ERNEST HEMINGWAY The Sun Also Rises

Exciting European Vacation & Heartbreaking Emotional Journey The hero, Jake Barnes, narrates with brutal honesty his relationships with Lady Brett Ashley and their entourage during the 1920s in a rather undisciplined search for thrills from Paris to Madrid.

Silver Lining? In the midst of the “Lost Generation,” Jake distinguishes himself due to his leadership qualities and his spirituality. His selflessness and sacrifice are exemplary and heroic.

Silver Lining? I don’t see one, but I am impressed by Jake. Jake and Brett are still standing at the end of the story. Perhaps Jake can be considered a hero not from the wound he received in the war but from his stoic endurance of emotional suffering at the hands of those he loves and his own mind.

Hemingway’s Themes and Style Many believe The Sun Also Rises is Hemingway’s best individual achievement in writing. He writes of human tragedy that is horrific at times and hard to qualify with any optimism. We will focus a great deal on style analysis.

Theme: Everyone loses. It is in loss that an individual finds the strength or the inability to endure. Everyone gets broken by the world; only some will be stronger. The mistakes made will be costly.

Theme: Individuals are victims of bad luck and bad timing. This is very much like the classical idea of Fate and much in the inheritance of Greek tragedy. There is pity, fear, and eventually catharsis which is akin to Aristotle’s ideas about tragedy. There are forces of nature that people cannot control, and war may be considered such a force.

Theme: An individual can be destroyed and not defeated. At the end of a Hemingway work, the hero is usually still alive but has been permanently maimed by a horrific experience. He survives and learns from it. How individuals conduct themselves in the struggle is the true test of character, and some special individuals exhibit such grace under pressure that they serve as examples for the rest of humanity.

Theme: Work covers a multitude of sins. Every individual has a talent or gift for the world; if an individual ignores the work, that is sinful. Hemingway’s religious thinking is tied to his craft. This is in contrast to the outer Hemingway who was so famous. –the outdoorsman, the heavy drinker, the daredevil, the womanizer In fact, he was wholly dedicated to his craft and rarely satisfied with the results – revising endlessly.

Style: Overall Structure Hemingway carefully crafted all his works. SAR is structured into three sections, with the final section having only one chapter. The novel is framed by setting – an emphasis on place. Although it is narrated in a rather chronological fashion, it is told in retrospect. All of the events of the novel happened before the first word of it.

Style: Allusions Hemingway makes interesting use of allusions especially in his choices of titles. He relies on both Hebraic and Hellenic traditions. The passage from Ecclesiastes that is the basis for the title also works in a symbolic way. The character Lady Brett Ashley functions as a kind of Circe in the almost magical hold she has over the men she meets.

Style: Code character and Hemingway hero The code character is an individual who has suffered and may continue to do so but exhibits grace under pressure and can serve as a model. The Hemingway hero tends to be the protagonist of the story. He is a novice in love or war and must learn the hard way. Hemingway does not consider either to be a stereotype.

Style: Dialogue He is a master at creating dialogue which is realistic and revealing. Sometimes it can be frustrating for a reader because he does not identify the speakers. He makes the point that people misunderstand each other, perhaps on purpose. The conversations in this novel are profound, painful, and deceptively inane.

Style: Irony and Understatement Hemingway’s work as a journalist encouraged him to eliminate unnecessary language, much like imagist poems and minimalism in art. There is a bit of dry humor.

Style: Foreign settings and languages Hemingway spoke at least six languages fluently. He respected the language and rarely translated for his readers. His prose is terse, but he emphasized the settings taking the reader on a beautiful journey to France and then to Spain.

Style: Epiphany Hemingway’s characters come to an important understanding, usually near the end of the novel. Jake has already had his epiphany. It is difficult to tell when he initially experienced the important understanding. He seems to already know it when the novel begins.

Style: Symbolism Hemingway’s works abound with motifs and significant details that help elucidate themes. Beginning with the title, Hemingway elevates this novel to a universal level; everyone should be able to relate the angst felt by the narrator and others in this timeless story. Readers encounter repetition of important motifs and understand they are significant.