Ernest Hemingway’s, The Sun Also Rises, is a spectacular yet bitter novel that portrays lives from the “Lost Generation” and provides social commentary on the disillusionment seen after the Great War. The war destroyed long-standing beliefs in love, faith, loyalty and morality, and forced people to set new standards to man’s transgression and brutality that was so mercilessly experienced during the war. With traditional notions of society shattered, members of the post-war generation found themselves with a profound emptiness and no standards to lean on. The narrator, Jake Barnes, embarks on a futile search for meaning in an effort to fill the gaps left by the war. The void from a dismantled moral code of conduct is difficult to face, making
…show more content…
The reality of Jake’s situation is too painful to confront honestly and directly, so the he finds comfort in living in a state of pretense. It is seemingly easier to relentlessly pursue a romanticized and comforting but dishonest lifestyle than to live honestly and deal with the burden of disillusionment. Thus, in an effort to be a part of the fake status quo of the time, Jake finds fleeting meaning with Lady Brett Ashley, along with the glorious bullfights in Spain. In this world of pretense portrayed in the novel, there is little room for honesty as the characters’ fake ideals conceal their real problems: that they are vulnerable, lost, and disillusioned all because of the war. While it may seem as though Jake Barnes is in love with Brett and indeed an aficionado, in reality both are dishonest obsessions as they hold no true meaning and instead are a facade to the effect that the war had on …show more content…
Jake cannot be honest with himself when he is with Brett, as their relationship is another one of Jake’s ideals. However, after a night out in Paris and arriving home alone and drunk, Jake has a brief moment of honest confrontation with himself and his fragility is revealed. Having been left impotent after the war, Jake says, “of all the ways to be wounded” (Hemingway 38). Evident acknowledgement of his injury later leads to a bitter realization about Brett. He says, “Probably I never would have had any trouble if I hadn’t run into Brett when they shipped me to England,” and furthermore, “I suppose she only wanted what she couldn’t have” (Hemingway 38). “What she couldn’t have” indicates an even clearer barrier in their relationship, which Jake comes to understand. But, this moment of honesty is brief as his idealizations seem to disguise his true inability to have a romantic relationship yet again. The following night, Brett comes to visit and he seems to forget “what she couldn’t have,” and instead finds comfort in his futile relationship with Brett when he asks to “live together” (Hemingway 62). Brett replies, “I don’t think so, I’d just tromper you with everybody,” but Jake longingly persists twice more and asks to, “go
The reality of Jake’s situation is too painful to confront honestly and directly, so the he finds comfort in living in a state of pretense. It is seemingly easier to relentlessly pursue a romanticized and comforting but dishonest lifestyle than to live honestly and deal with the burden of disillusionment. Thus, in an effort to be a part of the fake status quo of the time, Jake finds fleeting meaning with Lady Brett Ashley, along with the glorious bullfights in Spain. In this world of pretense portrayed in the novel, there is little room for honesty as the characters’ fake ideals conceal their real problems: that they are vulnerable, lost, and disillusioned all because of the war. While it may seem as though Jake Barnes is in love with Brett and indeed an aficionado, in reality both are dishonest obsessions as they hold no true meaning and instead are a facade to the effect that the war had on …show more content…
Jake cannot be honest with himself when he is with Brett, as their relationship is another one of Jake’s ideals. However, after a night out in Paris and arriving home alone and drunk, Jake has a brief moment of honest confrontation with himself and his fragility is revealed. Having been left impotent after the war, Jake says, “of all the ways to be wounded” (Hemingway 38). Evident acknowledgement of his injury later leads to a bitter realization about Brett. He says, “Probably I never would have had any trouble if I hadn’t run into Brett when they shipped me to England,” and furthermore, “I suppose she only wanted what she couldn’t have” (Hemingway 38). “What she couldn’t have” indicates an even clearer barrier in their relationship, which Jake comes to understand. But, this moment of honesty is brief as his idealizations seem to disguise his true inability to have a romantic relationship yet again. The following night, Brett comes to visit and he seems to forget “what she couldn’t have,” and instead finds comfort in his futile relationship with Brett when he asks to “live together” (Hemingway 62). Brett replies, “I don’t think so, I’d just tromper you with everybody,” but Jake longingly persists twice more and asks to, “go