Final answer:
Fitzgerald reflects on the 1920s as a period where personal dreams served as solace against life's problems, embodying a general disillusionment of the era. His works, alongside those of Hemingway, show a quest for meaning in a time marked by both splendor and existential confusion.
Step-by-step explanation:
In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Crack-Up, he describes his life in the 1920s as a time when his youthful regrets transformed into fantastical dreams of heroism that comforted him during restless nights. These dreams and the ensuing weariness of resolving life's larger problems reflect a wider sense of disillusionment that prevailed during the 1920s. Unlike his character Gatsby, whose sentimentality is described as appalling, Fitzgerald's portrayal of his own life during the decade suggests a personal escape into imagination and a resignation to the exhausting nature of reality.
Similarly, contemporary literature of the era, such as works by Ernest Hemingway, often depicted a search for meaning amid chaos, reflecting the disillusionment and complexities of the post-World War I era. While Gatsby's dreams are deemed appalling for their intensity and ultimate demise, the era itself was characterized by a mix of opulence and a sense of lost purpose, capturing the conflict between grand ambitions and harsh realities.