Lost Generation Alcoholism

Following World War I, there emerged a group of Americans known as the Lost Generation. This group consisted mostly of writers who were living in Paris in the 1920s. The term "Lost Generation" originated from a conversation in which Gertrude Stein told Ernest Hemingway, "you are all a lost generation" (Britannica). Stein was referring to the writers such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, E.E. Cummings , and John Dos Passos, who contributed to making Paris a city known for its literature in the1920s . The Lost Generation can be characterized by their excessive drinking, disbelief in progress, lost values, as well as their pursuit of pleasure and self indulgences. They are directionless in their lives and have lost sight of any goals.

Their alcoholism is representative of another way that the Lost Generation is lost. There is rarely a scene in the novel without someone drinking or already drunk. For example, when Jake and Bill are traveling to Burguete for their fishing trip, an unbelievable amount of alcohol is consumed. Before they board the bus, Jake gets a couple bottles of wine from the hotel. On the bus, they are drinking their wine and drinking from other passengers' leather wine bags. As soon as the bus makes a stop, Jake and Bill go to a bar for a couple drinks. Before they finish, Jake explains, "two of our Basques came in and insisted on buying a drink. So they bought a drink and then we bought a drink, and then they slapped us on the back and bought another drink. Then we bought" (Hemingway 72). They even continue drinking immediately after when they return to the bus. The amount that they are drinking during one trip is as equally comical as it is disheartening. Mike drinks even more than Jake and Bill and seems to be drunk for days in a row. Alcohol is clearly being used as a coping mechanism. By remaining drunk, they hope to escape from the fact that they do not belong anywhere. Alcohol allows them to forget their fears and doubts in their lives. No one is required to face any of their problems if they are never sober. Unfortunately, nothing will ever be accomplished by them

They have continued in their aimlessness and will continue to do so in the future. No one has accomplished anything or improved themselves at all. The ending gives the sense that their loss is permanent. Their loss of beliefs, nationalism, and even their self identity cannot be restored through any amount of drinking or traveling. There is a hopeless fate for these members of the Lost Generation. It is clear that nothing has changed for the characters by the fact that Jake immediately returns to Brett. He receives a telegram from her which reads, "COULD YOU COME HOTEL MONTANA MADRID AM RATHER IN TROUBLE BRETT." (Hemingway 157). When Brett contacts Jake asking for help, he drops everything he is doing to go and help her. He has not moved on from his love of Brett and never will. Jake also will never move on from his current ways of drinking, traveling and being an outcast to society. In the last few lines of the novel, Brett tries convincing Jake, "we could have had such a damned good time together, but Jake replies, "Isn't it pretty to think so?" (Hemingway 163). Brett wants to believe that everything could have worked out between the two of them, but Jake knows that they were doomed from the start. On a larger scale, this line is meant to say that the Lost Generation has a permanent loss that could not have been avoided. There is no alternative for them, regardless of