What foundation did the 'lost generation' despise?

Study for the Modern American Literature and Poetry Test. Explore diverse themes and answer multiple-choice questions with detailed explanations. Enhance your comprehension and prepare for your exam!

The core issue is the moral and religious framework that guided earlier American life. Puritanism embodies a stern ethic of restraint, self-denial, and formal moral order that shaped social norms and personal conduct. After World War I, the Lost Generation felt that strict Protestant ethic had become hypocritical and stifling, contributing to a sense of disillusionment and a boredom with conventional society. Their writing and lived choices push against that rigid foundation, seeking authenticity, experience, and a more skeptical view of traditional values. That urgent rejection of the old moral framework is what makes Puritanism the best answer. While material concerns and a sense of despair appear in their work, and bohemian lifestyles are part of their circles, those reflect responses within a broader rebellion rather than the foundational order they rejected.