In the novels The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, the protagonists are both unsatisfied with their lives. They either have everything that the average person would be envious about or they fill their days with partying and alcohol. Both are trying to fill an empty void that the whole generation is suffering from. The time periods of both novels take place after World War I so everyone is stuck in a never-ending longing of passion and pleasure, but they can’t get past the trauma that the war left. The main protagonists aren’t the only characters that struggle with dissatisfaction. Supporting characters also express how their lives are not what they want them to be; even though they come across as nothing is bothering them. The “lost generation” is stuck and they don’t know how to get out of their constant daily cycle that they are clearly sick of.
The dissatisfaction that the characters in The Great Gatsby have towards their lives represents the generation. The affects that the war left caused younger people to become distraught and have no drive to accomplish anything. Jay Gatsby left for the war and was in a different mental state of mind when he came back. Prior to leaving, Gatsby met Daisy Buchanan and instantly fell in love with her and her lifestyle which included luxury and sophistication; something that Gatsby longed for growing up poor. When trying to win Daisy over, Gatsby embellished his status in society claiming that he was a, “person from much the same strata as herself--that he was fully able to take care of her” (Fitzgerald 149). Daisy made a promise to Gatsby that she would wait for him to return home but being surrounded by an, “artificial world [that] was redolent of orchids and pleasant, cheerful snobbery…she suddenly was again keeping half a dozen dates a day with half a dozen men…” (Fitzgerald 150). She ultimately marries Tom Buchanan—a wealthy man from a powerful family—only two years after Gatsby left for the war. When Gatsby heard that the woman he loved married another man, he never stopped trying to compete with Tom by always trying to one up him. Gatsby’s main goal was to impress Daisy Buchanan with riches and wealth. He would throw extravagant parties every week in hopes that she would come one night. He had everything that people were envious about, but he flaunted it to avoid his feelings of loneliness and love. Gatsby confided in Nick Carraway, Daisy’s cousin and Gatsby’s new neighbor, confessing his love for Daisy after all these years and how everything he’s accomplished, was for her. Since Daisy was the last thing that Gatsby was looking forward to coming home after a harsh war, he lost all hope of happiness and love so he’s holding onto the past in hopes he’ll feel that excitement again. He is “lost” and keeps on trying to find his way back to where he felt most comfortable; with Daisy.
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Daisy, on the other hand, is very materialistic. She left Gatsby because another man was willing to provide her with endless jewels, clothes, and luxury items while Gatsby was absent. When Gatsby and Daisy reunite once again, one of the first things Daisy does is, “[bend] her head into the shirts and [begin] to cry stormily” (Fitzgerald 92). She sobs because it makes her, “sad that [she’s] never seen such—such beautiful shirts before’’ (Fitzgerald 92). This is an example at how Daisy is regretting leaving Gatsby because she’s intrigued with how he can take care of her and she wishes she can have everything that he has too. Daisy cares about materialistic items because it distracts her from the pain she’s feeling from not being with Gatsby and for being with Tom. Daisy is not amused by Tom and his constant negative attitude. She is fully aware about his infidelities and still doesn’t do anything about it because she is worried about losing the wealth that Tom has. Nick describes, “the fact that he had [a mistress] was insisted upon wherever he was known. His acquaintances resented the fact that he turned up in popular restaurants with her and, leaving her at a table, sauntered about, chatting with whomever he knew” (Fitzgerald 24). Daisy, and most of the upper class, knew about Tom’s scandalous ways but no one said anything because of the high position he holds in society. Daisy ignores these behaviors because she’s afraid of being left without money; she would rather suffer in a toxic relationship than be anything but the upper class. These actions from Daisy show that she is just trying to make herself happy with materialistic things than building close and personal relationships. Much like the rest of the generation, Daisy is hiding behind money, jewels, and extravagant parties to fill the void of loneliness that the affects of the war created.
Tom Buchanan might seem like a social highlight who has everything in the world, but he also is dissatisfied with his life. The money that he has, is not enough to make him happy. He has a beautiful house, a wonderful career, and a highly sophisticated wife but that isn’t enough. Tom cheating on Daisy lets the audience know that Daisy’s beauty is not enough to keep Tom satisfied but he wants to keep Daisy around for the popularity and fame. For example, Tom thinks it is perfectly acceptable for him to go out and be unfaithful to Daisy as long as he comes back to her in the end. He says that, “once in a while I go off on a spree and make a fool of myself, but I always come back, and in my heart I love her all the time” (Fitzgerald 131). Tom wants to keep his social status by staying with Daisy but also wants to fill the void of love—that he clearly doesn’t have with her—with sex and entertaining other women. In some way, Tom does feel some remorse for his infidelity but because the war left him, and many others, feeling empty, they’re always searching for something more.
Along with characters in The Great Gatsby, characters in Ernest Hemingway’s novel The Sun Also Rises experience the same negative affects that the war left on the generation. The protagonist Jake Barnes expresses how the war has left him physically and psychologically different. Since he got hurt in the war, it affects his sex life which during this time, takes a toll on his masculinity. However, the audience does not exactly know what happened and why he cannot perform sexual intercourse. Jake and his friends all ignore the obvious state that they’re all suffering from. Instead of confronting the issues at hand, they all decide to run from the conflict and bury themselves with partying, alcohol, and meaningless relationships. When Jake and Georgette are talking, Jake mentions how he got hurt in the war. Georgette doesn’t ask any questions but simply says, “oh, that dirty war,” and Jake continues his narration by saying, “We would probably have gone on and discussed the war and agreed that it was in reality a calamity for civilization, and perhaps would have been better avoided” (Hemingway 24). Avoiding seems to be the key when discussing and thinking about the war. The characters in the novel cannot move on and find peace because they can not come to terms with how horrible the war actually was.
Another example of how the characters are dissatisfied with their lives in The Sun Also Rises is how the romantic partners change frequently and suddenly. They cannot commit to one person because nothing is enough to satisfy them when they are in the state of mind that they are all dealing with. Relationships are formed—sexual and platonic—but they never get anywhere besides sex and partying. Marriage is talked about but it is never attempted besides Cohn’s awful first marriage. The “lost generation” is incapable of love and affection but they still crave the attention by trying to satisfy it with meaningless relationships. In the end of the novel, Jake and Brett finally receive closure from their relationship but it is unfortunate that they couldn’t be together because they couldn’t get over their own personal hardships. Brett says, “oh Jake…we could have had such a damned good time together,” and Jake replies with, “yes…isn’t it pretty to think so?” (Hemingway 250). They both know that they have some sort of connection with each other, but they also know it could never work. They both know that they are dealing with issues that the war left, and they know they are never going to be satisfied enough to commit to each other.
The lost generation lived an aimless and impersonal life by avoiding true emotion and not coping with the issues that they dealt with from the war. The characters in both novels mentioned struggled internally trying to fill a constant void that they knew was there but wouldn’t directly attack the issue head on. Their daily cycle consisted of activities and events that just distracted them from reality; Gatsby with his parties and expensive living, Jake and his friends with constant drinking and dancing. When their desires and wants became prevalent, they denied their true feelings and still resorted to hiding and avoiding just to not deal with the mental impact that it has. The characters all have some hidden motive and all of their actions and behaviors all relate back to it; when will I finally be satisfied with my life?
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