Ernest Hemingway was always able to remain in the realm of mental sophistication. Born in Chicago, Illinois in 1899, Hemingway grew up in an upper-class family. (Dunn) He was a volunteer ambulance driver during World War I,

The Great Gatsby satirizes the Jazz Age as a time where people would party recklessly, have overemotional relationships, and the only profitable jobs were the illegal ones. The parties were reckless because nobody truly cared what would happen the next day. People left Gatsby's house too drunk to pull out of the driveway, but they still came back the next night. The key to Gatsby's wild parties was alcohol. During the time of prohibition, when the government made a simple action like drinking alcohol illegal, breaking the law became all the more fun. (Bruccoli) Gatsby himself made his fortune through illegal gambling and bootlegging. Some of the instances of the parties were likely based on Fitzgerald's own. It is rumored that he and Zelda would spend their weekends riding around 5th Avenue on the hood of a taxi, diving into the Plaza Hotel's fountain, dancing on tables in restaurants, and then returning home to throw a private party of their own until they pass out in the corner. (Abbott) To emphasize relationships during the Jazz Age, Fitzgerald used his own relationship with Zelda to base Gatsby's infatuation with Daisy. (Abbott) Gatsby and Fitzgerald both met their loves while stationed in the army and both of the women had commonly been known to "entertain" soldiers before. (Bruccoli) Finally, Gatsby refused to see Daisy until he built up a small fortune. To compare, Fitzgerald was unable to marry Zelda until he had made himself financially secure with his first book. Both relationships, in real life and fiction, became examples of the Jazz Age because they showed that nobody was very secure in the new world yet, and that even with money still acted immaturely. (Bruccoli) The generation that Nick, Gatsby, and Fitzgerald came from knew nothing about the rules of the modern world, so they simply made them up as they went along.

The lost generation can be summed up into a simple cause and effect: World War I was bad, so let's go drinking. "After all, the older generation had led thousands of young men into the most brutal and senseless war in human history... when they came back, they were determined to have a good time." (Abbott) In America and Europe, the returning soldiers were at a loss as to what to do with life. The result in Europe was many writers, painters, or musicians who would simply drink at cafes all day long and live off of loaned money. The soldiers felt more at home there, with it's liberal laws and customs, than in America, where the business class was taking over. (Dunn) Many of these artisans took to drinking. Fitzgerald himself has been stated as saying that "the hangover became a part of the day as well allowed-for as the Spanish siesta." (Coppersmith) Likewise, Hemingway is known to say "Modern life is often a mechanical oppression and liquor is the only mechanical relief." (Coppersmith) To the lost generation, alcohol was the only escape from dismal reality into a world where problems didn't exist.

Sadly, life didn't end happily for most members of the lost generation. Look at F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway for example. Ernest Hemingway committed suicide on July 2, 1961. Due to his alcoholism, he had been having fits of paranoia as he feared his friends and the FBI were our to kill him. Highly delusional, he shot himself in the head with his shotgun at his family's cabin. ("True Grit, pa

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Approximate Word count = 2287
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)