lost.

The young generation that came of age during or shortly after World War I is known as the “lost generation.” This term applies both physically and mentally. Physically, many of the soldiers that fought in the war had lost their lives. The population of the young generation had been almost decimated.

Those who were able to return back alive were never the same. Their mental state had suffered from fighting and seeing all the true horrors of war, and the effects of witnessing these things would live with them for the rest of their lives. We now know that what they were suffering from is called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD, but back then, it was known as shell shock, named for the artillery shells that would rain down daily on No Man’s Land and the trenches.

The lost generation’s outlook and attitude about life also changed drastically as a result of the war. They lost faith in their teachers and the government, who had glorified war and urged them to join the fighting. Existentialism became a central theme of the Roaring Twenties. People set out to make a meaning for their own lives, rather than be told how they should live.

After the war, many were inspired to write. A beloved classic, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, was written during the twenties. It explores motifs such as social change, tragic love, and hypocrisy. This story is hardly a happy one, which is reflective of the lost generation’s perspective of life after the war.

I honestly feel that the lost generation’s response to what they had been through was justified. They were exposed to horrors that they weren’t prepared for and at such a young age, too. Putting myself in their shoes, I would have probably gone the same way. After you’ve looked death in the eye, you learn to live like there’s no tomorrow, which is exactly what many did.