The Lost Generation Analysis

The 1920s was a major turning point in American history. Known as “the roaring twenties”, the citizens of the United States enjoyed the new found wealth from the economic turnaround. The United States’ wealth more than doubled as the nation turned into a consumer society. Not all Americans were fond of the changes in society, and not all of the changes were good.

The 1920’s, also known as the “Jazz Age” or the “Roaring Twenties”, was a time of decadence. The “Roaring Twenties” was common with constant variation in diplomatic, ethnic, and religious standards. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses The Great Gatsby as an account for the unstable time of egotistic pursuits of wealth and satisfaction.

The beginning of this new jazz age sparked a time of immense change, changes that gave this decade a nickname known as “roaring”. Controversy between modernists and traditionalist was the beginning to a social war. The Nineteen Twenties were a turning point in society due to many reasons; those being social and cultural changes, new literature and authors emerging, and the economy on the brink of greatness.

In the 1920’s, America went through a series of political, social, and economic changes. This was the decade known as the Roaring Twenties, where most Americans lived in cities and lived a consumer lifestyle, while the total wealth of the nation doubled. The name “Roaring Twenties” also held several other different meanings, including a reference to jazz and the rebellious nature of the younger generation. The Roaring Twenties not only was a decade of boom and determination for America, but it additionally represented the biggest shift from a traditional culture to a modern one.

After World War I had ended, Americans found themselves living in an exciting time, often called the “Roaring Twenties”. This Features such as the prevalence of Automobiles, women finally receiving suffrage, and the rise in the variety of entertainment, all had a positive impact on America at the time. There were also social problems such as high levels of racism, constant infringement of the eighteenth amendment, and nativism. The “Roaring Twenties” were, in fact, the transitioning years to the twentieth century. The Twenties, as people had said, was a great time to be alive, because of all the positive aspects of it.

The Roaring Twenties were a time of leisure and parties. The media and events surrounding this time period greatly impacted the carefree, extravagant lifestyle. This era was one of the most dramatic and energetic times in American history. To many, the symbols of the roaring Twenties were F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, due to their tales of the young and the wealthy (Hanson 96). The Roaring Twenties influenced many literary works, throughout the 1920s such as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and This Side of Paradise.

The ‘Roaring Twenties’ is an epoch typically correlated with prosperity and modernity. The positive advances of the twenties are concentrated on further than the abundant negative developments. The improvement of the standard of living of Americans allowed for an easier life for many, however there were copious adverse social and economic developments that occurred in the 1920’s, which included the subjugation of African Americans, and the prejudice set against immigrants.

The 1920’s was the era of not only mass consumerism, social changes, and profound cultural conflicts but that of the Lost Generation and the effects of World War I during this time period. World War I had a significant impact on the lives and the writing styles of the Lost Generation, changing their perspectives on both the government and their lives.

The Roaring Twenties era was a time of not only of crime, changing action and roles of women, but also of many other different social and cultural trends. The 1920s was the Progressive era that was a response to the Gilded Age. The Progressive era was filled with many reformers that aimed to reform the social issues like the women’s movement who had started a temperance movement to prohibit people from drinking. The 1920s was also a time of a social gap where the wealthy got more rich and the poor increased and stayed beyond the poverty line. In the Great Gatsby, the Valley of Ashes, automobiles, crime, and homes symbolize the social classes, and other cultural and social trends of the 1920s.

The “roaring twenties” had their bad times towards the end of the decade, but those bad times were completely outweighed by all the advances America made during this time period. America experienced a time of prosperity and economic expansion during the 1920’s. Women were given the right to vote during this decade. American’s began to experience the joys that jazz music could bring into their lives. American became the richest and most powerful country in the world

The Other Side of the Roaring Twenties “A revolution in manners and morals”. Who can think about the 1920s without the terms “flapper”, “automobile”, “Golden Age” or “women’s right to vote”? Possibly no one. Indeed, the 1920s were an era of cultural, social and political change. New inventions, like the radio, made the country more connected than ever before.

In 1920s, America undergoes a period of cultural and social revolution. After the shocks by the chaos and violence of WWI, with a burst of economy which brought unprecedented levels of prosperity to the country, the generation turned into a lifestyle of wild and extravagant. Both published in 1925, the time when the jazz age at it’s peak, “The great Gatsby” by Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald and “Soldier’s Home” by Ernest Hemingway depict the fragmentation of the soared society by narrating the experience of characters.

The 1920s were times of loss for 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 “Lost Generation” were people who saw the horrors of the war throughout their life. Ernest Hemingway shows major themes of the “Lost Generation” through his stories after the war; he shows the pursuit of decadence in “Hills of White Elephants,” impotence through “Soldier’s Home,” and idealism through both stories (O’Connor).

“The Roaring Twenties” was a good era for many people, although it did have it’s rough and difficult times.

“The Roaring Twenties” most accurately depicts the 1920 era for three main reasons, the progression in politics, advancement in technology, and because of how the lifestyle was changing. Starting with the election of William G. Harding, to the invention of movies and the radio and finally with the creation of the flapper. The 1920s sure were roaring!