Sun Also Rises Essay, Research Paper

If fine literature functions primarily to provoke thought then Ernest Hemingway s The

Sun Also Rises summarizes a literary master piece. Presented in an honest and

straightforward writing style, Hemingway reflects aspects of his own life and of the

twentieth century. He also succeeds in executing a sort of social commentary in, The Sun

Also Rises. He speaks for a generation disillusioned with life, but ultimately speaks to all

humans concerning life s meaning and purpose.

In comparison to other authors, few write about their own personal experiences.

Hemingway portrays his own life experiences through the characters in his novels. The

Sun Also Rises reflects Hemingway s experiences and beliefs. Hemingway used a

conscientious formula in the art of his novel. He honestly worked within his own

experiences and developed its possibilities. His material was created from his

experiences, and many of his experiences reflected back on the various settings or times.

Hemingway patterns many of his characters after himself, and he expresses himself

through Jake Barnes. He was a schooled expert in the arenas of war, bullfighting,

Deep-sea fishing, boxing, big-game hunting, and reckless, extravagant

living-experiences ( World, Pg. 1646). He reveals these arenas in the novel through the

eyes of the narrator, Jake Barnes. Jake shares Hemingway s characteristics and interests.

Jake, a war veteran and a news writer, like Hemingway, enjoys fishing, in Spain before

the bullfights. Once in Pamplona, we see another similar interest of Hemingway s.

Your friend, is he aficionado, too? Montoya smiled at Bill. Yes. He came all the way

from New York to see the San Fermines. Yes? Montoya politely disbelieved. But he s not

aficionado like you? (Ernest, Pg. 131). Here Montoya describes Jake as an aficionado,

possessing some great admiration and passion for the lost art of bullfighting, the same

passion for bullfights as Hemingway.

As well as writing about his own experiences, Hemingway wrote about the issues

that concerned his generation. The early twenties, right after the first World War,

characterizes the time period in which Hemingway wrote. The war devastated

the French as well as the entire world. Many people lived disillusioned lives wandering,

not sure for what they searched. Many of the people lived for today and didn t care about

tomorrow. Jake, similar to many people of his time, lived for today. He stayed out until

late hours partying and drinking. Drinking was an everyday routine for Jake. Bill

ridicules Jake s way of life in their dialogue on pity and irony. You drink yourself to

death. You become obsessed with sex. You spend all your time talking, not working. You

are an expatriate, see? (Ernest, Pg. 115). Jake was not alone. Society reacted to the

tragedies of the war. They acted as if the sun went down on their lives.

Similar to Hemingway s experiences, the time and place of the novel remains

closely linked to the theme of The Sun Also Rises, the early roaring twenties, also known

as the jazz age. This was the time in which jazz music and the Charleston dance were

popular. Many of the people rebelled against their morals, society s morals, and God s

morals. They observed few morals and did what pleased only them. They would drink,

dance, arrange abortive liaisons, backbite, and generally fritter away their time in an

empty irresponsible pursuit of joyless pleasure. (World, Pg. 1654) . This is portrayed in

the novel through Jake and his friends. They continually went to night clubs and cafes

and drank. Brett, Jake s close friend, was a wild woman who jumped from man to man to

fulfill her empty heart. She earned the nick-name as Lady Ashley, but she was no lady.

Through all her men, Jake was the only one who stood by her side. He was madly in love

with her, but she resisted him because he was impotent, and sex was what Brett needed to

fill her empty heart.

In comparison to time, place also plays a big part. Hemingway uses place

location to link important events. He presents Paris as temporary artistic and superficial,

and Spain as passionate and deeply tragic. (American, Pg.1973) In Paris, Hemingway

introduces Jake, who seems the only steady fixture in the turbulent life of Paris. In

comparison to the first character introduced, Robert Cohn, Jake seems incredibly genuine.

Cohn lives daily in a stifling relationship writing pulpy books and seeking meaning

through adventures to South America and other exotic locations. Jake seems to be the

only standard in a din of flaky expatriates. Once Jake and Bill escape from Paris into the

hills of Spain, all that they left behind seemed superficial and trivial. Hemingway

conveys this by substituting genuine Absinthe as the drink of choice in Spain, as opposed

to the imitation Pernod, which is served in the cafes of Paris. Once again Paris receives

further criticism, You re an expatriate. You ve lost touch with the soil. You get

precious. Fake European standards have ruined you (Ernest, Pg.115). Yet in Spain,

Jake s spirit seems to rise, in the glorified green mountains. He arises early with

excitement to dig up worms for fishing, and it seems as though he awakes to a new light.

Then once he reaches Pamplona he is described as an aficionado by Montoya, and only

aficionados stay at Montoya s hotel. This reputation proves hard to uphold as Jake

obviously betrays Montoya by allowing Pedro Romero, one of the last great bullfighters,

to be seduced and corrupted by Brett. Even the perception of the bull fight itself loses

some of it s mystical and traditional adoration, when Jake informs his friends that there

is no translation for the word bull fight . Again Hemingway achieves a similar

uncertainty through his description of the bull ring beyond the red fence, the sand of the

ring was smooth-rolled and yellow (Ernest, Pg.167). He associates cowardice with the

violent occurrences and tragic loss of life in the ring, leaving Spain as a passionate and

deeply tragic place.

On the contrary, Hemingway reveals his character s personalities through the

character s actions, words, thoughts and feelings. Inherent in many of Hemingway s

novels is the concept of the code hero. The code hero represents a type of fictional

character whose basic response to life appealed to the people of the twenties. The code

hero is one who persists like the bullfighter, even though life seems meaningless and

worth nothing, he must fight. The code hero was a man s man, a man with a weakness

for hard alcohol, a man who moved to one love affair after another, and enjoyed

bullfights, hunting, boxing and fishing. All activities the typical American man didn t

participate in. The formulation of this hero evolved due to the disillusionment of the

people, brought on by the World War. The sensitive man in America came to realize that

his old values and concepts proved to be unsuccessful in saving mankind from the

calamities brought about by World War I. Consequently, he searched for new values and

concepts that would replace the old useless ones. This is exactly what Jake did. He is

Disillusioned and emasculated as a result of the war, and he establishes his own code of

behavior because he no longer believes in the dictates of society (World, Pg. 1648).

Jake seeks comfort from drinking and by going to cafes and parties. He also nurtures his

sensual satisfactions in the pleasures of trout fishing, and in watching the bullfights. Jake

is never completely happy though because his postwar syndrome prevents him from being

happy with the woman he loves, Brett. She is too much of a wild woman to settle down

with Jake, and so they become unusually close friends. This is traumatizing for Jake, thus

he develops this disillusionment that he is not a man , and so involves himself in

activities that are incredibly manly. He involves himself in most of the manly activities

except for one. He does not pursue women in fear of rejection, so he acts as a spectator

and sits back and watches, aching inside, as Brett and his friends move from fling to fling.

Jake finds purpose and encouragement throughout the bullfights. He rejuvenates and

becomes alive, and has strength to live in a lifeless world.

Hemingway uses his theme to say something about a time and place in history.

Theme places a large role in this book. This is a novel that spoke for what Gertrude

Stein once called a lost generation (American, Pg. 251). Hemingway s main theme of

his book. counted on the people of the twenties, considered the lost generation, because

they were like lost sheep wandering around looking for purpose in their lives, living

loosely. Many of Hemingway s characters were lost. Robert Cohn was one character

who stood out the most. He never really fit in with the crowd. He didn t join in on their

everyday drink, and he didn t have loose morals. He had a different outlook on life and

different perceptions. This irritated everyone to the point that they resented him and he

became an outcast from his once called friends. Another character lost was Brett, unable

to stay with one man for very long, and this resulted in her being with many of men.

Brett was also a woman of loose morals and values. She lived a self-centered life, not

caring about those she hurt. Nothing really leads anywhere in this book, and that is

perhaps the real meaning of it. Hemingway simply wrote a commentary on society itself.

This is where the title of the book comes into play. The title arrived from an epilogue out

of a verse in Ecclesiastes. One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh;

but the earth abideth forever… The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth

to the place where he arose… The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the

north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his

circuits… All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence

the rivers come, thither they return again. (Ernest. Pg.1) The sun may have gone down

when the war ended, and the rest of the world slept soundly, in the dark, with their eyes

closed tight but Hemingway made them open their eyes, because the sun also rises.

Perhaps Hemingway s ultimate commentary on Jake implies a greater comment on

society. Ultimately all ways of life prove beneficial and detrimental, and most humans in

the end choose that which is easiest. Most feel or seek to find purpose and meaning in

what seems to be a meaningless life.

Several authors are known for their distinct style of writing, not what the writer

says, but how they say it. Hemingway is famous for writing his words with detail and

precision. The action scenes come alive because of his use of verbs. Hemingway

describes more through action, especially at the bullfights. Romero s bull-fighting gave

real emotion, because he kept the absolute purity of line in his movements and always

quietly and calmly let the horns pass him close each time. He did not have to emphasize

their closeness. (Ernest, Pg. 168) Hemingway is very descriptive and accurate with his

words when explaining the bull-fights.

The structure of the novel also helps to display important aspects in the novel. The

novel is structured in three acts, which allows for thought to be provoked. The first act is

in Paris where Jake lives his seemingly fake day to day life, and Paris is portrayed as

trivial and superficial. The second act is in Spain where Jake has a great passion for

bullfighting and yet, even in that he loses passion, leaving Spain as passionate and deeply

tragic. The last act resides in France where Jake is left with no true assurance of the

benefits of on life over the other. With the structure of the novel these important aspects

disclose themselves, and the meaning escapes.

Yet, while Hemingway reflects aspects of his life and of the twentieth century,

he links setting, characterization, theme and style beautifully to the time in which he was

writing about, and therefore creating a masterpiece.