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  • Essay / The search for self in the life and work of Hemingway...

    The search for self in the life and work of Hemingway and SteinbeckWorld War I and the Great Depression forever changed the how the world viewed America, but it also changed how America viewed itself. As the upheaval of the traditional way of life led to an upheaval of traditional values, the American consciousness struggled to combat feelings of purposelessness and hopelessness. The journey through this period is best reflected in the works of its writers. Authors Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck grew up in an America that struggled with the effects of World War I; this, coupled with ongoing difficulties in maintaining personal relationships, prompted them to include themes of companionship in literary works centered on middle-aged adults searching for meaning and belonging in a changing world, often using animals as symbols. World War I began following an assassination that brought much of the civilized world into conflict, including America near the end. Although the United States only officially participated in World War I for nineteen months (Bradley). Against the wishes of Americans who had fought against the prospect of war in hopes of peace, most of them found themselves "engulfed in the euphoria of patriotic nationalism (World War I and 'economy) ". The U.S. government has worked hard to get Americans into this mindset. After President Wilson declared that aggressive behavior by other nations required "the organization and mobilization of all the material resources of the country," one of the government's primary goals became winning the hearts of the American public so that he supports the war effort (Bradley). .The cost of war in human lives only at the time of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles transformed...... middle of paper ...... B. Cook Detroit: Gale, 2012. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. . 364. Documentary resources center. Web. April 14, 2014. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1200014298&v=2.1&u=orange_main &it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w&asid=3c31ddd25d192bf266e7791e263fbe39". World War I and the economy. "American decades . Ed. Judith S. Baughman, Et Al. Vol. 2: 1910-1919. Detroit: Gale, 2001. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. April 13, 2014. Wyatt, David M. “Hemingway’s Strange Beginnings.” The Georgia Review Summer 1977: 476-501 in Contemporary Literary Criticism Select Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literary Resource Center. Internet. March 28. 2014. .