Sun Also Rises And Hemingway Hero Essay, Research Paper

Prevalent among many of Ernest Hemingway’s novels is the concept popularly known

as the "Hemingway hero", an ideal character readily accepted by

American readers as a "man’s man". In The Sun Also Rises, four

different men are compared and contrasted as they engage in some form of

relationship with Lady Brett Ashley, a near-nymphomaniac Englishwoman who

indulges in her passion for sex and control. Brett plans to marry her fiancee

for superficial reasons, completely ruins one man emotionally and spiritually,

separates from another to preserve the idea of their short-lived affair and to

avoid self-destruction, and denies and disgraces the only man whom she loves

most dearly. All her relationships occur in a period of months, as Brett either

accepts or rejects certain values or traits of each man. Brett, as a dynamic and

self-controlled woman, and her four love interests help demonstrate Hemingway’s

standard definition of a man and/or masculinity. Each man Brett has a

relationship with in the novel possesses distinct qualities that enable

Hemingway to explore what it is to truly be a man. The Hemingway man thus

presented is a man of action, of self-discipline and self-reliance, and of

strength and courage to confront all weaknesses, fears, failures, and even

death. Jake Barnes, as the narrator and supposed hero of the novel, fell in love

with Brett some years ago and is still powerfully and uncontrollably in love

with her. However, Jake is unfortunately a casualty of the war, having been

emasculated in a freak accident. Still adjusting to his impotence at the

beginning of the novel, Jake has lost all power and desire to have sex. Because

of this, Jake and Brett cannot be lovers and all attempts at a relationship that

is sexually fulfilling are simply futile. Brett is a passionate, lustful woman

who is driven by the most intimate and loving act two may share, something that

Jake just cannot provide her with. Jake’s emasculation only puts the two in a

grandly ironic situation. Brett is an extremely passionate woman but is denied

the first man she feels true love and admiration for. Jake has loved Brett for

years and cannot have her because of his inability to have sex. It is obvious

that their love is mutual when Jake tries to kiss Brett in their cab ride home:

"’You mustn’t. You must know. I can’t stand it, that’s all. Oh darling,

please understand!’, ‘Don’t you love me?’, ‘Love you? I simply turn all to jelly

when you touch me’" (26, Ch. 4). This scene is indicative of their

relationship as Jake and Brett hopelessly desire each other but realize the

futility of further endeavors. Together, they have both tried to defy reality,

but failed. Jake is frustrated by Brett’s reappearance into his life and her

confession that she is miserably unhappy. Jake asks Brett to go off with him to

the country for bit: "’Couldn’t we go off in the country for a while?’, ‘It

wouldn’t be any good. I’ll go if you like. But I couldn’t live quietly in the

country. Not with my own true love’, ‘I know’, ‘Isn’t it rotten? There isn’t any

use my telling you I love you’, ‘You know I love you’, ‘Let’s not talk.

Talking’s all bilge’" (55, Ch. 7). Brett declines Jake’s pointless attempt

at being together. Both Brett and Jake know that any relationship beyond a

friendship cannot be pursued. Jake is still adjusting to his impotence while

Brett will not sacrifice a sexual relationship for the man she loves. Since Jake

can never be Brett’s lover, they are forced to create a new relationship for

themselves, perhaps one far more dangerous than that of mere lovers – they have

become best friends. This presents a great difficulty for Jake, because Brett’s

presence is both pleasurable and agonizing for him. Brett constantly reminds him

of his handicap and thus Jake is challenged as a man in the deepest, most

personal sense possible. After the departure of their first meeting, Jake feels

miserable: "This was Brett, that I had felt like crying about. Then I

thought of her walking up the street and of course in a little while I felt like

hell again" (34, Ch. 4). Lady Brett Ashley serves as a challenge to a

weakness Jake must confront. Since his war experience, Jake has attempted to

reshape the man he is and the first step in doing this is to accept his

impotence. Despite Brett’s undeniable love for Jake, she is engaged to marry

another. Mike Campbell is Brett’s fiancee, her next planned marriage after two

already failed ones. Mike is ridiculously in love with Brett and though she

knows this she still decides to marry him. In fact, Brett is only to marry Mike

because she is tired of drifting and simply needs an anchor. Mike loves Brett

but is not dependent on her affection. Moreover, he knows about and accepts

Brett’s brief affairs with other men: "’Mark you. Brett’s had affairs with

men before. She tells me all about everything’" (143, Ch. 13). Mike

appreciates Brett’s beauty, as do all the other males in the novel, but perhaps

this is as deep as his love for her goes. In his first scene in the novel, Mike

cannot stop commenting and eliciting comments on Brett’s beauty: "’I say

Brett, you are a lovely piece. Don’t you think she’s beautiful?’" (79, Ch.

8). He repeatedly proposes similar questions but does not make any observant or

profound comments on his wife-to-be. In fact, throughout the entirety of the

novel, Mike continues this pattern, once referring to Brett as "just a

lovely, healthy wench" as his most observant remark. Furthermore, Mike

exhibits no self-control when he becomes drunk, making insensitive statements

that show his lack of regard for Brett and others. After Brett shows interest in

Pedro Romero, the bullfighter, Mike rudely yells: "Tell him bulls have no

balls! Tell him Brett wants to see him put on those green pants. Tell him Brett

is dying to know how he can get into those pants!" (176, Ch. 16). In

addition, Mike cannot contemplate the complexities of Brett and her

relationships: "’Brett’s got a bull-fighter. She had a Jew named Cohn, but

he turned out badly. Brett’s got a bull-fighter. A beautiful, bloody

bull-fighter’" (206, Ch. 18). Despite Brett’s brief affair with the

bullfighter, she will eventually return to Mike who will no doubt openly welcome

her again. Brett is a strong woman, who can control most men, and Mike is no

exception. She vaguely simplifies their relationship when she explains to Jake

that she plans to return to him: "’He’s so damned nice and he’s so awful.

He’s my sort of thing’" (243, Ch. 19). Mike is not complex enough to

challenge Brett, but she does go on and decide to accept his simplicity anyways.

Furthermore, despite his engagement with Brett, Mike betrays Hemingway’s ideal

man. Although he is self-reliant, Mike possesses little self-control or dignity.

Engaged to one man and in love with another, Brett demonstrates her disregard

for the 1920’s double standards. Very early in the beginning of the novel, she

reveals to Jake that she had invited Robert Cohn to go with her on a trip to San

Sebastian. Cohn, a Jewish, middle-aged writer disillusioned with his life in

Paris, wants to escape to South America where he envisions meeting the ebony

princesses he romanticized from a book. However, he cannot persuade Jake to

accompany him and then completely forgets about this idea upon meeting Brett.

Cohn is immediately enamored with her beauty and falls in love with her:

"’There’s a certain quality about her, a certain fineness. She seems to be

absolutely fine and straight’" (38, Ch. 5). Cohn is immature in his

idealization of Brett’s beauty, as he falls in "love at first sight".

Furthermore, like an adolescent, he attempts to satisfy his curiosity about

Brett by asking Jake numerous questions about her. After Cohn and Brett’s

short-lived affair in San Sebastian, Cohn is nervous around Jake: "Cohn had

been rather nervous ever since we had met at Bayone. He did not know whether we

knew Brett had been with him at San Sebastian, and it made him rather

awkward" (94, Ch. 10). Moreover, Cohn is scared that when Brett appears she

will embarrass him and so he does not have the maturity to behave appropriately

in front of Jake and his friend, Bill Gorton. Nonetheless, Cohn is proud of his

affair with Brett and believes that this conquest makes him a hero. When Brett

appears with her fiancee Mike, Cohn still believes that they are destined for an

ideal love despite her blatant coldness to him. However, it is apparent that

Brett simply used Cohn to satisfy her sexual cravings: "’He behaved rather

well’" (83, Ch. 9). Cohn does not understand the triviality of their trip

to San Sebastian in Brett’s mind and has become dependent on her attention and

affection. In his rampant drunkenness, Mike blasts Cohn: "’What if Brett

did sleep with you? She’s slept with lots of better people than you. Tell me

Robert,. Why do you follow Brett around like a poor bloody steer? Don’t you know

you’re not wanted?’" (143, Ch. 13). Cohn is like an adolescent, as he

vainly ignores the truth and continues to love Brett: "He could not stop

looking at Brett. It seemed to make him happy. It must have been pleasant for

him to see her looking so lovely, and know he had been away with her and that

every one knew it. They couldn’t take that away from him" (146, Ch. 13).

Cohn over-exaggerates the significance of his affair with Brett. He does not

understand that Brett simply used him and that their brief relationship has no

meaning to her. Moreover, Cohn cannot conduct himself with dignity and he

intrudes upon people and places where he is obviously not wanted. Naively, Cohn

dwells on the fact that he has slept with Brett and obsesses with her. When

Brett begins to show signs of interest in Pedro Romero, Cohn irrationally

approaches Jake demanding to know Brett’s whereabouts, punches him in the jaw,

and then calls him a pimp (190-91, Ch. 17). Later that night he encounters Pedro

and Brett together in their hotel room. His actions of knocking Pedro down

repeatedly until he eventually tires demonstrate a divergence from his

character. Cohn for the first time takes some action in what he feels, rather

than merely thinking about it or complaining about it. However, despite his

persistence, Pedro does not remain down according to Mike: "’The

bull-fighter fellow was rather good. He didn’t say much, but he kept getting up

and getting knocked down again. Cohn couldn’t knock him out’" (202, Ch.

17). Eventually, Cohn gives up on this pursuit, is knocked twice by Pedro, and

loses his battle for Brett. These events show that Cohn’s boxing skills, a

defense mechanism that he once used in college, will no longer pull him out of

rough situations. Cohn fails to show the strength and courage needed to face the

circumstances like a man. Pedro Romero, on the other hand, comes closest to the

embodiment of Hemingway’s hero. Brett is almost immediately enchanted by this

handsome, nineteen-year-old, a promising matador. Pedro, a fearless figure who

frequently confronts death in his occupation, is not afraid in the bullring and

controls the bulls like a master. Pedro is the first man since Jake who causes

Brett to lose her self-control: "’I can’t help it. I’m a goner now, anyway.

Don’t you see the difference? I’ve got to do something. I’ve got to do something

I really want to do. I’ve lost my self-respect" (183, Ch. 16). In contrast,

Pedro maintains his self-control in his first encounter with Brett: "He

felt there was something between them. He must have felt it when Brett gave him

her hand. He was being very careful" (185, Ch. 16). Brett falls in love

with Pedro as a hero who promises new excitement. In the scene between Pedro and

Cohn described previously, Pedro demonstrates his confidence and strong will.

Knocked down time and time again, Pedro rises each time refusing to be beaten.

His controlled and dignified demeanor in an unusual situation contrast sharply

with Cohn’s fear and weakness. Soon Pedro and Brett run off together but when he

demands too much from her, Brett asks him to leave. "’He was ashamed of me

for a while, you know. He wanted me to grow my hair out. He said it would make

me more womanly." In addition, Pedro "really wanted to marry"

Brett because "’he wanted to make it sure [Brett] could never go away from

him’" (242, Ch. 19). Pedro will not compromise his expectations for a woman

and will not accommodate Brett’s character even though he loves her. In his

affair with Brett, he has performed according to his rules and when he discovers

that his ideals are impossible for Brett to accept, he leaves willingly. Pedro

has been left untainted by Brett, sustaining his strong-willed, correct

behavior. Moreover, Pedro leaves without sulking like Cohn or whining like Mike.

Brett’s acceptance or rejection of particular qualities in each of the four men

she becomes involved with help define Hemingway’s male hero. Mike is not

dependent on Brett but does not maintain his dignity and self-discipline in his

drunken sloppiness. Cohn is a complaining, weak, accommodating adolescent who

has little understanding of others or himself. Pedro is the near perfect

embodiment of strength, courage, and confidence. Jake is the lesser version of

this perfection as the hero of the novel. Hence, Hemingway’s ideal hero is

self-controlled, self-reliant, and fearless. He is a man of action and he does

not, under any circumstances, compromise his beliefs or standards. Jake, as the

supposed hero of the novel, is challenged by his emasculation in the deepest

sense possible, because the traditional ways in which masculinity are defined

are insufficient and impossible for him. Jake needs the strength and courage to

confront his impotence because he has not yet adjusted to this weakness. It is

ironic that Cohn, a character least like the Hemingway man, has slept with Brett

while Jake will never be able to accomplish this feat. However, because Cohn so

inadequately fulfills the roles of a true man, Hemingway implies that the sexual

conquest of a woman does not alone satisfy the definition of masculinity.

Nevertheless, Jake fails to fulfill other requisites of the Hemingway man as he

deviates from his own ethical standards. Jake sees that Brett is mesmerized by

Pedro’s skillful control and extraordinary handsomeness and recognizes the

possibility of furnishing her carnal desires with the most perfect specimen of

manhood that he can offer in place of himself. Jake thus betrays the aficionados

of Pamplona and the trust of a long-time friend, Montoya, who fear that this

rising star may be ruined by women. Thus, regardless of his physical impotence,

Jake’s true weakness is the impotence of his will and the supposed hero of the

novel is flawed due to his failure to adhere to what he believes is right and

wrong. Hemingway thus refrains from presenting a true hero in his novel. With

the absence of a leading male ideal, Hemingway betrays the larger socio-cultural

assumptions about men and masculinity and questions the conventional means in

which they are defined in his society.