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  • Essay / In Our Time and the Lost Generation - 1340

    In Our Time and the Lost Generation Ernest Hemingway's In Our Time is a true representation of his "lost generation" for the simple reason that all generations eventually become lost over time. Hemingway focuses on a generation he knows, his own. It becomes evident throughout the novel that Hemingway deconstructs the world without using much description. All the "messages" lead the reader to understand a generation, the "lost generation" which seems to result from Hemingway's novel. Ernest Hemingway uses intense short stories to leave a feeling of awe and wonder in the reader of In Our Time. One begins to become emotionally involved and attached to Hemingway's many stories, just as he himself seems to have a personal attachment and emotion to each story. Our main character, Nick, is actually Hemingway himself, regardless of his age. If we read this novel, we could speak of it as a representation of the “lost generation”. What do we mean by the expression “lost generation”? of a kinder and friendlier time. Perhaps it means a loss of familiarity, closeness and strength of relationships; everyday things like the lost art of conversation. But at the same time, the characters in the stories seem to be part of a whole. “lost generation” themselves. In “The Three-Day Blow,” Nick and Bill spend a quiet afternoon talking about baseball and books while enjoying a good “old” bottle of Irish whiskey. They manage to pass the time talking rather than watching “TV” or going to the “mall,” things that are all too common today. and lives lost. But are the generations really “lost”? When we think about past generations, do we tend to cloud our minds into thinking that the past generation was better (or perhaps worse) than present or future generations? Are we losing sight of things or are we just doing things not necessarily worse, but different and more improved than what we did in the past. Everyone has their time in the sun, their fifteen minutes of fame and their fondest memories. No one can remove, change or make these memories meaningless except the person themselves. Who can say that because things change and are different, we cannot continue to “live”. Enjoy your time in your own generation, but don't be afraid to create or participate in a new generation. Life is short, so why not just enjoy life? Works Cited: Hemingway, Ernest. In Our Time. Scribner,1925.