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What is one example of literary critiques of 'Futility (ennui)' in 'Rhapsody on a Windy Night' (1920)?

User Jturnbull
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Final answer:

Fitzgerald describes the 1920s as a period of maturation from unfulfilled youthful desires to confronting life's challenges, mirroring wider social disenchantment and futility felt after WWI. His works and those of his contemporaries like Hemingway provide insight into the disillusionment and superficiality of the Roaring Twenties.

Step-by-step explanation:

F. Scott Fitzgerald describes his life in the 1920s as a period of transition from youthful dreams of heroism and regret over his perceived inadequacies, to a phase where the 'big problems of life seemed to solve themselves,' indicating a move toward personal resolution and acceptance. His interpretation reflects the reality of the decade because it captures a sense of disillusionment and the feeling of futility that many experienced in the post-World War I era. This sense of ennui manifested in the lives of many individuals during the 1920s, as well as in the literature of the time, of which Fitzgerald's works are a prime example. Writers like Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway grappled with their war experiences and conveyed the overarching themes of lost idealism, existential crisis, and the hollowness of the post-war society. The portrayal of a 'fast-lived life' leading to inevitable 'doom' is a common thread in Fitzgerald's work, reflecting the complicated dynamics and critiques of the hedonistic but ultimately unsatisfying lifestyle of that era.

User Nastya Kholodova
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