Hector Irizarry

Date: 11-18-16

Literary Analysis Essay

Mrs.Carroll

In American history there have been multiple time periods where generations have lost their will
to live or enjoy life. One of these generations that are known for losing the will to live is called The Lost
Generation. The Lost Generation is most greatly known as a group of writers during World War One
who mostly were apart of the war and reflected on their life during the harsh times of depression and life
during the war. These writers were mostly men who reflected on their during the period of World War
One. But during this period of writers and when they would reminisce their memories they have from war
they all simply share the trait of having a change of mood over time.

One story during The Lost Generation was by Ernest Hemingway called A Very Short Story.
This story Hemingway wrote was about an injured soldier in Padua, Italy who hurt his leg during war and
went to hospital for treatment and he ended up falling in love with his nurse and so did the nurse so they
would always think of each other when they would not be with each other in person. But as the story goes
on the soldier eventually gets better and he goes back to war him. He and the nurse exchange love letters
to each other on their future plans to get married and have a family. Then suddenly the soldier and nurse
argued and then said goodbye but something did not seem right to the soldier and then a few months later
the nurse writes to him that their love was nothing but a boy and girl love and that shes more of a mother
figure to him. After that the two went their separate ways as the nurse kept on with her little affair with
the battalion that she cheated on from the soldier in Padua and she ended never marrying the battalion or
hearing from the soldier again. Some evidence from this story that shows a change of mood is Before he
went back to the front they went into the Duomo and prayed. It was dim and quiet, and there were other
people praying. They wanted to get married, but there was not enough time for the banns,3 and neither of
them had birth certificates. They felt as though they were married, but they wanted everyone to know
about it, and to make it so they could not lose it ( Hemingway paragraph 3). Also Living in the muddy,
rainy town in the winter, the major of the battalion made love to Luz, and she had never known Italians
before, and finally wrote to the States that theirs had only been a boy and girl affair. She was sorry, and
she knew he would probably not be able to understand, but might some day forgive her, and be grateful to
her, and she expected, absolutely unexpectedly, to be married in the spring. She loved him as always, but
she realized now it was only a boy and girl love. She hoped he would have a great career, and believed in
him absolutely. She knew it was for the best. The major did not marry her in the spring, or any other time.
Luz never got an answer to the letter to Chicago about it ( Hemingway paragraphs 6-7). The reasoning
this story shows a change in mood over time because as you see the nurse and soldier in paragraph three
were very in love with each other and wanted to get married in a country they both are not from and while
the story progresses you see in paragraphs six and seven how the nurse lost love for the soldier because
she cheated on him with a major and ended up sending the soldier a letter saying she has no love for him
as in marrying and then the soldier never replied back assuming he was ready to lose his feelings for her
too.

Another story that shared the trait of mood change was a story called the The Killers written by
Ernest Hemingway. The story of The Killers is mostly about how two men walked into a diner at six
oclock where they asked the employees to get the cook and other employees and move toward the sides
of the kitchen. After they argued about what food is available and after seeing the cook and other
employees the cook ended up being black and they kept racially harassing them and eventually told the
employees that they are here to kill a man named Ole Anderson and had the diner set up to get ready to
kill Ole Anderson if he were to walk in. As time passed and Ole Anderson did not show the two men left
who were suppose to kill Ole Anderson. Evidence from the text that shows mood change is Nick opened
the door and went into the room. Ole Anderson was lying on the bed with all his clothes on. He had been
a heavyweight prize-fighter and he was too long for the bed. He lay with his head on two pillows. He did
not look at Nick ( Hemingway 37). Also another piece of evidence is Ole Andresen looked at the wall
and did not say anything. George thought Id better come and tell you about it. There isnt anything I
can do about it, Ole Anderson said. Ill tell you what they were like. I dont want to know what they
were like, Ole Anderson said. He looked at the wall. Thanks for coming to tell me about it. Thats all
right. Nick looked at the big man lying on the bed. Dont you want me to go and see the police? No,
Ole Andresen said. That wouldnt do any good. Isnt there something I could do? No. There aint
anything to do. Maybe it was just a bluff. No. It aint just a bluff. Ole Andresen rolled over towards
the wall. The only thing is, he said, talking towards the wall, I just cant make up my mind to go out. I
been in here all day. Couldnt you get out of town? No, Ole Andresen said. Im through with all
that running around. He looked at the wall. There aint anything to do now. Couldnt you fix it up
some way? No. I got in wrong. He talked in the same flat voice. There aint anything to do. After a
while Ill make up my mind to go out ( Hemingway 38). The reason this story shows a mood change
over time is because Ole Anderson is a heavyweight boxer as shown on page 37 and as the story went on
page 38 as Nick told Ole Anderson about how the two men were waiting for him to come to the diner and
Ole Anderson looked at the wall and talked very dull and depressing and so negative on Nicks warning
on the men trying to kill him which showed that he lost desire of being a fighting champion and the mood
of passion for the sport and how he so weak and has a complete different mood and mindset based on the
accolades he has for fighting at this point in the story and looks like he lost his desire to fight.

The final piece of text from Ernest Hemingway is called The End Of Something. What this
story by Ernest Hemingway was about is how a couple went back to where they first met on a mill by a
lake where they were fishing and as they go on this romantic fishing date together the guy says he does
not feel the love for his girlfriend and then they have a big argument where the man goes off on her and
breaks up with her because he did not feel the correct connection between the two like when they first got
together and then the girl ends up leaving her ex-boyfriend on the beach and a guy named Bill comes out
of the woods and asks Nick the guy who just dumped his girlfriend if he is okay. Nick then tells him to
get away from him so Bill go and sits nexts to fishing rods eating a sandwich he grabbed from the lunch
basket. The final piece of evidence is Ten years later there was nothing of the mill left except the broken
white limestone of its foundations showing through the swampy second growth as Nick and Marjorie
rowed along the shore. They were trolling along the edge of the channel-bank where the bottom dropped
off suddenly from sandy shallows to twelve feet of dark water. They were trolling on their way to set
night lines for rainbow trout. "There's our old ruin, Nick," Marjorie said. Nick, rowing, looked at the
white stone in the green trees. "There it is," he said. "Can you remember when it was a mill?" Marjorie
asked. "I can just remember," Nick said. "It seems more like a castle," Marjorie said. Nick said nothing.
They rowed on out of sight of the mill, following the shore line. Then Nick cut across the bay. "They
aren't striking," he said. "No," Marjorie said. She was intent on the rod all the time they trolled, even
when she talked. She loved to fish. She loved to fish with Nick ( Hemingway 1). The other piece of
evidence is Marjorie did not say anything. "I've taught you everything. You know you do. What don't
you know, anyway?" "Oh, shut up," Marjorie said. "There comes the moon." They sat on the blanket
without touching each other and watched the moon rise. "You don't have to talk silly," Marjorie said.
"What's really the matter?" "I don't know." "Of course you know." "No I don't." "Go on and say it." Nick
looked on at the moon, coming up over the hills. "It isn't fun any more." He was afraid to look at
Marjorie. Then he looked at her. She sat there with her back toward him. He looked at her back. "It isn't
fun any more. Not any of it." She didn't say anything. He went on. "I feel as though everything was gone
to hell inside of me. I don't know, Marge. I don't know what to say." He looked on at her back. "Isn't love
any fun?" Marjorie said ( Hemingway 3). The reason this shows a mood change is because after going to
such a romantic fishing date with his girlfriend Nicks mood changes very quick when they get on land
and start to eat their packed food Nick starts acting different and strange after he just seemed so happy
that hes doing his favorite thing with the person he loves.

To conclude The Lost Generation of writers were particularly known for the changing of
moods in their writing because that is how they felt during the time period of World War One they could
not get the feeling of learning how to live and enjoy life again. A text that reminds me of this quick
change of mood is the speech Frederick Douglass made on the Fourth of July to women who believed in
abolition of slavery but did not know the facts of it they just wanted to disagree with people who believe
in slavery and as the speech went on for Frederick Douglass where he had changed his tone of voice to a
real fierce tone disrupting and shocking the women audience of why slavery should be abolished so over
the course of the speech the women started out interested and respected and ended very hurt,shocked, and
in disbelief.