In Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, many themes arise throughout the story. Whether it be masculinity, alcoholism, detachment, or sexual desire, these themes all lead back to one main cause and that is World War 1. The stories protagonist are Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley. Jakes Barnes is a veteran of the war, who goes on to becomes a writer in Paris when he was done serving the United States. Lady “Brett” Ashley otherwise known solely as Brett is one of the boys, from the time she spent caring for the wounded in war she develops great relationships with the soldiers and practically becomes one of them. Because Jake and Brett had spent so much time in the war, they both suffered from PTSD. They both dealt with the trauma in their …show more content…
During the war, Jake was left without the ability to reproduce. This affected Jake because one of the things he wanted most in the world was too be with Brett. Jakes lack of masculinity really affected him because he would become very jealous of other men who surrounded Brett. For example, in book 1 chapter 3 Jakes states that “I was very angry. Somehow they always made me angry. I know they are supposed to be amusing, and you should be tolerant, but I wanted to swing on one, any one, anything to shatter that superior, simpering composure.” Jakes, jealousy for the gay men is based off of the fact that they are capable of having sex and reproducing and they are choosing not to. This anger and hatred towards his disorder leads Jake to do as most the characters in this story do and that is to drink away their problems. …show more content…
Because Brett could never be with Jake she also found that having relations with other men both physically and emotionally could help her be at peace. An example of one of these events is when Jake and Brett are in Spain and Brett is currently with Cohn, and decides to run off one night with Romero a young up and coming bull fighter and proclaim her love for him. Although Brett embarks on all these relationships they never fall through for her because her feelings for Jake cannot be forgotten or put in the past. Because Jake cannot sleep with woman, he must find other ways to cope with his depression and trauma. Jake finds this comfort and release in fishing. Jake finds healing and nature and most importantly, there is no women accompanying him when fishing. Therefore, he is able to forget about his disorder and just focus on himself and the fish. When out fishing, there is no bar or café they can go running to for more alcohol. Jake finds peace while fishing because he is able to speak to his friends who accompany him such as Bill, and they can be true to themselves. While out fishing, Bill tells Jake how he feels about nature. He states “We will say, and I for one am proud to say- and I want to say with me, on your knees, brother. Let no man be ashamed to kneel here in the great out-of-doors.
“Oh, Jake, we could have had such a damned good time together.’ ‘Yes, Isn’t it pretty to think so?”. Their final discussion is right where they started in the back of a cab. Brett has just dug a hole even deeper into the abyss of disappointment that Brett has already given him. Jake has lost his masculinity in more ways than one. He has to live without Brett, and with his disability, denying him any chance at all with women. He has finally accepted the loveless relationship that has become of them, and will push forward knowing how it will never be.
The most prevalent theme in this story is loneliness. Jake is obviously lonely, so much so that he stoops to such pathetic lines as, "I'm kinda hoping so, just so it takes a little more time and we can talk some. Or else you can give me your phone number now and I won't have to lay my regular b.s. on you to get it later." His loneliness also shows when Gilb describes how, "her hand felt so warm and soft he felt like he'd been kissed." Jake seems to crave the human intimacy of love, and yet all he does is flirt with a woman whom he does not even care for enough to be truthful to. This is also situational irony. Corresponding with this theme of loneliness is the concept that everyone is looking for love. This need is very evident in Jake and is also displayed in Mariana. No intelligent female would even relent a little in the face of such an apparent swindler as Jake. However, Mariana must be a little flattered and lonely because she smiles at his attentions and even makes small talk with him.
Jake together with his wife (Beth) are Maoris, New Zealanders staying in housing development. Both the husband and wife are good-looking individuals, where Jake in his luminous, sleepy-eyed and self-contented smile that appears as if he’s full of confidence. But the heart of the matter is that he’s not. Amazingly, beer seems to be the one that fuels his bitterness, anger and insecurities, and disguises his strength.
High Noon, which is an old western type of movie, is about a sheriff named Will Kane that has to fight to save his town. "The Most Dangerous Game", which is a short story about a man named Rainsford who has to fight for his survival. High Noon and "The Most Dangerous Game" have similar main characters and similar story patterns, but have a different overall theme.
Lady Brett Ashley in The Sun Also Rises has always been regarded as one of Ernest Hemingway’s most hated characters. Both critics and readers have seen her simply as a bitch, and do not view her as a likeable or relatable character in any way. Her alcoholism, her use and abuse of men, and her seeming indifference to Jake Barnes’s love are just a few reasons why Hemingway’s readers have not been able to stand Brett, and do not give her a fair chance. It is clear that Jake is biased in his narration, but no one wants to question his opinions and judgments of Brett; in fact, since the book was
Jake is consciously aware that there is a problem, which is more than can be said about his friends. Perhaps the people that surround Jake are the issue, though. His close friends and the people whom he travels with include Lady Brett Ashley, Robert Cohn, Bill, and Mike. Brett, the target of Jake’s unrequited affections, is likely someone whom he should stop spending time with; however, it seems that he just can’t get away from her. She is a very strong and independent woman who isn’t known to behave in a traditionally feminine way. Jakes does remark that although she is very independent, “She can’t go anywhere alone.” Robert Cohn is a Jewish, wealthy expatriate; but unlike many of his friends, did not spend any time in the war. Cohn also falls head over heels in love with Brett, who soon rejects his affections as well. As a wealthy, Jewish, non war veteran Cohn stands out in the group and his fumbling attempts to court Brett are the source of much mockery and leads to many fights. Bill is also an American veteran who seems to be always drinking. He tends to use humor to try and deal with the emotional scars of war; however, is not immune to the immaturity and cruelty sometimes characterized by Jake and his friends. Finally, Mike is a very heavy drinking Scottish war veteran who is completely bankrupt. He is seen to have a terrible temper, which most often displays while he is drunk. Mike is also not comfortable with the
The value of monetary exchange extends to his relationships, particularly with Brett: “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” (Hemingway, 152). In this instance, Jake is referencing that his friendship with Brett, has given him the benefits of having as much of a romantic relationship as he can, which makes him feel he has cheated Brett of deserving payment. This explains why Jake supports Brett’s sexual promiscuity, as other men are capable of giving her what he cannot, sexually.
Jake’s significant relationships were reduced to two in number: his love for Sadie and his mentorship of Bill. His relationship with Sadie itself is in no way reduced on screen; if anything, it is strengthened, because she could still trust him after learning about his other life by listening to a taping of Oswald and Marina copulating. This makes the songs from the future that he sang in the book appear as comparatively mild signs of his lies. As for Jake’s relationship with Bill however, this was, perhaps, one of the largest differences between the text and the film; in the text, Jake’s interactions with Bill were restricted to his time in Derry, where as the book extended the relationship beyond Bill’s place of origin to also take place during Jake’s residence in Dallas. This contingency only occured because Jake connected with Bill; both Bill and him were truly men of no nation.
However, Jake is not married, nor does he live with a woman in Paris. The characters of the
Jake and Brett's relationship with one another is ridiculous. Brett goes out with other men and gets drunk. Jake loves and hates Brett for the actions she takes. Brett tells Jake that she loves him and talks about the other men she has been with. Jake tells her that she is being drunk and to shut up about it. Brett leaves the men she has been with just to come back to Jake for support. Jake loves being her emotional crutch because she is around him more
She met him while he was in the hospital and it was there that they fell in love, even though she was to be engaged to Mike Campbell. Once Jake was healed well enough he was sent home and his injury damaged his relationship with Brett, which did not help the fact that Jake still had to get over his feelings for her. He meets her again later on in life at a bar and still has the same feelings as he did back during his time at the hospital. Everyone in the bar was enamored with Brett, including Jake’s best friend Robert Cohn. The feelings of love that the three main male characters, Mike, Robert , and Jake, Harbor for Brett cause major conflicts later on in the novel . The reason that caused me to feel sympathy for Jake was the fact that he had to hide and control his feelings for Brett for most of the novel, while the other two were able to openly convey it. He also had to deal with the fact that they both loved her and each had more of an opportunity to sway her feelings, Mike more than Robert, than he did. Another reason Brett made me pity Jake was her unwillingness to accept him as he was, instead she dealt with it by finding men who could fulfill her needs more
Because of this injury, Jake cannot be with the woman he loves- and this plot line serves as a catalyst for the larger and far more important theme about the American Dream - and chasing everything desired, but never truly being able to achieve these dreams to satiation.
But unlike in real life that doesn’t happen in The Great Gatsby or The Sun also Rises. Jake and Brett were in love with one another they knew that but didn’t know how to confess it to one another because both of them come with a lot of baggage. Brett is committed to a lot of sexual partner that she can’t commit to Jake because he is impotence. Jake having his little problem makes him think that he can never have a girl like Brett. While Brett is only in for a no strings attached kind of relationship, ““Oh Jake,” Brett said, “We could have had such a damned good time together.””
The pivotal character of Ernest Hemingway's novel, The Sun Also Rises is Jake Barnes. He is a man of complex personality--compelling, powerful, restrained, bitter, pathetic, extraordinarily ordinary yet totally human. His character swings from one end of the psychological spectrum to the other end. He has complex personality, a World War I veteran turned writer, living in Paris. To the world, he is the epitome of self-control but breaks down easily when alone, plagued by self-doubt and fears of inadequacy. He is at home in the company of friends in the society where he belongs, but he sees himself as someone from the outside looking in. He is not alone, yet he is lonely. He strikes people as confident, ambitious, careful, practical,
Jake also at times seems to realize how bad his life is, but then never regrets it. He is in love with Brett Ashley, but she is always with other people, including Robert Cohn, which makes Jake jealous. This jealousy turns to anger when Jake gets into a fight with Robert and is then knocked out.