The Sun Also Rises

World War I and the Lost Generation

The Sun Also Rises has many characters who fought in World War I, including the narrator, Jake Barnes. 4.7 million men in the United States joined the war effort when the US entered the war in 1917, which is why so many of the war veterans in The Sun Also Rises are American.

Fig. 1 - Many of the characters in The Sun Also Rises served in World War I.

Many soldiers who survived the war came home traumatized by the horror they had witnessed. Ernest Hemingway was an ambulance driver in Italy during the war and the horrors he witnessed led to a feeling of disillusionment.

Disillusionment is the disappointment one feels upon learning that what one once thought was good is not as good as it appeared to be. Hemingway, along with many other war veterans, had a hard time returning to the beliefs and values they once held before the war, which led to a sense of alienation from society.

In the 1920s, Lost Generation writers expressed in words this feeling of disillusionment and alienation, focusing on characters who experienced existential dilemmas and feelings of nihilism. Hemingway is considered one of the most famous writers of this era and focused his novels and short stories, including The Sun Also Rises, on the major themes of the Lost Generation: disillusionment, death, and alienation.

Biographical Context of The Sun Also Rises

Ernest Hemingway was born in 1899 in Cicero, Illinois to a conservative, middle-class household. He spent his childhood in nature, going on many hunting and fishing trips. Before joining WWI, he wrote for the Kansas City Star, where he learned his distinctive, direct writing style. In 1919, Hemingway volunteered with the American Red Cross as an ambulance driver in Italy, where he experienced war firsthand.

When he came home from the war, Hemingway was traumatized and disillusioned. His experience as a war veteran informs many characters in The Sun Also Rises. Hemingway married Hadley Richardson in 1921 and moved to Paris as a correspondent for the Toronto Star.

Fig. 2 - Hemingway frequently wrote about his experiences during World War I.

He joined an influential literary and artistic circle which included Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Pablo Picasso. During his time in Paris, he also took a trip with fellow expatriates to Spain to watch the bullfights during the San Fermin Festival, which inspired his 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises.

Summary of The Sun Also Rises

The Sun Also Rises is narrated by Jake Barnes, a World War I veteran and a journalist based in Paris. It opens with Jake providing a biographical description of his friend Robert Cohn, an American expatriate living in Paris with his girlfriend Frances Clyne, who is very controlling. Cohn wants to travel to South America with Jake because he is feeling restless, but Jake doesn't want to and instead wants to rid himself of Cohn.

Later, Jake finds himself at a nightclub and runs into the love of his life, Lady Brett Ashley, who is a divorced socialite. She met Jake during the war when she treated Jake's wounds. Although Brett loves Jake, we found out in a conversation between the two that Brett cannot commit to Jake, for he is impotent. In the morning while lunching with Cohn, Jake informs Cohn that she is going to marry Mike Campbell, an alcoholic war veteran.

Cohn is interested in Brett, which bothers Jake, as is still in love with her. In the evening Brett runs into Jake once more, after standing him up, at his apartment. She is accompanied by the Greek expatriate, Count Mippipopolous. She informs Jake she is going to San Sebastian as she wants to be apart from him.

Several weeks later, Jake makes plans with Bill, an American war veteran, to go to Spain to fish and attend the festival in Pamplona called the Fiesta de San Fermin. The Fiesta de San Fermin is a weeklong festival in Pamplona full of celebrations. What attracts people most, including the characters in The Sun Also Rises, is the famous bull-fighting and bull runs that occur. Around this time, Jake runs into Brett, who has just returned to Paris with her fiance, Mike. They ask Jake if they can join him in Pamplona which he agrees to. Brett secretly reveals to Jake that while in San Sebastian she was together with Cohn.

Bill, Jake, and Cohn travel together to Pamplona and wait for Brett and Mike. After they fail to show up, Bill and Jake go to Burguete to fish while Cohn stays behind to wait for Brett. Five days later, Brett informs Jake she and Mike will be arriving soon, so Jake and Bill return. Once everyone arrives they all go to watch the unloading of the bulls who will be used in the bullfighting.

The festival begins and the city plunges into drinking, dancing, and debauchery. Notably, the group of friends watches Pedro Romero, a 19-year-old bullfighter as he takes on the first bullfight. It is violent, but Brett is enthralled, and later he is introduced to Romero by Jake. While this is happening Mike fights Cohn. Brett falls in love with Romero and gets Jake's help in finding him for her so she can spend the night with him. Which she does.

Fig. 3 - Bullfighting is a Spanish tradition that captivated Hemingway.

The fighting between Cohn and Mike continues, with Jake caught in the middle. Cohn also reveals that he beat up Romero when he caught him with Brett. Romero refuses Cohn's apology. Cohn leaves before the bullfight. During the bullfight, Romero kills a bull and offers the ear to Brett, before leaving with her for Madrid.

The remaining three stay for the rest of the festival and depart from Spain. They each go their separate ways, and Jake goes to San Sebastian to relax. He receives a telegram from Brett asking to meet her in Madrid. Jake finds her alone in a hotel room. Not wishing to ruin his career, she has broken up with Romero.

Jake and Brett go back to Madrid. The story closes with Brett lamenting that Jake and she could've been wonderful together. Her inability to be with someone who is impotent is the reason they could never be together.

Analysis with Quotes of The Sun Also Rises

Let us take a look at the analysis, characters and quotes.

Key Characters in The Sun Also Rises

Genre and Writing Style

The Sun Also Rises is a modernist novel. The novel breaks from tradition, particularly with Hemingway's writing style. Hemingway preferred to write short sentences with short words and preferred direct, uncomplicated language. He wrote in prose style, which means the writing follows the natural flow and progression of spoken language.

Notice a few key elements of Hemingway's writing style in this excerpt. Notably, the sentences are very short and direct. We are provided a subject, for example, "the peasants", and the action, "were in the outlying wine-shops." There is no fancy description or overuse of adjectives.

Hemingway also focused on quick dialogue that revealed certain characteristics of characters, rather than simply telling the reader about the character.

Here is a conversation between Jake and Cohn. Cohn is interested in Brett and asks Jake about her. Notice the short descriptions and quick back and forth between the characters. In this dialogue alone we learn about Brett, her qualities, and her fiance. We also learn about Cohn's attraction to her and Jake's growing dislike of Cohn, notable by the short, terse answers.

Themes in The Sun Also Rises

A theme is a central topic that occurs throughout a written work. Hemingway focuses on a few key themes in addressing the overall meaning of The Sun Also Rises: because of the war things that should be easy and comfortable are now distant, difficult, and uncomfortable. The resulting confusion causes the characters to question their life's purpose. In the face of such existential questions, we must simply resign ourselves to the coming and goings of life.

Disillusionment and Aimlessness

The majority of the characters in The Sun Also Rises are war veterans who must deal with the psychological and emotional trauma of having lived through so much violence. They have a hard time finding meaning in their lives and reject pre-war ideals and values of deep connections, romance, and commitment.

Cohn, who is not a war veteran, clings to these pre-war values, as seen through his romantic efforts towards Brett. However, the rest of the characters cannot find joy or meaning in their lives, not even with things that were once easy, such as merrymaking and friendships. In order to feel a sense of joy, they drink heavily, but they are never satisfied.

Similarly, Brett cannot commit to a single man and has multiple affairs. The restless sentiment of the characters who never stay in one setting long is representative of the overall atmosphere of the Lost Generation. Therefore, they spend the entire novel flitting from one thing to the next without an end goal.

Characters like Romero represent the opposite of disillusionment. He finds his purpose and passion in bullfighting and is able to ground himself. He is able to hold onto his pride, dignity, and honor, in contrast to the insecurity and anxiety of the other characters.

Masculine insecurity

The male characters, except Romero, all exhibit insecurity related to their masculinity. Pre-war ideals valued men who were stoic. However, the brutality of WWI meant that many of these masculine ideals of stoicism were broken down. The war veterans in the story feel anxiety and insecurity regarding their masculinity due to the psychological trauma they endured in the war.

Jake is impotent due to an injury he sustained during the war. The inability to have sex makes him feel less like a man, especially when it causes Brett to reject him. Mike is another example. Despite presenting as a large, strong man, he feels insecure in his ability to control Brett, who has many affairs. Because he cannot possess her, he feels insecure about his masculinity.

Cohn, who did not have to endure the war, is more secure in his masculinity and is often the target of antagonism for his friends, who pick on him. They project their insecurities on him by making fun of him for doing things, such as following Brett around—an unmasculine act. Brett's rejection of her feminity and somewhat masculine qualities, such as her short hair, masculine name, and fierce independence, also creates an emphasis on the "weakness" of the male characters.

Sex as a Destructive Force

Sex in the novel is a destructive force. Brett's freedom in sexuality causes jealousy, rage, and insecurity among the male characters. Hemingway was known to see an independent, strong woman as a negative force. Brett typifies the strong, independent woman, especially with her sexuality.

There are many instances where we can see that Brett's sexuality is dangerous. When Brett turns her attention towards Romero while in Pamplona, Cohn's jealousy leads him into a violent rage against Mike and Jake. Mike, too, antagonizes Cohn, who spent time with Brett in San Sebastian out of his own insecurity caused by Brett's sexual freedoms.

Brett breaks things off with Romero when she realizes her relationship with him will ruin his career. Jake's inability to have sex is the reason Brett will not commit to him, revealing once again that sex is a weapon. Hemingway wants the reader to see that sex is a powerful, destructive force that leads a majority of the male characters to feel miserable. Brett too is characterized as feeling unsatisfied and restless despite her many love affairs.

Motifs

A motif is a repeating idea, image, or feature in a literary work that helps to further develop the central themes.

Drinking excessively

Drinking to the point of excess is found in nearly every chapter of The Sun Also Rises. A majority of the characters are alcoholics who drink to escape their reality. The war veterans in the novel, namely Jake, Mike, and Bill, have psychological and emotional trauma that is a result of the brutalities they endured in WWI.

To cope with the pain and suffering they feel as well as their inability to find meaning in their lives, the characters drink to excess. However, drinking only creates more conflict, as it usually brings out the worst in the characters. It leads Mike and Cohn to aggression and creates more psychological turmoil for Jake. There are scenes in which drinking a lot allows the characters to form bonds, such as when Jake and Bill go on a fishing trip.

Shallow Friendships

Meeting people after the war became easier, as many people had similar experiences they could bond over. However, these friendships were rather shallow and don't last long. The friendships were not based on affection or a deep emotional bond. This is particularly true in scenes in which Cohn and Jake interact.

It is clear Cohn likes Jake, but Jake makes it clear to the reader how much he dislikes Cohn. He even claims to hate Cohn when he finds out about Cohn's affair with Brett. Shallow friendships are seen throughout the book and further emphasize the aimlessness the characters feel, as a result of their disillusionment.

Just as they jump from bar to bar, city to city, they jump from friendship to friendship without creating a true emotional bond. Even Brett displays forms of shallow friendships through her short-lived affairs with multiple men. The only true emotional friendship that seems to exist in the novel is between Jake and Bill.

Significance

The Sun Also Rises is considered a great work of literature for its significance. The exploration of the sentiments felt by many after WWI reveals the inner psychology of many during this time, which is incredibly important in understanding how violence and brutality can affect a person.

Hemingway's writing style in The Sun Also Rises also had a major impact on literature. It helped introduce a writing style that stripped-down sentences to focus on the most important elements without excessive use of adjectives and adverbs. In this way, Hemingway contributed greatly to Modernist literature.