Compare The "lost Generation" And "beat Generation"

The American people have been showing the unyielding spirit and the desire for freedom ever since the United States was established. One distinctive characteristic of American writers is their pursuit of freedom and novelty in writing. The social culture phenomena were determined by the history. Each specific period of history had its own features. Looking back on American history, we can find that each significant historical incident, especially the two World Wars, gave-tne field of literature massive influence. "The World WarI "made the American people disillusioned from the "American Dream" handed down from the ancestors, and caused "the Lost Generation" represented by Hemingway and Fitzgerald to come into being. "The World WarII "brought panic into American society. During the "Cold War" period, the oppression from the American government onto the individuals made a lot of young people dissatisfied. So the young people of "the Beat Generation" represented by Kerouac were immersed in roaming about, sexual love and taking drugs in order to get the spiritual stimulations, to fill the void of their lives, and to challenge the cruel and numb reality of the world passively. In the essay, the author mainly discusses the historic reasons causing the formations of "the Lost Generation" and "the Beat Generation", compares the two generations of writers' experiences and attitudes toward life, the themes of their works and their writing techniques. Through discussion, we can see that the wars made enormous disasters, not only physically but also spiritually. This will be helpful to call upon us to hate war and cherish peace. Through contrastand comparison, we will understand the two generations better, study American literature and know American further.