Examples Of Masculinity In The Sun Also Rises By Ernest Hemingway

According to Dictonary.com masculinity is defined as having qualities traditionally ascribed to men, such as strength and boldness. Junot Diaz, a man from the Dominican Republic, frequently talks about how Dominican men act very intimidating and raunchy in his writing. Due to this strong stigma in Dominican culture, Diaz explains in his stories that homosexuality was uncommon. The unnamed narrator and his friend would steal, urinate on people’s steps, or the ways that he treated different women. Junot Diaz utilizes the masculinity of Dominican men to demonstrate that masculinity is a societal term, not a personal choice.

The definition of masculinity; Is the fact of being a man or having qualities considered typical of a man.

Masculinity is a quality of a man, a man who empowers strength and expertise to achieve goals easier. The essence of being masculine, illustrates powerful behavior, such as courage, and audacity. Stephen, fifteen-year-old pulp-cutter trying to fit into an environment, feeling extremely honored, as his father modeled, "become a man", impels a decent reputation in his father’s

The traditional definition of masculinity include such qualities as independence, pride, resiliency, self control and physical strength. It can be change into qualities such as competitiveness, toughness, aggressiveness and power. For example, he says that the boy who doesn’t show these qualities and might be called a “fag”. The boy is most likely becoming aware of having feminine qualities.

In the book the Kite Runner by Hosseini, the main character, Amir, grows up in Afghanistan, and the strong culture affects his moral character while he lives their and after he moves away. He is unable to fit in with the cultural expectations his father puts on him, the religious racism divides him and his half brother Hassan, and the traditional family values cause tension between him and his wife, this all leads back to the theme of Amirs struggle to fulfill his ideals of masculinity.

What do you think is masculine? Masculinity is somethings that can greatly be changed depending on a person's viewpoint. For example, in To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus has a very different approach for being masculine and being someone somebody can look up to. Seeing as Atticus has a good shot but doesn’t use it and uses other methods such as knowledge and fairness rather than stubbornness or racism to condemn someone. This idea of being masculine in another way is looked down upon my many people and you might agree, however, Atticus shows us in many ways that this way of taking on things is a lot more mature and respectable than the old strong brute that the town thinks is masculine. Throughout the story, Atticus and Tom Robinson try to act different and shows us how change is difficult to accept, being alone is something that affects people greatly, and even how change can affect those around a community.

Three main terms will be used in this essay and require a definition as to avoid confusion. Masculinity is defined by Merriam-Webster as,

Alcohol is not always used for a good time, and most of his characters drink to get drunk for a variety of reasons. “Mike was a bad drunk. Brett was a good drunk. Bill was a good drunk. Cohn was never drunk. Mike was unpleasant after he passed a certain point” (152). Brett Ashley drinks to be extra friendly with the rich men of the town. Impotent Jake Barnes drinks because he knows he cannot physically be with Brett due to his injury from the war. He loses friendships and other relationships due to his hopeless love and loyalty for Brett who is having love affairs with many other men. Robert Cohn is the only character of the group that is not constantly drunk, but his affair with Brett makes him jealous enough to get drunk, fight his only friends Mike and Jake, and later on he fights Pedro Romero, a young bullfighter that Brett loves. Alcohol may seem like a good time for the characters in The Sun Also Rises, but the drinking and partying is really just a cover of the hopelessness and carelessness after the war. These problems hidden in his novel can also be revealed in his short stories.

In exploring masculinity, relations between men, or homosocial bonds are important to maintaining male relations. In the Sun Also Rises, the homosociality is allowed to be a non-hidden aspect of the text’s iceberg, although it is admitted that this is only due to the physical separation from the American setting. While homosocial bonds between women are accepted and deemed natural in American, homosocial bonds between men run the risk of tainting perception of masculinity (Sedgwick). Male homosociality in particular cannot exist in hetero-normative Puritanical America where emphasis is placed on an untainted perception of masculinity, and still exists years later in the setting explored in Giovanni’s Room. In order for homosociality to occur, Bill

The characters in The Sun Also Rises constantly attempt to find a way of escaping reality, such as through excessive drinking. Alcohol allows for them to endure lives severely lacking in affection and purpose. It allocated a way for the group to be able to escape the brutality of the war, and push away their guilt, doubt, and uncertainty regarding their actions in it. It also allowed them to put the blame and consequences of their actions on someone else (Adair 131). The only person in the group who does not drink is Cohn and coincidentally, he is also the one who has never participated in the war. While the people who were in the war drink without a stop, Cohn’s abstinence from drinking reveals a direct correlation. This symbolizes that the characters were attempting to mask their pain from the war with

   The imagery of bulls and steers pervades Hemmingway's novel, The Sun Also Rises. Bullfighting is a major plot concern and is very important to the characters. The narrator physically resembles a steer due to the nature of his injury. Mike identifies Cohn as a steer in conversation because of his inability to control Brett sexually. Brett falls for a bullfighter, who is a symbol of virility and passion. However, there is a deeper level to the bull-steer dichotomy than their respective sexual traits. The imagery associated with bulls and steers is more illustrative than their possession or lack of testicles. In their roles and in the images associated with them, bulls are glorious,

Hemingway’s novel The Sun Also Rises has his male characters struggling with what it means to be a man in the post-war world. With this struggle one the major themes in the novel emits, masculine identity. Many of these “Lost Generation” men returned from that war in dissatisfaction with their life, the main characters of Hemingway’s novel are found among them. His main characters find themselves drifting, roaming around France and Spain, at a loss for something meaningful in their lives. The characters relate to each other in completely shallow ways, often ambiguously saying one thing, while meaning another. The Sun Also Rises first person narration offers few clues to the real meaning of his characters’ interactions with each other. The

The other male character used often by Hemingway is the coward or the “messy man”. This is the man who follows no code and has no honor or bravery. He is often dominated by a woman, by far the most humiliating condition according to Hemingway. In The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway writes “Cowardess is the worst kind of luck any man could ever have” showing his despicable view towards any man lacking masculine qualities. One of the best examples of the coward is portrayed in “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” by Francis. He is dominated by his wife and looked down upon by manly hunter Wilson. But as the story goes on, Macomber overcomes his cowardliness and becomes the sought after “code” hero for the short while before his death. The hunting expedition serves as an opportunity for Francis to learn the code and reassert his power over his wife. The male characters used by Hemingway in his stories say a lot about his own views of masculinity.

The other male character used often by Hemingway is the coward or the “messy man”. This is the man who follows no code and has no honor or bravery. He is often dominated by a woman, by far the most humiliating condition according to Hemingway. In The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway writes “Cowardess is the worst kind of luck any man could ever have” showing his despicable view towards any man lacking masculine qualities. One of the best examples of the coward is portrayed in “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” by Francis. He is dominated by his wife and looked down upon by manly hunter Wilson. But as the story goes on, Macomber overcomes his cowardliness and becomes the sought after “code” hero for the short while before his death. The hunting expedition serves as an

Not everything was as pretty as it seemed, their family had issues that they had to overcome and the fear of loosing the battle away and at home was something that he struggled with on a daily basis when he was young. His mother was left with the entire burden when his father left and it eventually became too much to handle. His mother became an alcoholic and he and his family suffered tremendously from his mother’s sickness. He felt like if he had let his father down when he came home to find this out. Living with all females and putting up with them was too much for him that he decided to convince his father to send him to military school. This was the best thing that happened to him, because from here on he lived an Army world.