Show Me a Hero and I Will Write a Tragedy: Essay

American Literature has played a big role in impacting our society today. 1917-1937 was the era of the Harlem Renaissance, the Roaring 20s, The Lost Generation, and the Jazz Age. These Eras are important because of how they affected us and changed us for the better. These moments in history have led to wars, the great depression, and being poor. A quote by Langston Hughes “Negroes - Sweet and docile, Meek, humble, and kind: Beware the day, They change their mind.” History has changed the way we live, the way we talk to one another, and how we treat each other. The Lost Generation was a group of writers that consisted of both women and men.

These men and women started the Lost Generation after the “Great War” which was World War I. A war that led to about a million deaths had an effect on these people so they chose to write about how they felt after the war. Chemical attacks, muddy conditions, firearms heard from all around, fevers, rashes, and diseases led to about another million in deaths. Diseases that consisted of trench foot, trench mouth, and trench fever were all from soldiers due to living in unpleasant conditions. World War I left a huge impact on society at the time, which is how the Lost Generation got its name. Their name was chosen that way because after the war they were all left delusional and lost. The way each person felt about how many deaths occurred made them lose their faith, patriotism, and their courage; they felt like they didn’t have a purpose anymore. The most known people that were a part of the Lost Generation were Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and T. S. Elliot. Although in total the lost generation writers were about 12 people which consisted of 9 men and 3 women. Some of the famous poems and books were mostly written by Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Ernest Hemingway which he wrote about 24 books in total, of his famous works is “The Sun also rises” and “ A Moveable Feast”. As for Fitzgerald one of his most known books is called “Tender in the Night”. Therefore all of these 12 writers were a big part of American literature of the books and poems they wrote.

Although there are 12 people apart of the Lost Generation, Fitzgerald is the main one and the one who made the most impact. F. Scott Fitzgerald who stands for Francis Scott KeyFitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896, and died December 21, 1940, throughout his life he lived a great one. Fitzgerald was an American short story writer and novelist in the 20th century, he has 4 novels and more than one hundred and fifty short stories. He wrote about how he saw America as a disappointment when it failed to deliver what was called “The American Dream”. One of his famous books was called “The Great Gatsby” which was about the Jazz Age and the wealthy. Which this novel represented the lost generation through both characters Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan in how WWI made them lose their innocence and change how they see life. Fitzgerald was a big part of the lost generation as well as most of the other members because they wrote about how everyone felt after the war. Each and every writer spoke the truth about America and how it ruined their perspective on life and everyone agreed because they had felt the same as them. A quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald was “Show me a hero and I’ll write you a tragedy” which he said in 1945 when World War II was ending. Meaning that every “hero” has a tragic story of struggling to get to the top because heroes sacrifice their lives every day just for the rest of us to be safe.

The lost generation impacted society and made everyone feel better because no one was different according to the writers, and everyone felt the same. Each writer and their novels, short stories, quotes, and poems had an impact on every person. They contributed to American Literature with their writings and famous works and now are a significant part of our history.Therefore as to American Literature, another big part of history was the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance started in 1919 and lasted through the mid-1930s and was mainly about the African American culture. The Harlem Renaissance started because of a great migration of African Americans to northern cities. This point in history was an influential turning point for blacks because it embraced American literature. Throughout the Harlem Renaissance, there was a lot of protesting because people were adapting and beginning to try new things from the African American culture. A lot of people contributed to the Harlem Renaissance, but the most significant ones were W.E.B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Cyril Briggs, and Walter Francis White. Each of them was a part of something that impacted society, and in addition, W.E.B Du Bois and Walter Francis White were a part of the (NAACP). Which stands for The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

The Harlem Renaissance embraced poetry, jazz, painting, and sculpting, dance, and opera. All of these different types of forms of art represent how it was to be black in the United States. Therefore the Harlem Renaissance’s impact on America was ineradicable meaning that this era was unforgettable. This movement brought notice to all of the incredible works of African American art. Which inspired the future generations of African Americans. As for African Americans, their way of life changed because all their cultural doings made them more popular and it inspired the rest to not hide anymore. Because of that they are viewed differently in their race, no one is being rude to them or had to be a slave because all of that changed for them during the Harlem Renaissance. There was a Harlem Renaissance and then there were the Jim Crow Southlaws which caused racial segregation between both blacks and whites. The Harlem Renaissance ended during the 1930s because of a riot that had happened in a neighborhood in Manhattan neighborhood on March 19, 1935.This was caused by a boy named Lino Rivera because he got caught stealing a penknife which caused a huge protest of more than 10,000 people. They protested about police brutality and started destroying stuff and this lasted for about2 days the 19th through the 20th. Therefore causing the Harlem Renaissance to come to an end.

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In addition to the Harlem Renaissance, The New Negro Movement was mainly about The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) which has been around since 1909 and is the oldest and hugest civil organization that still stands today. It was started by white and black activists in New York City to respond to the violence that was going on against the blacks. W.E.B Du Bois, one of the members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People contributed a big part to this program. Du Bois was most known for one of his edited works called “The Crisis” which was mainly to talk and show the readers about racial prejudice towards African Americans. “The Crisis” sold about one hundred thousand copies monthly until W.E.B Du Bois stepped down as editor for the NAACP. Another contributor to the Harlem Renaissance was Langston Hughes. Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902, and died on May 22, 1967, and throughout his life, he was an important person during the Harlem Renaissance. One of his most known works is called “The Weary Blues” which is mostly about loneliness and uncertainty about the future. A famous quote by Langston Hughes is “The Jewish people and the Negro people both know the meaning of Nordic supremacy. We have both looked into the eyes of terror.”.

Nordicism is about race that is superior and at risk so when Hughes says that they looked it in the eyes, talking about how the whites were the “eyes of terror”. Therefore the Harlem Renaissance is a big part of American literature because of all the forms of art and how it has impacted our society, and it is history that we will remember for a long time.The Roaring twenties started in the time period of 1920-1929. It was a time of noise and economic prosperity. The First World War had been good for American business because factory production had risen sharply to meet the needs of the war. As for America, it had been able to seize markets that used to buy from Europe. Once the war had been over these countries still continued to buy American goods. The Roaring 20s was a decade full of change. The 18th Amendment had passed and created an era of prohibition and how that same amendment in 1933 was abolished. Also when the American troops came back after World War I and how their perspective changed. How the 19th Amendment was passed giving women the right to vote, which had a huge impact. How the KKK would target blacks, Jews, and Catholics. Also about the Great Depression, the stock market crash. The Stock Market Crash was a bad place for everyone and it took people out. There were all forced to sell their businesses and cash in their life savings. The Brokers called in their loans when the stock market started falling and people tried to scramble for any money they could find to help pay for their margins in which they ended up losing faith in Wall Street. The Great Depression was considered a worldwide economic slump that began in 1929 and lasted until about 1939. It was the longest and most horrible depression ever experienced by the Western part of the world.

The Great Depression caused drastic declines in unemployment, and acute deflation meaning that the prices fell in goods and services in almost every country of the world. Its cultural and social effects were no less than surprising in the United States because the Great Depression had one of the hardest effects faced in American history after the Civil war. In the 19th century Klan also known as the KKK was originally organized as a social club by the Confederate veterans in Pulaski, Tennessee, in 1866. Their name came from a greek word which was “Kyklos” meaning in English which is translated to“circle”.“Klan” was added for the sake of alliteration and Ku Klux Klan emerged. The organization quickly became a ride for all of the Southern white underground resistance to radical secret. Klan members sought the restoration of white supremacy through intimidation and violence aimed at the newly empowered black free men and women. As for American Literature you see in novels, school books, poems, and quotes throughout this period how it changed everyone's perspective and had a huge impact on them.Therefore in the Jazz Age after WWI a large number of jazz musicians migrated from New Orleans to popular northern cities such as Chicago and New York, which led to a wider sparsity of jazz, and all the variety of styles that had developed in those cities. As the the1920s continued, jazz rose in popularity and helped to cause a cultural shift. Its popularity in speakeasies, and illegal nightclubs where alcohol was sold during Prohibition, made jazz famous in such a short time because of all the events that would go on. Some famous entertainment places such as the Apollo Theater and the Cotton Club came to incorporate the Jazz Age. A new style that surfaced was the way women dressed.

Flapper women were known for their styles of dress, their attitudes, and their morals to begin to fascinate society during that time. This time period in American society made many more opportunities available for women, in their social lives and especially in the entertainment industry. Some famous female musicians during the Jazz Age include Bessie Smith, who received attention for two reasons she could sing well and was also a black woman. Until the 1930s and 1940s, that female jazz and blues singers such as Smith, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald were truly respected and recognized as successful artists throughout the music industry. Their determination made the way for many more female artists who came after them. Flappers were young women who were known for their style of short hair, straight waists, and above-the-knee hemlines, as well as for their general contempt for social and sexual normality. The Jazz Ages saw the rise of the flapper, a new breed of young women who bobbed their hair, wore short skirts, and danced. Flappers were known for their style and the popularity they created of new trends that would go with what is going on at the time. They embodied the musical and dance movements which emerged from the dance clubs playing jazz and new versions of old music, which became popular in the 1920s and into the early 1930s. Flappers favored a young and boyish style in women’s fashion, which largely emerged as a result of french fashions. Shorthair, flattened breasts, and straight waists were some common features of this look.Contests and dance clubs had become very popular in the 1920s. Folk music, classical pieces, and operettas were all transformed into popular dance melodies in order to satisfy the public craze for dancing.The most popular dances during this time period were the waltz and the foxtrot, and the American tango. Throughout the early 1920s, a variety of dances were also developed like the Lindy Hop, Charleston, and the Breakaway. The jazz age contributed to American Literature with all its works about the Jazz age like the book by F. Scott Fitzgerald “The Great Gatsby”.

The era 1917-1937 was significant because of the things that happen and how they happened. The lost generation, the Harlem Renaissance, the Roaring 20s, and the Jazz age all had important roles in history. The people who contributed in this era helped make the world what it is today. The era of 1917-1937 was an era that consisted of a lot of American Literature that we will always remember for our whole lives.