20. Epigraph

In The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway begins his novel with two epigraphs, one spoken by Gertrude Stein: "You are all a lost generation." When I began reading this novel, I was not exactly sure what this epigraph was supposed to reveal to me about the novel or the theme. But while reflecting on the book as a whole, I cannot think of a more appropriate quotation to describe the theme and the characters in the novel. The values and morals of the characters in The Sun Also Rises completely diminished after the conclusion of World War I. They chose to partake in excessive drinking, partying, and sexual escapades, all to escape the scarring memories of the war. Throughout the book itself, even Hemingway avoids describing any part of the war in depth. The original attitudes, morals, and ways of life of the prewar world were completely "lost," which this book makes very clear. Throughout my reading I always created new ideas of how the book would end. Ideally I believed that Jake and Brett would change their ways and finally be in a relationship together. But I was very mistaken. Nothing really changes much throughout this novel. All the characters remain "lost" and going nowhere in the world. Unfortunately that must have been true of many veterans of that time. I was disappointed in the ending, but Hemingway ended it in probably what was the most realistic way.

19. All Things Must Come to an End

Chapter 19 concludes The Sun Also Rises with a conversation between Jake and Brett. Brett sent a telegram to Jake asking him to come see her. As usual Jake sacrifices his original plans to come help her. Brett has always seemed to rely on Jake to help her through her break-ups, and consistently he seems happy to be there for her. Not much has seemed to change until the very last line of the novel. In the taxi, Brett says to Jake, "Oh Jake we could have has such a damned good time together." In reply, Jake states, "Yes, isn't it pretty to think so?" I do not believe that Jake has stopped loving Brett, and he will most likely continue to do so. However, it seems to me that he has finally become sensible enough to let go of the hope he held of someday being in a relationship with Brett. It seems he is more accepting of that fact in the end of the novel, but he will continue to be there for her when she needs him as a loving friend.

18. Romero's Strength

In chapter 18, the next rounds of bullfighting begin. Romero had spent a few days with Brett at this point, and he found himself in love with her. However, unlike Jake and the other characters that also found themselves in love with her, Romero does not become weak or overpowered because of her affection. During the bullfight she only seemed to aid him, according to Jake "because he did not look up to ask if it pleased, he did it all for himself inside, and it strengthened him... he did not do it for her at any loss to himself. He gained by it all through the afternoon," (220). This greatly sets Romero apart from Jake and Brett's other "loves" because he maintains his original loves and values of bullfighting over Brett. In contrast, the other characters sacrificed their feelings and values just to be near her or in an attempt to regain her affection.

17. Reversals

Throughout the novel, Robert Cohn is frequently given a hard time over Brett, and he never failed to simply sit back and take it. In Chapter 17, however, it all became too much for him when he wanted to know Brett's whereabouts but Jake would not tell him. Menacingly, he stepped forward and threatened, "I'll make you tell me.." (194). He knocked Jake out and injured Mike as well. Cohn has never looked so pathetic. He still believes he has a chance with Brett, even after all that has happened. I cannot get it through my mind as to why anyone would stick around for Brett after witnessing her careless, promiscuous ways. Later in the chapter though, it was revealed an explanation for why Brett may have acted the way she did. Mike tells Bill and Jake that her ex-husband "always made Brett sleep on the floor. Finally when he got really bad, he used to tell her he'd kill her. Always slept with a loaded service revolver," (207). Brett was in a seriously abusive relationship in which he overwhelmingly dominated over her. After leaving her husband, I can now see why she acts the way she does. She goes from man to man because she never wants to be controlled in that way again. She reversed the dominating roles and now she is the one who has the control in her relationships, leaving all her suitors to keep chasing after her. I am not justifying Brett's lifestyle, but I do understand how she became to live that way. Her past relationship with Ashley would have been extremely damaging.

16. Brett's Influence

In Chapter 16 Brett is introduced to Pedro Romero, the young bull-fighter. She immediately feels as if she has fallen in "love" with him. She expresses these feelings to Jake when they take a walk alone in the park. She tells Jake that she wants to be with Romero, and she also says, "I've got to do something I really want to do. I've lost my self-respect," (187). Jake tells her not to do it, but she remains stubborn about what she wants to do, so Jake leads her to the cafe where he knows Romero is at. Earlier in the chapter, Jake admits to Brett that he is still in love with her, so why on earth would he ever help her to be with another man? He was so in love with Brett that he was willing to compromise all of his own feelings just to give her what she wanted, no matter how bad it may hurt him. Brett does not even seem to care that she has hurt all these men. She continues to hurt Jake, she used Cohn, and now she is cheating on Mike with a young boy of only 19. Brett has some serious issues. I do not understand how Jake can continue to love this woman, let alone watch her be with so many other men.

15. Pedro Romero

In Chapter 15, the week-long fiesta begins including the bull-fights. Jake is introduced to Pedro Romero, the young bull-fighter. There is something different about Romero compared to the other bull-fighters because he "never made any contortions, always it was straight and pure and natural in line. The others twisted themselves like corkscrews... to give a faked look of danger... Romero's bull-fighting gave real emotion because he kept the absolute purity of line in his movements..." (171). I believe Pedro's character could possibly be symbolic of the life of Jake before he entered the war, mainly because of how fascinated Jake seemed to be with him. Before joining the army, Jake was "straight and pure," like the young bull-fighter. He was not yet "twisted". The same goes for Brett I believe. Before she lost her true love, she remained "straight and pure" as well. But once the war took place, she was shaken, similar to how the old bull-fighters changed their ways after a fellow fighter was killed. I think this symbolism really showed how and why people changed so much in the 20s. Hemingway really came up with a great symbol to explain the actions of Jake and his friends. I feel that I have a much better understanding of the characters as a result.

14. Negative Nancy

Chapter 14 mainly consisted of Jake's thoughts while trying to go to sleep. His thoughts bounce back and forth making it very difficult for him to rest peacefully. He first thinks of Brett and their friendship with one another, found on page 152: "I had been having Brett for a friend. I had not been thinking about her side of it. I had been getting something for nothing. That only delayed the presentation of the bill. The bill always came. That was one of the swell things you could count on." That sure is quite a negative outlook on life, thinking that there is always a price to pay for everything good, so-to-speak. Jake then switches his thoughts to Mike and Robert, then to Brett, to Harris, and to Brett once more. After all these uneasy thoughts circulated in his mind for some time, Jake "turned off the light again and read," (153). Jake is unable to let himself actually feel something. To stop his thoughts he picks up a book and reads until he can finally sleep. He constantly pushes reality out of his mind because it seems to difficult for him to face.

13. Mike's Anecdote

In Chapter 13, Bill and Jake finally meet up with Brett, Mike, and Robert. They all meet at a cafe and Mike shares an anecdote about the war, found on pages 140-141. It is not a typical war story sharing scenes from a battle, rather it is meant to be a somewhat comical story about a rather insignificant part of Michael's time serving in the war: "Don't you think that was funny? It was. I swear it was." I find it interesting that no one ever mentions anything of substance about the war really. This anecdote from Michael told us nothing of what he actually witnessed in the war. Everyone just seems as if they are trying to forget what happened, usually with the help of alcohol it seems. The characters in this novel continually run from their thoughts and feelings by becoming consumed in other activities like drinking or sexual endeavors.

Something from this chapter confused me as well. When Jake arrived at the hotel, he had a discussion with Montoya about the bull fights. On page 136 it says, "He always smiled as though bull-fighting were a very special secret between the two of us; a rather shocking but really very deep secret that we knew about." I am slightly confused by all this talk of secrets. Is there really a secret or is this just some type of metaphor? If it is a secret, am I supposed to know what it is and kind of pick up on it? If so I most definitely am not.

12. A New Friendship

In chapter 12 Bill and Jake commenced their week of fishing. During this time they really seemed to bond and become great friends. Their new friendship differs greatly than that of Jake's relationship with Robert. They began to have long conversations, not just short, blunt dialogue. They also joked around with each other, like on page 118 when Jake harassed Bill saying, "You lazy bum!" when Bill was not willing to get out of bed. They even discussed some personal situations in a light manner like Jake's war wound, on page 120, comparing it to the story of "Henry's Bicycle". Jake seems thoroughly more comfortable in Bill's presence than he did in Robert's. Perhaps this is because Jake and Bill could relate more with one another, seeing as how they were both veterans while Robert was not.

11. Imagery

Hemingway consistently used imagery throughout this novel, especially in chapter 11. Jake describes his bus trip to Burguete with Bill to go fishing. He first gave the reader a sense of feeling when he stated on page 109 that "it was baking hot in the square..." He also describes the thick crowds while boarding the bus, specifically mentioning a Basque man on page 110: "The Basque lying against my legs was tanned the color of saddle-leather. He wore a black smock like all the rest. There were wrinkles in his tanned neck..." He then describes the road and fields on page 111 as they climb up the mountain: "The grain fields went up on the hillside... as we went higher there was a wind blowing the grain. The road was white and dusty, and the dust rose under the wheels and hung in the air behind us... Up here the country was quite barren and the hills were rocky and hard-baked clay furrowed by the rain." The majority of chapter 11 described the geography of Spain. Through Jake, Hemingway delivered a concrete image of Bill and Jake's bus trip, the people they met, and the places and things they saw. The reader is able to better relate with the story if they can create a substantial image of where the character is and what he is surrounded by. I feel that Hemingway must have been fond of Spain because of the way he described it to the reader. He was overall complimentary of the Spanish/Basque people and of their land.

10. Stereotype

As mentioned in the beginning of the novel, Robert Cohn is of the Jewish faith. In Chapter 10, Bill shows antisemitic attitudes towards Cohn. Bill was angry with him over the unwise bet he made, so when Cohn returned from his haircut on page 102, Bill mentioned to Jake, "Well, let him not get superior and Jewish." He stereotyped all Jews in a negative light because of Robert's actions and statements. These antisemitic feelings were becoming very common in Europe during this time.

Jake also began to let out some negative feelings in Chapter 10. He begins with the revelation of his feelings for Robert Cohn on page 105: "Why I felt the impulse to devil him I do not know. Of course I do know. I was blind, unforgivingly jealous of what had happened to him... I certainly did hate him..." Jake begins to inform the reader of personal feelings, something quite uncommon throughout previous chapters. He also began to reveal his feelings to Cohn himself by not letting him see the telegram from Brett and by sharing some feelings with Bill. He still maintains an indirect way of doing so however.

9. Close Quarters

I find it odd in this novel how the characters all interact with one another, despite any annoyances or discrepancies. Specifically, I do not see how Jake continues to spend time with Brett and her other boyfriends even though he is in love with her. That is a very difficult situation to handle watching the one you love be close with someone else. Not only does Jake eat dinner with Brett and Michael, he also agrees to let them go with him on a trip to Spain. On page 87 Mike asks, "When do you go to Spain? Would you mind if we came down with you?" And Jake replies, "It would be grand." I do not see how spending time with these two would be grand at all if I were Jake. He has become way too good at suppressing his true feelings. They are bound to come out of him sometime.

8. Anaphora

In Chapter 8 on page 79, I discovered anaphora in Bill's conversation with Jake at the bar. It most of his statements he used the word daunted. "Ought not to daunt you. Never been daunted. Secret of my success. Never been daunted. Never been daunted in public... if I feel daunted I'll go off by myself." He continues to use this word as he drinks and talks with Jake. I am a little confused as to why this word holds so much significance in this passage. Daunted means to be discouraged. It seems to me that maybe the reason he keeps saying this word is because he is trying to convince himself to not be discouraged. But for what reason? It is not completely clear to me what this passage means. If anyone has ideas I'd like to hear them! :)

7. Promiscuous Paris

Throughout my reading I have become slightly disenchanted at the way many characters in the novel seem to show such affection for one another. In Chapter 3 we met Georgette which we all know was pretty forward towards Jake. The Count in Chapter 7 (page 71) was surrounded by "three girls at his table" as soon as Lady Brett and Jake left him at the bar. And Lady Brett has also deemed herself as quite the promiscuous individual. She was running around with Englishmen in Chapter 3 when she was introduced, she spent a fair amount of time with the Count, and she is affectionate with Jake after each encounter. In addition, she also informs Jake in Chapter 7 that she is moving to San Sebastian with Michael and says "I am damned fond of him...I am going to marry him," (69). How do these people not care about a little thing called true love? I would never EVER marry someone who I was only "damned fond of," especially if I knew I was in love with someone else. I am also not exactly the type of person to be fond of those men and women who just go around "showing affection" to everyone they meet. Marriage then seemed to be more about finding security once you were of a certain age. But until that time came in their lives, it seems they just did as they pleased.

6. Allusion

So Chapter 6 got pretty intense there for awhile.. Frances did not exactly take her breakup from Robert well. At the café she made quite the scene in front of Jake. On page 57 during her long speech, Frances made an allusion to a statement found in the Bible. "...we that live by the sword shall perish by the sword." In other words, Frances believed that she should have known this breakup was coming, since she had previously made Robert fire his secretary when they first started dating. It was now her turn to be let go, and she obviously did not take it very well. Especially since she compared this situation to a fatal one.

5. Motif

The more I read this book, the more I am beginning to pick up on the characters' tendencies. A lack of communication seems to be present throughout the entire book. While reading Chapter 5, for example, Jake does not ever seem to be completely honest with others about his feelings. During his lunch with Cohn, Jake insulted Lady Brett Ashley which angered Cohn enough to attempt to leave. Jacob did not want him to leave so he apologized for his previous comments on page 47. "I'm sorry. I've got a nasty tongue. I never mean it when I say nasty things." Cohn sat back down and stated, "I know it. You're really about the best friend I have, Jake."

Jake was not really sorry for his comments, rather he was sorry for angering Cohn in the middle of a lunch. He seems to keep people from getting to know his true thoughts and feelings for some reason. Letting people in does not seem to be very high on Jacob Barnes' to-do list. I also find it interesting that Robert calls Jake his best friend, when in reality he knows nothing of his true thoughts and feelings. He buys into whatever Jake tells him.

I believe another motif is the constant drinking. Every chapter contains at least one paragraph mentioning the bar/cafe where they ate lunch or stopped by on their way home from work. These two motifs tie into each other I believe. All the characters seem to detach themselves from something, whether it be through a drink or through avoiding conflict with others.

4. Lonely Jacob

In chapters 3 and 4, one of the most prominent ideas I caught on to was that Jake Barnes is one lonely guy. For starters, most of this novel has taken place at a bar of some sort. Liquor seems to always find its way into Jake's hands. Secondly, Jake meets up with Georgette, a woman who seems to be quite comfortable getting friendly with persons of the opposite gender... He buys her a drink and then takes her out to eat because he believed "that it would be nice to eat with someone," (24). He is lonely and finds that company would bring him some form of happiness.

After spending time with Lady Brett Ashley, we also find Jake to be experiencing loneliness and sadness over his war injury as he tries to fall asleep on page 39: "Then all of a sudden I started to cry." I am about 99.99% positive that if someone goes to bed crying (especially a man) then they are most definitely going through a rough time emotionally. As the novel continues I am very interested to see how Jake overcomes these feelings, or if he ever does.

3. Style

As the novel progresses and more characters begin to interact, Hemingway's style begins to become more consistent. One of many examples is found on page 24 during the meeting of Jake and Georgette:

"What are you called?"

"Georgette. How are you called?"

"Jacob."

"That's a Flemish name."

"American too."

"You're not Flamand?"

"No, American."

"Good, I detest Flamands."

When Jake and his friends or other acquaintances converse, they use short and simple sentences. Often times they merely use incomplete phrases. It seems like the characters all lack any sort of enthusiasm or motivation for anything because of such simplicity in speech. They never seem very personable within dialogue, but maybe this was just the custom in Paris at the time. Jake especially seems to maintain an uninterested, lackluster tone no matter who he is speaking with, which I feel may fit his personality.