Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises - Book Report/Review Example

After World War I, there was a general sense of feeling lost and much apathy among the youth of this time. This generation of youth has in many forms of media been called "The Lost Generation". Within the novel, The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway utilizes his characters as examples of this post war attitude and set of ideals that came to pass in the 1920's. Hemingway's "expatriots" journey as 30 something's in France and Spain, fulfilling their every wish and whim with no true direction in life. Some of the characters have jobs as writers, but they for most part spend little time doing anything other than engaging in recreational activities: drinking, dancing, and sexual pleasures. From various locations set about in Spain and France, Hemingway chronicles his characters through various stages of development - acceptance within a group, isolation, inebriation, and at social functions such as the bull fights in San Fermin. Hemingway uses a variety of setting to demonstrate various characters attitudes about life. From the very beginning of the book, the narrator Jake Barnes starts off discussing his friend Robert Cohn. The reader can sense a note of his general distaste for Cohn radiating from the description at the very start, although it isn't until much later into the book that the reader gains understanding as to why. As the novel progresses, you meet more characters who are in likeness to Cohn, with various personalities. Hemingway's own mother was not pleased with his portrayal of the characters throughout the book, finding his use of language rather course. Meyers' book Hemingway: A Biography chronicles that in a letter he wrote to his mother: "The people I wrote about were certainly burned out, hollow, and smashed - and that is the way I attempted to show them" (148). Hemingway takes the reader through the lives of these hollow characters as he goes out of his way to show the reader the lifestyles of the idle rich. His characters maintain a party lifestyle of drinking, dining, and dancing at various locations in Paris. Robert Morss Lovett states of Hemingway that "like Elizabethans, he finds alcohol a potent source of comedy" (613). His use of drinking is rather largely used to highlight the attitudes of youth at this time and how lost they can become to their fancies. Harvey Stone comes into play briefly, on a drinking binge in Left Bank. Jake gives him money for food, as Harvey is in a bad way. Most of the characters are all wealthy or receive money from someone else to fund their continuous recreational activities and help each other out. In essence, the characters feel displaced, and use drinking as a mode of forgetting their sorrows. Even as the characters are given the identities of drunkards, their sexual practices are also just as morally broken. Jake is the one who is left out of these sexual practices, as he was rendered impotent from a war injury. Nevertheless, he does pick up a prostitute named Georgette for a night of dinner and dancing with his friends. The female protagonist Lady Brett Ashley sleeps with any man of her fancy, despite the fact that she is engaged to a gentleman named Mike Campbell. She and Jake have a small past history together as she was his nurse while he was in the hospital after the war. Leo Gurko mentions of Jake in his article "The Achievements of Ernest Hemingway" about his almost unendurable love for Brett: "He watches her throw herself into brief desperate affairs with other men, as she tries to forget their own painful case" (292). Another character to look at is Robert Cohn and his relationships of this nature with others. Although he is the perfect picture of health and virility, physically able to engage in intimate physical contact with others, he cannot maintain normal social relations among this group of friends. Gurko states "Cohn is as much a failure at living despite his physical advantages, as Jake is successful despite his mutilation" (292). Lady Brett's unshakeable need of Jake's stability is not helpful for him as this perpetuates the act of wounding him and reminding him of his mutilation. He follows a series of patterns within the novel which according to William Adair could be interpreted as possible war memories, and Brett helps keep these patterns in motion (72 - 73). Brett will not commit to a relationship with Jake as she is unwilling to give up sex. His war wound becomes all the more unmanning, since he is unable to perform and please Brett. Jake usually ends the pattern by quitting the situations and heading to his bed alone. Since Jake is unable to take pleasure in acts of physical contact with women, Jake takes pleasure in other physical acts such as fishing with Bill Gorton. He and Bill plan a fishing trip to Burguete, but first stop of in Bayonne accompanied by Robert Cohn. Cohn maintains a miserable attitude due to his continued relationship and occupational failure. Bill even confides in Jake later of his own distaste of Cohn. Jake and Bill leave Bayonne and Cohn behind and head to Burguete. During the bus ride, they share wine with the Basques. Upon arrival in Burguete, they settle into their hotel where they eat supper and then head off to bed. In the morning, Jake digs worms to take on their fishing excursion. Bill bears similarities in mannerisms and temperament to Jake, which can be seen as they joke with each other at breakfast. Directly after breakfast, they pack a lunch and walk to a trout stream to do their fishing. During their fishing trips, Bill and Jake's friendship takes on a more solid shape. As Bill and Jake become better friends by spending time fishing and relaxing, an Englishman by the name of Harris joins them, and it becomes a trio. These men enjoy evenings of playing Bridge together in the hotel. The trip to Burguete and the use of Harris is Hemingway's display of the continuation of the celebration of male companionship. Joseph Beaver states in his article Technique in Hemingway that it illustrates Hemingway's use of grouping his characters together into cliques (327). When Jake and Bill leave their haven in Burguete and rejoin their friends in Pamplona, the celebration of male companionship takes a few turns in different directions. Mike Campbell, who is a bankrupt and currently Lady Ashley's fianc, displays deplorable behavior toward Robert Cohn. Lady Ashley confides in Jake and Mike later makes somewhat public of the fact that she and Cohn spent intimate time together in San Sebastian, while Bill and Jake were on their fishing trip. Mike, who is predictably and consistently drunk, verbally accosts Cohn, telling him to leave and that he is unwanted. Bill plays peacemaker and leads Cohn away before a physical fight can ensue. Bill talks with Jake later and says that he feels for Cohn and his situation. Another bump in the road of these friendships comes in the form of a 19 year old bullfighter named Pedro Romero. Lady Ashley becomes infatuated with him after watching him in the ring. In continuance with the wounding of Jake motif, she asks Jake to help her make contact with Romero by confiding that she is in love with Romero. Brett and Romero retire to his hotel room and when Cohn finds out where Brett has gone, a physical fight between Jake and Cohn takes place. When Brett and Romero run away together to Madrid, Cohn leaves the last day of the fiesta for destination unknown, Mike is upset at Brett's behavior, and Jake remains aloof throughout. During the fiesta which takes place for 7 days in San Fermin, Cohn has been testing his relationships with the others of the group. He has not only upset Mike by doggedly pursuing Brett, but he takes his anger out on Romero and Jake by beating them up. It was discussed at the very beginning of the novel that Cohn was a boxer in college. Although Cohn makes his apologies later to all and Jake forgives him, the damage has been done between himself and the rest of the group, which weren't truly his friends as they merely tolerated his presence. As Cohn displays his manhood by taking out his displeasure on his friends physically, another representation of manhood comes in the form of the bullfighting. It is argued by Thomas Strychacz that "Part of the audience's function is to appraise rituals of manhood and bestow praise or condemnation on the protagonist" (246). In the case of Pedro Romero, his performances within the ring and his expertise in handling the bull is a powerful display of manhood. Lady Brett is drawn in by this and jeopardizes all other relationships with the men in her life for a chance with Romero. Jake is drawn in by the bullfighting as it is a physical display of manhood in an asexual manner. Lady Brett was also able to watch while horses were gored by bulls at the beginning of the festival without turning away - Cohn feels ill afterwards and is ridiculed by Mike. The events in San Fermin take up a rather large space within the text as it is where this group of friends and their attitudes, morals, and ethics reach a pinnacle. This is where all characters show their true nature when in full-on recreation and inebriation, finally reaching some of their breaking points. Cohn is driven to physical violence. Mike Campbell continues to drink himself into oblivion. Jake, throughout all events, although inebriated himself is able to maintain composure. It could be argued that after suffering such mutilation in the war, nothing for Jake can compare, no matter what situation arises. After his unmanning war wound, he is able to endure almost any other wounding as he was already dealt a heavy blow by fate and the war itself. There are other events in the story that are addressed by Kermit Vanderbilt as "discrepancies both in calendar time and plot duration. The interested reader is left to speculate in what manner these lapses may in fact have served Hemingway's esthetic design" (153). He later discusses that Hemingway was upset with writing the story in a quick fashion after his own trip to Pamplona in 1925. Neither Hemingway nor his editor Maxwell Perkins "detected the errors of chronology in the novel". The end result is a story that contains flaws, which is the usual fate of any type of human art (154). Flawed or unflawed, it still remains that the group of friends met and spent time together in San Fermin, and events did not fair so well for all. Once the group disperses after the festival and relationships have come to an end, all characters head off in separate directions, alone. Jake heads to San Sebastian for some rest and relaxation. He takes time for dining and swimming alone. A bicycle race, The Tour de Pays Basque, was on and the riders stopped in San Sebastian for the night. Although he eavesdrops and watches the riders during their meal, he maintains his solitude and does not integrate himself with them for camaraderie and conversation. Doris Helbig states in her article that "All of the major characters in Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises move in and out of various stages of isolation, searching for acceptance and a sense of community" (85). Jake tends to maintain his isolation more solidly as his mutilation sets him completely apart from all the other characters. At times, he is the glue that holds this group of friends together, as he knows all of their flaws, but accepts them as they are. Jake is just beginning to get into his relaxation when he receives an urgent telegram from Brett, asking him to come to Madrid. Just when the reader thinks that Jake has washed his hands of the situations within his group of friends and especially his woes with Brett, Hemingway makes it achingly clear that Brett is still and will remain dependent upon Jake. Her telegram message was this: COULD YOU COME HOTEL MONTANA MADRID AM RATHER IN TROUBLE BRETT. Reynolds states that it's: "Not real trouble, like money, for the bullfighter paid her bills. It was emotional trouble and a way to end the novel. Jake said to himself 'Send a girl off with on man. Introduce her to another to go off with him. Now go and bring her back. And sign the wire with love. That was it all right.' But he did it anyway, unable to stop himself" (323). Jake is able to purchase a ticket for a later train to Madrid. Before leaving, he sends her a telegram which is short and to the point, letting her know he is on his way. Jake's life is once again in upheaval due to his love for Brett. When he arrives at Hotel Montana to see Brett, he is greeted by the hotel staff and they appear to have been instructed to allow no one other than Jake in the room. As Jake enters the room, Brett is in bed brushing her hair, her room in disarray. After a small intimate moment, Brett begins to tell Jake of her ending the affair with Romero. Brett apparently has a guilty conscience of her intimacies with Romero and of her treatment of Cohn and Campbell. Brett tries to discontinue the conversation about Romero, but still continues to bring it up, then later says "Don't let's ever talk about it" (Hemingway, 191). Brett shares her regret with Jake of her inability to maintain an intimate relationship with him. As they hail a cab and travel around to see the sights of Madrid, they are pressed close to one another. Brett states: "Oh Jake - we could have had such a damned good time together" and Jake responds "Yes - isn't it pretty to think so" (Hemingway, 194). David Daiches discusses how to use of the word "pretty" by Jake is symbolic. They are riding together in a cab on a seemingly perfect day, which serves as a reminder of what their lives could have been like together in the past. "They can only think pretty thoughts" (180). In conclusion, it can be reiterated that Hemingway uses a variety of settings to demonstrate various characters' attitudes about life. It has been shown how Jake views life, in a distant and aloof manner but will continuously and quite possibly forever hold love for Lady Brett. Lady Brett, although she loves Jake in return, will never give him her full love and attention due to his mutilation in the war. She consistently wounds him throughout the novel, and it can be assumed that it will continue to happen as long as Jake is willing to endure her manipulations. Bill along with Harris provided instrumental in perpetuating the idea of male companionship. Manhood becomes a theme due to the physical fighting among friends and the bullfighting in the ring. Brett laments the distance between Jake and herself with her closing remark of "We could have had such a damned good time together." This leaves the reader with a feeling of nostalgia - it remains a "pretty" thought for both the characters and the reader. Works Cited: Adair, William. "The Sun Also Rises": A Memory of War. Twentieth Century Literature 47.1 (Spring, 2001): 72 - 91. JSTOR. JSTOR. Indian River Community College Lib., Fort Pierce, FL 21 May 2008. http://www.jstor.org/stable/827857. Beaver, Joseph. "Technique" in Hemingway. College English 14.6 (Mar., 1953): 325 - 328. JSTOR. JSTOR. Indian River Community College Lib., Fort Pierce, FL. 21 May 2008. http://www.jstor.org/stable/372008 Daiches, David. "Ernest Hemingway". The English Journal 30.3 (Mar., 1941): 175 - 186. JSTOR. JSTOR. Indian River Community College Lib., Fort Pierce, FL. 19 May 2008. http://www.jstor.org/stable/805752 Gurko, Leo. "The Achievement of Ernest Hemingway". The English Journal 41.6 (June, 1952): 291 - 298. JSTOR. JSTOR. Indian River Community College Lib., Fort Pierce, FL. 19 May 2008. http://www.jstor.org/stable/808665 Helbig, Doris A. Confession, Charity, and Community in "The Sun Also Rises". South Atlantic Review 58.2 (May, 1993): 85 - 110. JSTOR. JSTOR. Indian River Community College Lib., Fort Pierce, FL. 21 May 2008. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3200970 Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises. New York: Scribner, 1926. Lovett, Robert Morss. "Ernest Hemingway". The English Journal 21.8 (Oct., 1932): 609 - 617. JSTOR. JSTOR. Indian River Community College Lib., Fort Pierce, FL. 19 May 2008. http://www.jstor.org/stable/804639 Meyers, Jeffrey. Hemingway: A Biography. New York: Harper & Row, 1985. Reynolds, Michael. Hemingway: The Paris Years. Cambridge: Basil Blackwell, 1989. Strychacz, Thomas. "Dramatizations of Manhood in Hemingway's "In Our Time" and "The Sun Also Rises". American Literature 61.2 (May, 1989): 245 - 260. JSTOR. JSTOR. Indian River Community College Lib., Fort Pierce, FL. 21 May 2008. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2926696 Vanderbilt, Kermit. "The Sun Also Rises: Time Uncertain". Twentieth Century Literature 15.3 (Oct., 1969): 153 - 154. JSTOR. JSTOR. Indian River Community College Lib., For Pierce, FL. 21 May 2008. http://www.jstor.org/stable/440757 Final Research Outline Thesis Statement: Hemingway uses a variety of settings to demonstrate various characters' attitudes about life. I. After the World War there was a general sense of feeling lost and much apathy among the youth of this time. A. The generation of youth was deemed "The Lost Generation" B. Hemingway's characters in The Sun Also Rises are examples of the "lost generation" 1. The characters aimlessly fulfill their every whim and desire. 2. Hemingway chronicles his characters in Spain and France. a. The characters move through various stages of development. b. Restatement of the thesis statement: Hemingway uses a variety of settings to demonstrate various characters' attitudes about life. II. From the very beginning, the narrator Jake Barnes starts off discussing his friend Robert Cohn. A. Jake, during his narration, shares his distaste for Cohn with the reader. B. During the course of the story, the reader meets more of Jake's dysfunctional friends. 1. Hemingway's mother did not like his portrayal of the characters. 2. Quote from Meyer's (148): "The people I wrote about were certainly burned out, hollow and smashed - and that is the way I attempted to portray them". III. Hemingway takes the reader through the lives of these hollow characters as he goes out of his way to show the reader the lifestyles of the idle rich. A. The characters imbibe excessively in alcoholic drinks and go dancing at night clubs. B. Robert Morss Lovett stated: "...like Elizabethans, he finds alchol a potent source of comedy" (613) 1. Hemingway uses alcohol to highlight the attitudes of the youth. 2. Harvey Stone makes a brief appearance, on a drinking binge. a. The characters are wealthy and can maintain their lifestyle. b. The characters feel displaced and drink away their sorrows. IV. Even as the characters are given the identities of drunkards, their sexual practices are also just as morally broken. A. Jake is unable to perform sexually due to his war injury. B. Jake has a date with a prostitute named Georgette for dinner and dancing. 1. Lady Brett Ashley sleeps with numerous men. 2. Jake and Brett share a past together - she was his nurse in the hospital after his injury. a. Leo Gurko states: "He watches her throw herself into brief desperate affairs with other men, as she tried to forget their own painful case" (292). V. Another character to look at is Robert Cohn and his relationships with of this nature with others. A. Despite being able to perform sexually, he is unable to maintain normal social relations with others. B. Gurko states: "Cohn is as much a failure at living despite his physical advantages, as Jake is successful despite his mutilation" (292). VI. Lady Brett's unshakeable need of Jake's stability is not helpful for him as this perpetuates the act of wounding him and reminding him of his mutilation. A. Jake follows a series of patterns that could be interpreted as possible war memories. B. Brett helps to keep these patterns in motion. 1. Brett will not commit to a relationship with Jake as she is unwilling to give up sex. 2. Jake's wound becomes all the more unmanning and Jake goes to bed always alone. VII. Since Jake is unable to take pleasure in acts of physical contact with women, Jake takes pleasure in other physical acts such as fishing with Bill Gorton. A. Jake, Bill, and Cohn first spend time in Bayonne. B. Cohn is miserable and later Bill expresses his dislike of Cohn to Jake. VIII. Jake and Bill leave Bayonne and Cohn behind and head to Burguete. A. They share wine on the bus with the Basques. B. When they arrive in Burguete, they settle into their hotel. 1. Jake digs worms in the morning for fishing. 2. Bill is similar to Jake in mannerisms and temperament. a. After breakfast they head to a trout stream to fish. b. Bill and Jake's friendship solidifies. IX. As Bill and Jake become better friends by spending time fishing and relaxing, an Englishman by the name of Harris joins them, and it becomes a trio. A. Harris joins them for games of Bridge. B. Harris is used to continue the celebration of male companionship. 1. Beaver states that it illustrates Hemingway's use of cliques. X. When Jake and Bill leave their haven in Burguete and rejoin their friends in Pamplona, the celebration of male companionship takes a few turns in different directions. A. Mike Campbell displays horrible behavior toward Robert Cohn. B. It later becomes knowledge that Brett and Cohn spent intimate time together in San Sebastian. 1. Mike while drunk verbally accosts Cohn, telling him to leave. 2. Bill plays peacemaker and says that he feels for Cohn's situation. XI. Another bump in the road of these friendships comes in the form of a 19 year old bullfighter named Pedro Romero. A. Lady Ashley becomes infatuated with Romero. B. In continuing to wound Jake, she enlists his help in meeting Romero and confides that she is in love with Romero. 1. Brett and Romero retire to his hotel room and Cohn becomes angry. 2. Brett and Romero later run away to Madrid - Cohn leave for destination unknown, Mike is upset, and Jake remains aloof. XII. During the fiesta which takes place for 7 days in San Fermin, Cohn has been testing his relationships with the others of the group. A. He has upset Mike by pursuing Brett doggedly. B. He beats up Romero and Jake in his anger about Brett. 1. Cohn was discussed in the beginning of the novel as being a boxer in college. 2. Although he makes apologies, the friendships are damaged. XIII. As Cohn displays his manhood by taking out his displeasure on his friends physically, another representation of manhood comes in the form of bullfighting. A. Thomas Strychacz states: "Part of the audience's function is to appraise rituals of manhood and bestow praise or condemnation on the protagonist" (246). B. Pedro's performance in handling a bull is a powerful display of manhood. 1. Lady Brett is drawn to Romero and jeopardizes all other relationships with the other men in her life. 2. Jake is drawn to bullfighting in an asexual manner. a. Brett watches the horses gored by the bulls without looking away. b. Cohn says he feels ill after watching and Mike makes fun of him. XIV. The events in San Fermin take up a rather large space within the text as it is where this group of friends and their attitudes, morals and ethics reach a pinnacle. A. The characters show their true nature when in full-on recreation and inebriation, finally reaching some of their breaking points. B. Cohn is driven to physical violence. 1. Mike Campbell continues to drink himself into oblivion. 2. Jake is able to maintain composure throughout all events, even though he is inebriated himself. a. After suffering the mutilation from the war, nothing can compare to it for Jake. b. After his unmanning war wound, he is able to endure almost any other wounding. XV. There are events addressed by Kermit Vanderbilt, that question all of the times discrepancies. A. Quote from Vanderbilt: "...discrepancies in both calendar time and plot duration. The interested reader is left to speculate in what manner these lapses may in fact have served Hemingway's esthetic design" (153). B. He discusses how Hemingway was upset with writing the story quickly after his own trip to Pamplona in 1925. 1. Neither Hemingway nor his editor noticed the errors. 2. The book remains flawed and discusses the events of friends who met in San Fermin, where everything did not fair so well. XVI. Once the group disperses after the festival and relationships have come to an end, characters head off in separate directions, alone. A. Jake heads to San Sebastian for some rest and relaxation. B. Jake engages in activities such as swimming and dining alone. 1. There is a bike race, Tour de Pays Basque, and the racers stop in San Sebastian for the night. 2. Although Jake eavesdrops on their conversations, he does not engage anyone in conversation or join the group. a. Doris Helbig states: "All of the major characters in Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises move in and out of various stages of isolation, searching for acceptance and a sense of community" (85). b. Jake maintains his isolation more so due to his mutilation, but is the glue the holds the group of friends together. XVII. Jake is just beginning to get into his relaxation when he receives an urgent telegram from Brett, asking him to come to Madrid. A. Just when the reader thinks he is safe and has washed his hands of the situations with his friends, Hemingway makes it clear that Brett will remain dependant on Jake. B. The telegram message was: COULD YOU COME HOTEL MONTANA MADRID AM RATHER IN TROUBLE BRETT. 1. Reynolds quote: "Not real trouble, like money, for the bullfighter paid her bills. It was emotional trouble and a way to end the novel. Jake said to himself 'Send the girl off with one man. Introduce her to another to go off with him. Now go and bring her back. And sign the wire with love. That was it alright.' But he did it anyway, unable to stop himself" (323). XVIII. Jake is able to purchase a ticket for a later train to Madrid. A. Before leaving he sends her a telegram letting her know he is on his way. B. Jake's life is again in upheaval due to his love for Brett. 1. Upon arrival, he heads to Hotel Montana to meet with Brett. 2. The staff appear to have been instructed to let no one into the room other than Jake. a. When Jake enters, Brett is brushing her hair and her room is in disarray. b. Brett discusses that she has broken off the relationship with Romero, and feels guilty about her intimacies with Romero and of her treatment of Cohn and Campbell. XIX. Brett shares her regret with Jake of her inability to maintain an intimate relationship with him. A. During their cab ride in Madrid while pressed close together, Brett states: "Oh Jake - we could've had a such a damned good time together." B. Jake responds: "Yes - isn't it pretty to think so" (Hemingway, 194). 1. David Daiches talks about how the word "pretty" is used as symbolic. 2.David Daiches states: "They can only think pretty thoughts..." (180) XX. In conclusion, it can be reiterated that Hemingway uses a variety of settings to demonstrate various characters' attitudes about life. A. It is shown how Jake views life in a distant and aloof manner while continuously and quite possibly forever holds love for Brett. B Brett will never give Jake her full love due to his mutilation in the war. 1. She continuously wounds him throughout the novel, and it can be assumed this will happen for as long as Jake allows. 2. Bill and Harris provide instrumental in perpetuating the idea of male companionship. a. Manhood is a theme among the friends and in San Fermin during the bullfights. b. Brett and Jake lament the nature of their relationship with their last comments made in the novel, and leaves the reader with a sense of nostalgia. Read More