The Lost Generation is a term used to describe a group of American writers who were rebelling against what America
had become by the 1900’s. At this point in time, America had become a great place to, “go into some area of business”
(Crunden, 185). However, the Lost Generation writers felt that America was not such a success story because the country
was devoid of a cosmopolitan culture. Their solution to this issue was to pack up their bags and travel to Europe’s
cosmopolitan cultures, such as Paris and London. Here they expected to find literary freedom and a cosmopolitan way of life. A cosmopolitan culture is one which includes and values a variety of backgrounds and cultures. In the 1920's the White
Anglo Saxon Protestant work ethic was the only culture that was considered valued by the majority of Americans. It was
because of ethics such as this which made the cosmopolitan culture of Paris so alluring. American Literature went through a profound change in the post WWI era. Up until this point, American writers were
still expected to use the rigid Victorian styles of the 19th Century. The lost generation writers were above, or apart from,
American society, not only in geographic terms, but also in their style of writing and subjects they chose to write about. Although they were unhappy with American culture, the writers were instrumental in changing their country's style of
writing, from Victorian to modern.