. At the end of the novel, Rose of Sharon, who is pregnant, gives
birth to a stillborn child and in the closing lines breastfeeds a starving stranger. The major themes of the
novel include the potential for a lack of humanity among people; indeed, the suffering in the novel is
not caused by nature, but by individuals and society.

2.3 Ernest Hemmingway (1899-1961)

Ernest Hemmingway graduated from high school in 1917 and started to work as a reporter for the Kansas
City Star. In 1918 he went to Europe, where he served as an ambulance driver for the Italian Red Cross.
There he was injured and, while recovering in hospital, he fell in love with an American nurse called Anes
von Kurowsky. This experience was to provide the inspiration for his novel A Farewell to Arms.
Hemmingway returned to America but later became a European correspondent for the Toronto
Daily Star. In Toronto, he read Joyce’s Dubliners, which was to have a major impact on his writing career.
As a European correspondent, he moved to Paris, there he met Gertrude Stein and joined the group of
expatriate authors – the Lost Generation. In addition to his own experiences of war and death,
Hemmingway travelled extensively. Among other ventures, he worked as a war correspondent in Spain
in 1937; he later toured China before settling in Cuba and also lived for a time in Venice.
Hemmingway’s first major work was The Sun also Rises (1926). The novel is narrated by Jake Barnes,
a WWI veteran and deals with his friendship with a timid Jew, Robert Cohn. After a fight with Cohn, Jake
goes to the Basque country in Spain and then on to Madrid. The story is largely based on real people in

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Hemmingway’s life and explores the themes of nature, love and death. The first part of the book is set
in Paris and provides a portrayal of a group of people who were affected by WWI. The story questions
traditional views on morality, masculinity, love and faith and ultimately reflects the lives of the wider
Lost Generation of people, whose life lost some sort of meaning after the experiences of the war.
A Farewell to Arms (1929) was another successful collection of stories within a novel. The stories,
divided into five books and written in first person, deal with the disillusionment of an American
ambulance driver, Frederic Henry, during World War I. The first book depicts life immediately after the
war while the second deals with Frederics’s relationship with Catherine, a nurse who was introduced to
him by a friend and who he met again in hospital when he was wounded by a mortar shell. The remaining
books, Frederic and Catherine escape to Switzerland, where Catherine gives birth to a stillborn son and
dies. The novel has received critical acclaim, among other things, for its powerful descriptions of events
and life and the insight into the psychological complexities of the characters.
Hemmingway’s experience during the Spanish Civil War was to serve as inspiration for his novel For
whom the Bell Tolls (1940). During the war, Hemmingway helped with the production of propaganda
documentaries for the Republicans. The novel is set in 1937 after the bombing of Guernica and, in
addition to dealing with events at the time, it explores how war affects the soldiers and questions if
idealism can justify the violence that it creates.
The novel also brings to bear Hemmingway’s journalistic prose style, which has influenced many
successive authors. This style is most visible, perhaps in his novella and last major work, The Old Man
and the Sea (1952). The story deals with Santiago, an old Cuban fisherman who after trying
unsuccessfully to catch fish for 84 days goes to sea, where he hooks a large marlin. Santiago struggles
with the fish for three days and the old man eventually comes to respect the fish, which he ultimately
kills. This work won Hemmingway the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954.

2.4 William Faulkner (1897-1962)

William Faulkner, originally spelt Falkner, was born in Mississippi and was the great grandson of William
C. Falkner, a novelist and colonel in the Confederate Army. Faulkner did not complete his high school
studies but he managed to secure a job as a bank clerk. At that time he became interested in the work
of authors such as Charles Dickens, James Joyce ,T.S, Elliot, Charles Baudelaire and Paul Verlaine. In 1918
he joined the Canadian Royal Air Force and later enrolled at the University of Mississippi; it would
appear, however, that rather than wishing to study a degree, he went there to have a wider literary
circle which could help him with the publication of his poems.

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 Faulkner’s first novel, Soldier’s Pay (1926) is a modernist work heavily influenced by Elliot’s The
Waste Land. This brings the Lost Generation to Faulkner’s homeland as he portrays the slow death of an
aviator who was wounded during World War I. Like other Lost Generation writers, Faulkner draws a
picture of post-war disillusionment and despair; this is countered, however, by his portrayal of human
strength and basic decency, which is shown by his depiction of the faith and integrity of the blacks, who
are relatively untouched by the alienation and decadence of the whites.
Faulkner’s second novel Mosquitoes (1927) is a satirical work based on the New Orleans literary
circle. The novel provides long conversations between passengers on a yacht in Lake Ponchatrain and
deals with the themes of sexuality and the role of the writer in society.
Two of Faulkner’s most famous works include A Fable (1954) and The Reivers (1962), both of which
won the Pulitzer Prize. In addition, The Sound of Fury has been considered to be one of the best novels
written in the English language. The first of these novels, A Fable, is set in France during World War I and
tells the story of Corporal Stephen, who sends the command for troops to disobey orders to attack
German trenches. As a consequence, the Germans also decide not to attack and the war is stopped. In
the end, Stephen is executed under orders of the Generalissimo. The novel ultimately calls into question
people’s beliefs and shows very different sides of human nature. The Sound of Fury is a four-part story
told by four different voices in different chronological order set in Missisipi. It essentially deals with three
Compson brothers and their obsessions with their sister. The family were originally southern aristocrats
and during the course of the novel, the readers witness their economic decline and loss of faith. This
very complex piece of work has inspired many subsequent authors, including Gabriel Garcia Marquez,
José Luis Borges and Albert Camus.

3. Pedagogical and curricular considerations

Both the historical events that took place around World War I and the emergence of the particular group
of authors known as the Lost Generation are areas which are potentially relevant to English language
teaching and learning today. The historical and cultural components provide a rich area of information
for intercultural awareness which may be easily employed in fulfilment of the objectives established in
legislation for language education. Within the current and future Andalusian curricular guidelines for
compulsory and non-compulsory Secondary Education (Consejería, 2016; 2020; 2021a; 2021b),
sociocultural concerns are integrated in every skill and at every stage. At the same time, particularly for
higher academic years, the understanding and provision of opinions about important events also form
part of the curricular demands.

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 As indicated in both in the Common European Framework Companion Volume (CoE, 2020) and
Order ECD/65/2015 (MEC, 2015) the sociocultural component has a fundamental role to play in the
development of linguistic and communicative competence. This component essentially covers two
areas: cultural knowledge and intercultural awareness. Students must be able to understand and
critically appreciate different cultural manifestations and at the same time be able to express themselves
creatively using different 'artistic and cultural codes'. These skills may be obtained through the use of
projects and task-based learning, which have the potential to develop not only linguistic and cultural
competence, but, indeed, all of the remaining key competences as well.
The use of literature in the English class, for example through graded readers, is an important way
to introduce meaningful cultural and linguistic input to learners and is potentially an important source
of learner motivation. In addition, appropriate literary texts can provide very diverse classroom
experiences that can appeal to a variety of learning styles, they can be supplemented with audio and
video clips and can be used to practice the four skills as well as contextualised use of language work.
In terms of generally related thematic topics which could combine aspects of life and literature in
tasks or projects, some of the following could prove useful:
• an investigation into life and music in the 1920s in American society
• women in the 20s and the nationwide application of women's suffrage in 1920 in the USA
• the use of propaganda during the war and how people are manipulated to join conflicts
today
• the American dream then and now
• writing a diary extract or a letter from a conflict zone
• describing early 20th century art and photographs
• the history of Hollywood

4. Conclusion
As mentioned at the beginning of this topic, the current generation of young people have often been
referred to as 'The Lost Generation'. The reasons for the adoption of this label are quite different from
those which were applied to those who suffered during World War I; however, there are several areas
in which common concerns coincide. The struggle with the meaning of life, the rejection of authority
and the desire to escape are just some of the themes which can be shared between generations and
which may be particularly relevant to adolescent students.
As a topic which incorporates history, literature and other cultural aspects, there are several
potential sources of thematic teaching and learning areas which can lend themselves to the English class
and to non-linguistic areas in interdepartmental or integrated tasks, projects or, indeed, units of work.
In dealing with any of these areas, the key concerns would most likely be maintaining student interest,
particularly in drawing relationships between their own lives and elements, works or people under

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study. Similarly, other important questions include those of comprehensible input, opportunities to
negotiate the language in context and the development of purposeful output. With these aspects in
place, it is possible that the treatment of the Lost Generation could provide a useful stimulus for
meaningful communication and the development of several key competences.

Legislation
Consejería (2016). Orden de 14 de julio de 2016, por la que se desarrolla el currículo correspondiente al
Bachillerato en la Comunidad Autónoma de Andalucía.
Consejería (2020). INSTRUCCIÓN 9/2020, de 15 de junio, de la Dirección General de Ordenación y Evaluación
Educativa, por la que se establecen aspectos de organización y funcionamiento para los centros que
imparten Educación Secundaria Obligatoria.
Consejería (2021a). ORDEN de 15 de enero de 2021, por la que se desarrolla el currículo correspondiente a
la etapa de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria en la Comunidad Autónoma de Andalucía.
Consejería (2021b). ORDEN de 15 de enero de 2021, por la que se desarrolla el currículo correspondiente a
la etapa de Bachillerato en la Comunidad Autónoma de Andalucía.
MECD (2015). Orden ECD/65/2015, de 21 de enero, por la que se describen las relaciones entre las
competencias, los contenidos y los criterios de evaluación de la educación primaria, la educación
secundaria obligatoria y el bachillerato.

References
CoE (2020). Common European Framework of reference for languages: learning, teaching, assessment.
Companion volume with new descriptors. Strasbourg: Council of Europe.
Demetriou, E. Ruiz, R. , Sánchez , P. (2013). A handful of literary resources and activities for
university students of American and Commonwealth literatures. Jaen: Universidad de Jaen.
Harmer, J. (2012). Essential teacher knowledge: Core concepts in English language teaching. Harlow:
Pearson.
Monk, C. (2008). Writing the Lost Generation: Expatriate Autobiography and American Modernism.
Iowa: Iowa University Press
Newby, D., et al. (2007). European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages. Graz: European Centre
for Modern Languages.
Wilson, C. (2006). Writing the War: The Literary Effects of World War One. Thesis. Ohio: Ohio State
University.