A World Full of Emptiness

            
             Fulfillmәnt fùl-̀fil vt 1. a: to put into effect b: to bring to an end c: to measure up to : satisfy 2. a: to convert into reality b: to develop the full potentiality of. This is how fulfillment is defined in Webster's Dictionary (Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary). True fulfillment, according to some people, resides in oneself and the ability one has to recognize the need for fulfillment and take action rather than avoid the effort it takes to come up with a plan necessary to lead a meaningful life. Some people, on the other hand, believe they can find true happiness by placing trust in worldly things, such as alcohol. A perfect example is the characters in many of Ernest Hemingway's writings. His characters often focus their lives on running to material things to keep them happy and to avoid the responsibilities of every day life. The Sun Also Rises and The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories, written by Ernest Hemingway, are two excellent examples of the search for fulfillment in material things. In these two novels Hemingway suggests that the human tendency to find this fulfillment in worldly things often results in despair. .
             Although there isn't anything wrong with enjoying the occasional pleasures of life that worldly things can offer, to run to them for satisfaction is when one finds nothing but despair. According the poet Gertrude Stein the Lost Generation is "Full of youthful idealism, these individuals sought the meaning of life, drank excessively, had love affairs and created some of the finest American literature to date."" ("What is the Lost Generation?-). Hemingway was the leader of this Lost Generation; his writings reflect the behaviors and ideas that came out of that generation. The Lost Generation was originally used to define those who had survived World War I and were unable or unwilling to settle back into the routines of peacetime life.