Clearing Up The Cloud Of Lostness

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) was one of the most important novelists of the "Lost Generation" after World War I. His earlier works The Sun Also Rises (1927) and A Farewell to Arms (1929) are considered the masterpieces of the "Lost Generation." The Sun Also Rises describes the state of life of a lost generation; and A Farewell to Arms analyzes the formation of the lost generation during World War I. Because of his earlier two novels. Hemingway has been known as a writer of the "Lost Generation."Since the publishing of the two novels, Hemingway began to live in seclusion, isolated from social life. From 1929 to 1940, Hemingway wrote many short stories and articles for newspapers and magazines, without any novel of importance. During this period, Hemingway struggled to get rid of the earlier lostness. He tried to establish a new value system, a code of behavior based on individual heroism to resist the loss of traditional values. But individual value orientation was centered on individuals, neglecting the relationship between society and individuals. Hemingway gradually felt that a man alone could do nothing. At that time, he heard John Donne's prayer, in which "continent" and "island" represented two kinds of value orientation -social value orientation and individual value orientation. John Donne's prayer stroke a sympathetic chord in Hemingway's heart. He decided to return to society. In 1936 the Spanish Civil War broke out and gave Hemingway a chance. He got involved in the Spanish people's fight against fascist at once. In 1940, Hemingway published the novel For Whom the Bell Tolls to show the truth of the Spanish Civil War to the world. This novel was the result ofIIHemingway's ten years' search and got much attention after its publishing and was considered at once his masterpiece. In the novel, Hemingway emphasized social value orientation. He got out of the lostness of earlier age.This essay analyzes the development of themes from Hemingway's earlier two novels to For Whom the Bell Tolls- war, love and death to show Hemingway's earlier lostness, his struggle, and at last getting out of lostness. It makes it clear that Hemingway was not entrapped in lostness all his life. In the process of his conversion, the transfer of value orientation played an important role.