Analysis of Earnest Hemingways The Sun also Rises - Essay Example

?Research Paper on “The Sun also Rises” Number] Earnest Hemingway’s pioneer and renowned novel “The sun also rises”, narrates the tale of American and British expatriates and their exuberating lives in Paris and festivities at Pamplona. Although, these wealthy and generally successful individuals had evident lavish and tranquil life style, but the characters have been subjugated by inner melancholy and aimlessness throughout the tale. Moreover, they lacked basic sense of gratification and inner tranquility and all the characters tried to attain it through alcohol consumption, indulging in frequent sex with anonymous people, partying and as a result they lacked basic moral standards, loyalty, integrity and honesty. Thus, this disenchanted generation of post World War I war enjoyed violent Festiva of San Fermin in Pamplona (bull running and fighting) as a relaxing vacation event (“The sun also rises”, p.156). Hence, conventional morality notions were discarded after the World War I and the lives of individuals were subjugated by aimlessness. Earnest Hemingway wrote this partially fictional tale to signify the pessimistic psychological and physical impacts of War on the individuals, who witnessed its full vivacity at some point of life. Therefore, his first hand experience in War enabled him to shed light on the psychological yearnings and deficiencies, which emerge as a traumatic aftermath of War. Although, these traumatic changes in the society and the personalities of individuals are not mentioned clearly by the author, but his implications suggest that he intends to direct his readers towards the unseen revulsions and turmoil his characters face and feel due to horrifying affect of War. Therefore, Hemingway’s work has meticulously chosen the age group of his characters, who are not young, but adults; all earning their living through some mean. These characters who are somewhere in their late twenties or early thirties, have spent their adolescent time in speculating the revulsions of War. Thus, after the war these individuals recall their trauma and become miserable even with the extravagance of alcohol, sexual freedom and lack of moral ethics to follow due to liberalism or modernism. The nineteenth century social norms or perspectives were discarded by this disillusioned generations and women became powerful in choosing their sexual partners without impeding their desires or will (Moddelmog, p.92). Hemingway was a true moralist, who speculated all his characters with intellect and emphasized on learning from one’s own mistakes (Bloom, p.334). Therefore, he narrated the tale of people, who were self-indulgent and cried over their personal shortcomings. They have been depicted as single souls without social and family obligations, who are only responsible for their pleasures and heart contentment. However, due to Hemingway’s journalism familiarity, he was able to inscribe this partially fictional yet true replica of elite class and their gauche and unappealing lives. Thus, Jake Barnes, Lady Ashley, Robert Cohen, Mike Campbell Bill Gorton, Montoya and Pedro Romero play along with Hemingway’s mantra of social chauvinism against conventional morals. Although, Earnest Hemingway has represented his characters on prominent positions of social and professional life; closer to be called successful, but they all have been yearning for some unattainable personal desire. Dominance of personal and social ambiguity is evident throughout the play, which has been an aftermath of poignant horrors of war. Psychological disturbance is not directly suggested but it has been an imperceptible phenomenon, which Hemingway specifically wanted to address. Therefore, he crafted twentieth century romance with its true veracity in a post war modern society. Hence, one can observe how easy it is for the characters of the novel to mingle among them self and change sex-partners in accord to their will and preference. Concurrently, Hemingway depicted in his novel the prevalent tangled social ethics, which were under the process of modification due to repercussions of war (Hays, p.10). Ernest Hemingway wrote his first novel “The Sun also Rises” in 1926, seven years after the end of World War I. Therefore, with his war and journalism experience, he aimed to interpret the social ambiguity of the war that engulfed European society. It represents the lives of American and British emigres residing in Paris with their unconventional and false love affairs and their self-indulgent lives. These characters have been wandering aimless and debating on trivial matters, drinking alcohol at any times of the day; just to cope up with the psychological turmoil (Linda, p.4). All the characters have unspeakable individual miseries, which isn’t clearly depicted by the author, but is evident through character’s behavior. For instance, Jake Barnes has been in war and does not declare his war wound as a cause of his impotency, instead covers it up as a causal accident which left him with some incurable injury (“The Sun also Rises”, p.120). Thus, one can observe how the novel portrays the disillusioned lost generation through the riotous, disproportion and aimless lives of Jake Barnes, Robert Cohn, Lady Brett Ashley, Mike Campbell, Bill Gorton, Pedro Romero and Montoya after World War I. Jake Barnes with his impotency hold some morality, but otherwise the characters get along with each other to satisfy their physical urgings (Linda, p.4). Jake and Brett have some level of romance and trust among them otherwise the rest of the characters fool around without getting remorse of guilty about the illicit relationship. Robert Cohen has been represented as a member of society who cannot relinquish their past achievements and try to live on the triumphs of their past. Hence, alcohol is the social drug which is excessively consumed throughout the novel. The author has written the novel in first person style through the protagonist and main character, Jake Barnes (an American Journalist in Paris). Jake Barnes is an inspirational character, who has many similarities with the author and his life. In 1918, at the age of twenty, Earnest Hemingway also participated in war and performed his services as an ambulance driver in the Italian armed forces. There he was also rewarded for his services with Italian medal of bravery, but he ended up in a hospital of Milan due to war wounds. Over there, he met the inspirational and treacherous love of his life, Agnes Von Kurowsky a nurse (Boon, p.15). Thus, the broken and deceitful commitment of marriage inspired Hemingway to write his personal narrative in “A farewell to Arms” in 1929. Thus, one can observe how the author has interweaved his personality traits in his lead character Jake Barnes, who suffers from impotency caused by the war, has a failed love life due to the wound, is a prominent journalist residing in Paris. Since he cannot indulge in any physical relationship, he imagines his friends indulging in sex for his gratification. However, he was not proud of this habit, but it was a part of his active imagination due to his unapproachable desire to be with a women (“The Sun also Rises”,p.21,). Even with Georgette (prostitute), Barnes was never at ease; his impotency and Hemingway’s incapability to attain the first love of his life have been the invisible cause of their internal anxiety. Thus, Kurowsky deceitful commitment to him is portrayed through the Character of Lady Ashley, and Georgette’s character was only presented to depict the unnecessary sex freedom dominated in the twentieth century. Hence, Jake Barnes is neither capable of nor takes any interest in Georgette for sexual gratifying acts (“The Sun also Rises”, p.24). Therefore, ambivalent sentiments towards women are evident in Ernest Hemingway’s writings (Boon, p.17). For instance, he depicted his apprehensions towards women and their questionable loyalty due to his personal shortcoming and unreliable love affair with Kurowsky in a hospital of Milan, which he published in a written form with a title of “A very short story”. Where, Luz an Italian nurse, nurses the narrator (presumably the protagonist of Hemingway’s short stories “Nick”) a wounded soldier in World War I and they share bed for three months. However, when the narrator heals up and leaves for America, Luz deceives him and initiates affair with an Italian Battalion Major. Thus, the author has chosen elliptical form to amalgamate his personal narrative with fiction (“A Very Short Story”). In another short story of Hemingway “The doctor and doctor’s wife”, one can notice how Hemingway has infused his parent’s characteristics in his characters of the aforementioned story. Thus, Nick’s mother is a Christian scientist and his father a short- tempered medical doctor, similarly Ernest Hemingway’s mother Grace Hemingway was a Christian scientist and his father Clarence Edmond Hemingway was a medical doctor (“The complete short stories”, p.71-76). Therefore, demonstration of masculinity and violence through ego-centric gestures of Nick’s father (denial of his wrong act) and Dick Boulton due to stolen log issue; was a peculiar trait of nineteenth century men. Hence, it has been an apparent element in Hemingway’s childhood life, which he wanted to address and emphasize. Consequently, one can observe how Hemingway has used his personal experiences as inspiration for his fictions, which are partially fiction and mainly realistic due to their intrinsic relationship analysis. Therefore, he presents his inspirational tales wrapped in “iceberg theory” and his distinctive characters in their sheer relationships, where romanticism is extinct, and harsh poignant peculiarities of life are perceptible. The conventional morality was a discarded notion after World War I and Hemingway took a stand to present the truth in hard-bitten and agile manner.   Works Cited: Bloom, Harold. Novelists and Novels. Bloom's Twentieth Anniversary Collection. Chelsea House, 2005. Web. 3rd May. 2013. Boon, Kevin A. Ernest Hemingway: The Sun Always Rises and Other Works. Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2007. Web. 4th May,2013 Hays, Peter L. The Critical Reception of Hemingway's the Sun Also Rises. Rochester, N.Y: Camden House, 2011. Web. 3rd May. 2013. Hemingway, Earnest. ""A VERY SHORT STORY" ." . N.p.. Web. 6 May 2013. . Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises. Cambridge: Pro Quest LLC, 2002. Web. 3rd May. 2013. Hemingway, Ernest. The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway: The Finca Vigia Edition. New York: Scribner, 1993. Print. Wagner-Martin, Linda. Ernest Hemingway's the Sun Also Rises: A Casebook. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. Web. 3rd May. 2013. Moddelmog, Debra. Reading Desire: In Pursuit of Ernest Hemingway. Ithaca, N.Y: Cornell University Press, 1999. Internet Resource Web. 3rd May. 2013. Read More