摘 要

1. Introduction 1

1.1 About the authors and the two novels 1

1.1.1 Hemingway and The Sun Also Rises 1

1.1.2 Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby 2

1.2 Need for the study 3

2. Literature Review 5

2.1 The background about “The Lost Generation” 5

2.1.1 The economic background 5

2.1.2 The literature background 6

2.2 Previous studies on The Sun Also Rises 8

2.3 Previous studies on The Great Gatsby 10

3. The Comparison 12

3.1 Similarities 12

3.1.1 The historical background of the two novels 12

3.1.2 The highly similar life experiences of the two authors and their protagonists 13

3.2 Differences 15

3.2.1 The attitude towards the Great Boom: scorn vs worship 15

3.2.2 Narrative style: concise vs delicate 16

3.2.3 The way to enlighten people: positive guidance vs negative irony 16

4. Conclusion 18

References 19

Abstract

The 1920s was a short and special period in American history. The history was called the "Noisy Era", referring to the 10 years before 1929, after the end of the First World War, before the collapse of the US economy. The social and cultural transformation brought about by the economic rise of the United States in the early 20th century has created a dilemma in values and produced a "The Lost Generation." During the great boom of economic after World War I, economic prosperity caused consumerism, which make people feel lost. And the authors of this period expressed their "lost" in their unique way by writing. As a result, many marvelous novels appeared.

This paper mainly discusses Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises and Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby to explore the literary connotation of the "The Lost Generation." This article will talk about the background of The Sun Also Rises and The Great Gatsby, "Noisy Era" as well as the content, writing style and expression of the two novels. Of course, comparing the two works is necessary. The two works are in the same "Noisy Era", but they have different ways in expressing. In contrast, The Sun Also Rises reflects "lost" by the fact that the characters in the book are unwilling to face reality and escape from the post-war economic prosperity; and The Great Gatsby satirizes the age by the failure of protagonist chasing the "American Dream." We will recognize the different interpretations of the “The Lost Generation” by different authors from the comparison, so as to have a deeper understanding of the “The Lost Generation.”

Keywords: “The Lost Generation” ; The Sun Also Rises ; The Great Gatsby; “American Dream”; comparison

中文摘要

20世纪20年代是美国历史上一个短暂而特殊的时期，史称“喧嚣年代”，指的是第一次世界大战结束后的1919年到美国经济大溃败之前的1929年这10年。而美国20世纪初的经济崛起带来的社会与文化转型，产生了价值观念上的困境，产生了“迷惘的一代”。美国一战后的经济腾飞时期，经济的繁荣造成了日益增长的消费主义，民众陷入了思想上的“迷惘”，此时期的作者也在以他们独特的方式表达这个时代的“迷惘”。

这篇论文则主要是通过研究海明威的《太阳照常升起》与菲茨格拉德的《了不起的盖茨比》，探讨美国“迷惘的一代”文学内涵。本文将谈及《太阳照常升起》与《了不起的盖茨比》的创作背景，即美国的“喧嚣年代”，两部小说的内容、写作风格、表现方式，并比较这两部作品。这两部作品同处于“喧嚣时代”却有着不同的刻画方式与写作偏重。相较而言，《太阳照常升起》是通过书中人物不愿面对现实而逃离美国战后的经济繁荣来体现“迷惘”；而《了不起的盖茨比》则是通过主人公追逐“美国梦”却不幸破灭，反讽那个时代民众的“迷惘”。我们将从对比中认识到不同作者对“迷惘的一代”的不同诠释，从而更深刻的认识“迷惘的一代”。

关键词：“迷惘的一代” ；《太阳照常升起》 ；《了不起的盖茨比》；“美国梦”；对比

Introduction

1.1 About the authors and the two novels

1.1.1 Hemingway and The Sun Also Rises

Ernest Miller Hemingway, born in Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, USA， is deemed to be one of the most famous writers in the 20th century.

Hemingway has won many awards in his life. He was awarded the Silver Brave Medal during the First World War; The Old Man and The Sea got the Pulitzer Prize; In 1954, The Old Man And The Sea won The Nobel Prize in Literature. In 2001, Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell To Arms were included in the "100 Best English Novels in the 20th Century" by the American Modern Library [1].

The 1920s was an era of comprehensive economic, social and cultural transformation. The World War I made the US the most powerful capitalist. The economic growth of the United States has created abundant commodity supply such as daily consumer goods, urban lifestyles such as entertainment, tourism and leisure, as well as advertisements and media. Consumerism has actually emerged in the US [2].

In this context,The Sun Also Rises was born. In the World War I, American youth Barnes was injured in the spine and lost the capability in sex. When he was a reporter in Paris after the war, he fell in love with the British lady Mrs. Ashley. The lady pursued pleasure, and he could only drown his sorrows in wine. Two men and a group of men and women went to Pamplona, Spain to participate in the Bullfighting Festival, pursuing spiritual stimulation [3]. The lady refused the hard pursuit of the Jewish youth Cohen, but fell in love with the 19-year-old bullfighter Romero. However, after getting along for a while, because of the disparity in the age, and Mrs. Ashley could not bear to destroy the future of the pure youth, this love ended in vain. The lady finally returned to Barnes, although they both knew that each other could never really be combined [3]. The title "The Sun Also Rises" is quoted in the fifth section of the first chapter of the Old Testament Ecclesiastes. Hemingway also quoted a passage as an introduction to the novel: "After the past, the generations come again, but the land will last forever. The sun comes out, the sun falls, and the land is rushed. The wind is blowing south and turning north again. The rotation does not stop, and returns to the original road. The rivers flow into the sea, but the sea is not full. Where does the river flow from, and where it will return" [4]. This paragraph expresses the nihilistic thought that has a deep influence on Hemingway. For Hemingway, the world war has had a very big impact on the traditional beliefs of him and his generation of young people. Everything they experienced in the brutal war was in close contact with death, but after the war they were incompatible with society, and they were disillusioned and confused about reality and life.

Hemingway has become the spokesperson of "The Lost Generation" and has created a unique Hemingway style. In this novel, Hemingway not only focuses on that "The Lost Generation" went on the batter for seeking comfort in the loss and despair, but also expresses that "Wasteland People" who negate everything and cynicism in search of a new way out in the predicament reveal their spirit of perseverance in pursuing freedom, justice, individual liberation and personality independence [5]. The novel condenses and condenses the young Hemingway's own thoughts, emotions, reason, pain and his glimpse of the future. He is a deep extension of Hemingway's own life experience and philosophical thinking.

1.1.2 Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby

Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896 in St. Paul, Minnesota. After completing high school, he was admitted to Princeton University, where he organized a troupe and wrote a manuscript for the literary publications on campus. Because of the poor health, he dropped out of school [6]. He joined the army in 1917 and was busy with military training all the time. He did not go abroad to fight. He kept amateur writing after retiring. And then he published a novel Heaven On Earth in 1920. Because of this, he became famous. After marrying with Zelda, he lived in Paris and met many American writers such as Anderson and Hemingway. The publication of The Great Gatsby in 1925 established his position in the history of modern American literature. He became a spokesperson for the "Jazz Age" in the 1920s and one of the representative writers of the "The Lost Generation" [7]. After Fitzgerald became famous, he continued to work diligently, but his wife paid attention to the stage after marriage. Later, she was insane and profligate, causing great pain to him. He was financially unable to make ends meet and even went to Hollywood to write a script to earn money to make a living. In 1936, he was unfortunately infected with lung disease, which made him almost impossible to create. His spirit collapsed and he was drunk all day long. He had a heart attack on December 21, 1940 and died in Los Angeles, only 44 years old.

The protagonist James Cazben is a poor man living by farming in North Dakota. He dreamed of being a big man. After working hard, he finally changed his name to Jay Gatsby and became richer. When he was in the middle of a military training camp, he fell in love with Daisy, who is from the upper class of the south. But when he returned from overseas with military medal, she married a man named Tom Buchanan from Chicago who was strong, extremely wealthy but rude. Immersed in the dream of love, Gatsby worked hard and became a millionaire. He bought a luxury villa at the western end of Long Island, and the Buchanan couple living in the east end across the bay. His house was lit up every night, and groups of guests drank alcohol [8]. His only wish was to see his lover he had not seen in five years. When they met again, Gatsby thought that time could be reversed and they could get hitched again. But over time, he found that she was not like his dream lover. Not long after he realized the truth, Daisy killed her husband's mistress by car accident, which was attributed to Gatsby by Tom. Gatsby was killed at last, and Daisy didn't come to his funeral [9].

1.2 Need for the study

The 1920s and 1930s was a period of cultural boiling in the United States: the strong conflicts between the unexpected changes in the times and cultural traditions almost reshaped the cultural attitudes and behavior patterns of the young generation. And then produced new literary themes, situations and structures. Seven Nobel Prize winners wrote their most famous works during this period. These two decades have coincided with two world wars, and the economic depression of the last decade has formed a huge gap with the rapid development of the previous decade. Whether it is from political aspect, economic aspect or cultural aspect, this period has special research value.

More specifically, the special culture period marked the American people deeply. “The Lost Generation” culture was less literature period than national characteristics. Analyzing “The Lost Generation” is helpful for us to understand the American literature profoundly.

The Sun Also Rises and The Great Gatsby are two of the most famous novels of “The Lost Generation.” The two novels visualise the change of the emotion of 1920s and 1930s, which makes us easy to explore “The Lost Generation.”