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The Meaning Of Life In Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises

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Who am I? Where am I going? What is the meaning of life? These three questions are simple, yet when asked, many people are at a loss for words. We live life wandering the plateau, searching for meaning. In fact, we are all walking this Earth oblivious of our fate or place in the world. Ernest Hemingway’s, The Sun Also Rises, offers a glimpse into the lives of the lost generation by displaying the cruelties of love, the differences between France and Spain in Jakes life, and a sense of wandering despite being at either end of the food chain. Love plays a major role within this novel, often never finding itself maintained between two characters. Many characters in this novel, fail at love; they have either lost it, or know nothing of it. …show more content…

In fact, Paris is a city where one must be able to take a break from, or they’ll catch themselves slowing drifting away. While in Paris, Jake has difficulties sleeping often times filled with the deep aching imagery of Brett, “I lay awake thinking and my mind jumping around…I was thinking about Brett and my mind stopped jumping around and started to go in a sort of smooth waves. Then all of a sudden I started to cry.” (Hemingway, p. 39) Jake is a character that most individuals can relate to one time or another in their lives. We search for another often never realizing we are lost ourselves. We lay in bed at night wondering why we lost our love. However, when Jake is in Spain his spells of sadness before bed are nonexistent. “After supper we went up-stairs and smoked and read in bed to keep warm. Once in the nigh I woke and heard the wind blowing. It felt good to be warm and in bed.” (Hemingway, p. 116) While in Spain, Jake and Bill embark on an adventure to fish and enjoy the outdoors. Hemingway describes Spain’s scenery with an eloquence that cannot be seen in Paris. This feeling is also portrayed during the nights, where Jake is able to sleep soundly. It is also important to note that Jake feels serene in a time when Robert Cohn, Brett, and Mike are not in town. There is a certain atmosphere Jake feels while in Spain that he

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