UNIVERSITY OF GJAKOVA FACULTY OF PHILOLOGY. Department of English Language and Literature

Transcription

1 UNIVERSITY OF GJAKOVA FACULTY OF PHILOLOGY Department of English Language and Literature DIPLOMA THESIS TOPIC: Characters, conflicts, and themes in Ernest Hemingway s The Sun Also Rises Advisor: Prof. Dr. Lirak Karjagdiu Candidate: Egzona Pajazitaj Gjakovë, 2018

2 Contents 1. Introduction Life and work of the author.7 a) Life.7 b) Work Relevant information about The Sun Also Rises 9 3. The principle characters in The Sun Also Rises Jake Barnes Lady Brett Ashley Robert Cohn Bill Gorton Mike Campbell Pedro Romero Main conflicts in The Sun Also Rises Internal Conflict regarding Jake s struggle with Brett External Conflict Lady Brett Ashley versus the Men Themes in The Sun Also Rises The Challenge of Moral Value Living Aimlessly Alcohol in The Sun Also Rises Love in The Sun Also Rises

3 6. Conclusion References. 32 3

4 Declaration I, Egzona Pajazitaj declare that I worked on my thesis on my own pursuing the Academic Honesty Statement s principles in word and spirit and used the sources mentioned in the Bibliography. 4

5 1. Introduction Ernest Hemingway is one of the greatest American writer in the 20 th century. His works have influenced and still influence not only American writers but also the writers all around the world, as he was known for his style of writing mostly in the narrative form. His style of writing is the most influential and recognized prose of the twentieth century. According to the critics his style was inspired in his days as a reporter for the Kansas City, where he used to write short sentences and energetic English. Hemingway is known as an obsessive reviser of his works, so his books are all the result of careful processes, in which are selected only essential elements to the story and removing all other unnecessary elements of it. The novel The Sun Also Rises was directly responsible for a surge of American tourism to Pamplona of Spain, where the novelist bullfights are set. What gives importance to this novel is that it is considered as the first step of Hemingway in the field of novels in which he truly entered in the large door of the American Literature. It is known as the first work that made him famous, all around the world and also made clear the intentions of the author, his novelty on the compound and his research on the language and style, in figurative shape, in creation of characters and reasoned artistic concepts. Therefore this novel is considered as a romance about eternal and unrealized love, the beauty of goods and the merchandise for beauty and harmony, with which started its triumph the Hemingway art, his effectiveness and large competence of his style. Themes of this novel as well as the personalities of the characters, with their opinions toward life and the effects of war are some elements that distinguish this novel. I choose this topic as my diploma thesis firstly because of the novel s author, since I started to read novels I had an admiration for Ernest Hemingway s works and second because The Sun Also Rises is one of his most famous works. I was moved by its characters, conflicts and themes in which I am going to provide an analysis that reflect the reality of the novel. This is a novel that gives the reader information about the War and its affect in the life of the persons who were part of it. Ernest Hemingway through the novel The Sun Also Rises explains how War injures people not only physically but also in the emotional life as they feel useless and have the feeling as if they do not belong anywhere, but also tells how people even though are in love with each other, have the ability to abandon their love and continue living with the sorrow. So it is the War that destroys the soul of people. 5

6 Through this diploma thesis I will be concentrated on the features of the major characters of the novel as I will also talk about the main themes and conflicts which characterize this Hemingway s masterpiece. The methodology that I will use is the deductive one, collecting and using general information about the novel The Sun Also Rises. This diploma paper consists of 6 main parts, which will be elaborated further. In the first part, I am going to present biography of the author Ernest Hemingway and his artistic work. Through the biography I am going to talk about some of the most interesting facts about author s life, such as his education, his personal life, his relationship with his family whereas in the part of the work I will focus on his main works that he published during his life. The third chapter I will focus on the major and minor characters, which is the main discussion. The characters: Jake Barnes, Lady Brett Ashley, Robert Cohn, Bill Gorton, Mike Campbell and Pedro Romero will be discussed. Their personalities will be explained with examples of the novel as well as with opinions of different critics. The forth part will contain the main internal and external conflicts of this novel, and then I will discuss the main themes such as: The Challenge of moral value, Living Aimlessly, Alcoholism and Love, which will be elaborated. The last part of this work will contain conclusion with personal approach concerning the work. My sincere gratefulness go to my advisor Prof. Lirak Karjagdiu, for his continuous support of my Bachelor thesis being an inspirational role model and having had the considerable commitment, patience and great knowledge to have a final draft that suits the proper standards. The guidance he offered helped me in all the time of writing this thesis. Besides my advisor, I would like to thank the rest of the academic staff in the faculty for being the ones to lead in our bright path. 6

7 1.1. Life and work of author a) Life Ernest Miller Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899, in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois. He was grown in a middle class environment, and was the son of Grace Hall whereas his father, Clarence Edmond was a physician. He was the eldest son from six children Most of the summers he spent with his family in Michigan, a place which made Ernest a great lover of everything that was outdoors related. Hemingway s mother Grace exposed her son to the arts, by sending him to the museums in Chicago and also registered him in piano lessons. When he was a young boy his father taught him to fish and haunt, in the shores or in the forests that were in the Lake Michigan. His love for nature become part of him and stayed with him throughout his life. Nature was made a touchstone of Ernest s work and life. (Carlos. B Ernest Hemingway: Life Story ), Hemingway was send at Oak Park High School, from which he graduated in 1917, and as a student he gave his contributes to the newspaper of the school and also other publications. During the graduation time he understood that very soon would be drown into World War I. He did not attend the college. His uncle helped him to land a job as a reporter on the Kansas City Star, but his job was short because he had weak eyesight and for this reason he was rejected from the military services. Hemingway volunteered to drive ambulances for the American Red Cross in 1918 and was send to Italy. During his stay in the Italy, Hemingway seriously hurt his legs and feet. So he was send to the Red Cross Hospital in Milan, when he passed part of the summer and autumn of the In 1918 Hemingway served a great heroism, and was wounded by fire at Fossalata Di Piave. This accident forced him to stay in the hospital for a long period, and then he came back to the United States. During the time he was in the hospital Hemingway fell in love with a nurse named Agnes von Kurowsky from Washington, D.C., but their love affair came to an end when she betrayed him with an Italian officer. He was considered a hero and used to speak before civic groups about his experience in the war. Some of his experiences with are later used in his novel A Farewell to Arms. After some time Hemingway married his first of four wives, Hadley Richardson. They moved to live in Paris, where Ernest become part of the literary group called The Lost Generation. The couple soon had a child but they had financial problems, and were relatively poor. They found the money and traveled to Austria and Spain, the places 7

8 where Hemingway discovered bullfighting and also the running of the bulls in Pamplona. (Harold. B Ernest Hemingway. New York: Chelsea House Publishers) In 1925 Hemingway met Pauline Pfeiffer, whom he started a love affair which was discovered by his wife, so Hadley decided to divorce and this divorce was finalized in Soon Hemingway married Pauline on May, Although they had two sons, Pfeiffer had to choose between whether to follow Hemingway in his travels or to mind her sons. She was not able to keep two relationships so they apart from each other. Hemingway went to Spain and started another love affair, and this time was with Martha Gellhorn. They married in 1940 and divorced at But nearly all blind at the age of 89, she killed herself by taking a poison pill. In March, 1946 Hemingway married for the last time with Marry Welsh. In 1959 he moved to Ketchum Idaho from Cuba, where he tragically ended his pains, when he committed suicide in the summer of (Carlos. B Ernest Hemingway: Life Story ) b) Work Many people believe that there has not been any American writer like Ernest Hemingway. A participant of the World War I of the lost generation became a legend of his own lifetime. Hemingway was a literary scholar, a writer and a reader of the books. He enjoyed the feeling of being famous, so he considered himself a great artist. Hemingway began to write short stories which were published in Paris, in 1923 titled Three Stories and Ten Poems, followed in the next year by In Our Time, which was a collection of short stories published in United States in This was the time when Hemingway decided to let the job of reporter and to focus on his career. In 1926 The Torrents Of Spring and his renowned novel of the lost generation, The Sun Also Rises were published. This novel is a more traditional novel than it might seem. It works through a number of conventions regarding male characters. The Sun Also Rises was very populated and won a great reputation, although a real success was felt with his next novel titled A Farewell to Arms which appeared in While he had an emotional life and was married four times some of his books were dedicated his life. Men without Women was published in 1927, time where he divorced his first wife and married the second one, Pauline. He and his wife had many trips at different places so at the time when Hemingway saw bulls at Pamplona, he was inspired to write his book called Death in the 8

9 Afternoon, which was published in Ernest loved adventures and during his travel to Africa he wrote his book Hills of Africa, published in 1935 and was dedicated to the African ventures. Hemingway s obsession for adventures and proving his masculinity, made his life hard to live with Pauline, so they were divorced in In this year he published his one of the most famous works For Whom the Bell Tolls. After some years of living in Cuba he become an alcoholic, and his drinking was out of the control. During this period his literary production stopped, until the year 1950 when he published Across the River and into the Trees, but this book was not received from the critics and public as well. However, in 1952 he published one of his most popular works called The Old Man and the Sea. After one year from publication of this novel he survived two airplanes crashes, and in 1954 he was awarded for Nobel Prize in Literature, but he cannot attend the ceremony because of his injures. The win of the Nobel Prize was especially for the novel The Old Man and the Sea, which was considered an honor for literature.. (Carlos. B Ernest Hemingway: Life Story New York: Chelsea House Publishers), (Harold. B Ernest Hemingway ) 2. Relevant information about The Sun Also Rises The Sun Also Rises is a novel written by Ernest Hemingway in 1926, and it is based on the Hemingway s trip in Spain, in which he experienced the European café life and also the running of the bulls in Pamplona. The novel is about the psychological, social and moral changes in the lives of people who experienced the War. The book is a roman and several characters are representation of real people. The writing time was about two months but its revision and publication lasted several months. It was published by Charles Scriber s Sons in This novel has an important role in history of literature not only for its literary merits, but also because it is the part of the Lost Generation, and this novel is considered as one of the masterpieces of lost generation fiction. The writer is based on his personal life and on his personal memories that he had in the World War I and in Paris in 1920s. Since it is based on his personal experience in Spain, the story was expanded into a novel which was called Fiesta. The action takes place in in French cities as well as in Spanish places such as Pamplona, San Sebastian, Burguete and Madrid. 9

10 The Sun Also Rises is a novel consisting of XIX chapters and offers the reader two stories: it is a war story and a love story that opens with the narrator Jake Barnes, who was a veteran of World War I, and his best friend Robert Cohn, which live in Paris. It is not accidentally that the novel opens with Robert Cohn, in which Jake tells for him; because John is a typical example of a mesmerizing charm, elegant but without mercy, without abilities. Hemingway represents the things and acts based in the real life so characters most of the time spend drinking, arguing or partying. This group of people undoubtedly is similar to the group of Hemingway and his friends. Cohn is a Jewish and lives with his girlfriend Frances Clyne, a forceful and controller woman. Although The Sun also Rises is a war novel, there also appears love. Since the characters almost all the time spend drinking, one night Jake goes in the dance club and there he meets Lady Brett Ashley, in whom he falls in love. According to the critics the character of Brett is very independent, free-spirited and also sometimes appears very selfish. They had met each other during the war, and felt in love but she is a woman that cannot give up sex, and this is the reason why they do not commit to a relationship with each other. When Jake s friend Cohn meets Brett, he starts to get obsessed with her, and even though she plans to marry Mike Campbell, he does not give up. In this way Brett decides to go somewhere other and says to Jack that it will be easier to forget each other if they are far apart. After some weeks she starts her traveling, and decides to go to San Sebastian. Cohn travels as well. The same day Bill Gorton which was Jake s friend arrived in Paris, and makes plans with Jake to go fishing and also to go in Pamplona where the fiesta of bullfighting will be happening. They spend five days together drinking, remembering old times, playing cards, fishing and laughing to each other. Jake accepts a letter from Mike, in which he writes that he and Brett will go in Pamplona very soon. In this way Jake and Bill go meet the couple in the bus station. When they finally are found in Pamplona, they stay in a hotel which is owned by Montoya, an expert in bullfighting Spanish bulls. They meet Mike, Cohn and Brett, so the whole group will go and see how the bulls are prepared for the party of the bullfighting. Mike scoffs Cohn hard following Brett when they do not want him. After a lot of preparation, finally the party begins. The entire city is addicted to drinking, dancing and general dishonesty. But in the Book 3 Brett begs Jake not to drink she needs him to stay sober, "Don t get drunk, Jake," she said. "You don t have to." 10

11 "How do you know?" "Don t," she said. "You ll be all right." "I m not getting drunk," I said. "I m just drinking a little wine. I like to drink wine." "Don t get drunk," she said. "Jake, don t get drunk." (Hemingway, 1926, p, 198) The focus in the first day lies in the first bullfight, in which Pedro Romero, a genius of nineteen years, stands beyond of all other bullfighters. Even though Pedro is a violent person, the lady Brett cannot stop watching him with an admiration for his courage. After some days, Jake and his friends are staying in the dining room of the hotel and Brett sees Romero at table near them. She asks from Jake to introduce with him. Mike does not like Cohn, and almost hit the shots before Jake resolved the situation. That night, while they are staying together, Brett requires from Jake to help her find Romero, and tells him that she has fallen in love with him. He agrees and helps her, so she spends the night with Romero. The novel continues with the Jake who goes and meets Mike and Bill, who are tremendously drunk. Early in the morning Cohn arrives, and asks where Brett is. After an exchange of insults, Cohn attacks Mike and Jake, dropping both. Later Jake comes in the hotel, and finds Cohn who was staying in his bed and crying. Cohn apologizes to Jake, and Jake reluctantly gives it to him. In the other day, Jake finds out from Mike that the last night, Cohn hit Romero because he understood Brett s affair with the bullfighter. Later, Cohn begged Romero to help him, but Romero did not help him. In the afternoon, during the bullfight, Romero fought in hastily manner, stunning the crowd by killing a bull that had killed a man in the streets. Then, he cut off the ear of the bull and gave it as a gift to Brett. When the bullfight finished, Romero and Brett went to Madrid together. That morning Cohn left and only Mike, Bill and Jake, stayed until the party ended. After that day, the three men still rent a car and flee from Spain to Bayonne and then parted. Jake went to San Sebastian, a place when he planned to have some relaxing days and to be quiet. However, he receives a telegram from Brett, asking him to meet her in Madrid. He obeys and will board a train during the night of the same day. When, Jake arrives in the hotel he finds Brett staying alone in the hotel room alone in Madrid. 11

12 She broke up with Romero, because she had a fear that she would destroy his future and his career. She announces that she now wants to come back with Mike. After hearing her speak he orders the tickets for them in order to leave Madrid. In their way to Spanish capital, while traveling with a taxi, Brett says that they would have a good time together. And the novel ends with the Jake s replies: Yes, isn t it pretty to think so? (Hemingway p.198)so the symbolic ending of this novel characterizes the novel in a special way. It is the message that gives to the reader that makes this book important. The life should be taken as it is, without any restriction, you should move toward your feelings and convictions, without romantic illusions and disappointments watching the reality as it appears, with all its useless things that it has and with beauty that wants to be discovered.( Hemingway. E The Sun Also Rises ) 3. Characters in The Sun Also Rises 3.1. Jake Barnes The main character and the protagonist of the novel The Sun Also Rises is Jake Barnes, which appears as the novel opens. He worked as a Journalist in Paris and was a World War I soldier, a reason that presents him injured several times. And even though he did not accept directly, that there are several moments during the novel in which he implies that, because of his wound, he has not lost only physical power but also his ability to have sexual relations. His story is characterized by implications and by subtlety. According to the critics Jake is a person who prefers to indicate the things rather than declare as they are, particularly when is spoken for war or for his injures. He prefers to live the present so he refuses to analyze deeply things. In the very beginning of the novel in order to understand correctly his personality and his nature of wound the reader must read with much attention his words and his acts toward his best friend Cohn, later when he and his friend go for fishing, we can notice that he starts speaking more openly for his weakness. His physical difficulties have sent him to psychological problems as well, when he acts and finds himself very insecure about his abilities as a man. He most of the time says that is a sick person. "What s the matter? You sick?" "Everybody s sick. I m sick too." (Hemingway, 1926, p,13) 12

13 He loves Brett, and as she is the love of his life but still they fail to enter into a relationship, this forces him to think about his masculinity. Brett speaks clearly to him that the only reason why she is not accepting is that this would force her to give up sexual interaction. I d just tromper you with everybody. (Hemingway, 1926, p,63) So he is forced to stay far away from her. Jake is an aggressive person and even though Robert Cohn is his friend, he feels jealous and his unfriendliness is directly related to his own feelings for Brett. He wants to hurt Cohn and he cannot accept that a person whom he feels to be deeply worthless of Brett's love should have her, and Cohn has never served in battle. Romero on the other hand even though was not part of the war, he sees as a brave person because every day he faces death while is bullfighting. So, he is the only man Jake feels he can openly admire, telling both us and his friends that the young bullfighter was "the best - looking boy I have ever seen" (Hemingway, 1926, p,135), "a damn good - looking boy" (Hemingway, 1926, p,139) and "nice to look at" (Hemingway, 1926, p,158). (Hemingway. E. (1926). The Sun Also Rises ) The critic Bloom in his Ernest Hemingway book stated that since the novel The Sun Also Rises belongs to the Lost Generation, the character of Jake is the best model of that generation. The generation in which the men and women had experienced the World War I and these experiences destabilized their trust in love, moral, justice, and manhood as well. The Lost Generation characters lived in immoral, and were aimless, trying to hide the true emotion and were characterized by interpersonal unkindness. Jake tries to act as a person with moral but fails when sees Brett with the bullfighter Romero, in this way hurting his and Cohn feelings for Brett. The personality of Jake represents the Lost Generation and its position: Jake wanders throughout the Paris, traveling from place to place, moving from bar to bar and drinking in every place he goes. All his of life was without any purpose. He is the character that has the ability to be very cruel, particularly with his friend Cohn. (Bloom. H Ernest Hemingway s The Sun Also Rises ) Even though characters of the novel are same to each other in many ways Jake differs from others around him, because he notices that the uselessness of the Lost Generation are not the best way to live with. In the Chapter II he explains Cohn that: You can t get away from yourself by moving from one place to another. ( Hemingway, 1926, p,10). He also realizes that his cruelty and his way of behaving with his friends and with people around him his not appropriate, but 13

14 also the effect that war had in his body and the love for Brett in his heart. Still even though he understands the problem of Lost Generation he stills remain trapped in it. But still his devotion for Brett is unconditionally, this is better proved in the final chapters of the novel when Brett is in need for him, he goes to her. He thinks that love is something impossible for him, but the opposite proves true Lady Brett Ashley One of the most arguable Characters of The Sun Also Rises is Lady Brett Ashley. As Benson, who was a critic of the Hemingway s works said Lady Brett... is not only the center of the conflict but the central character in the novel (Hemingway, 1926, p,80). This means that she has an important role in this novel, and her importance is seen in the opening lines of the novel which stated: This is a novel about a lady. Her name is Lady Ashley (Hemingway, 1926, p,7). From most of the critics she is considered as a strong and independent woman. Brett was a beautiful woman and had a great power over the men near her, as her charisma and gorgeousness charmed everyone that met her. The character of Brett is interpreted in different way, she can be called as the beautiful alcoholic aristocrat, or as a goddess who turns men into swine and who loves Jake. (Bloom, H Ernest Hemingway s The Sun Also Rises ) Even though everyone wanted to have her, she refused to commit to anyone, because she wanted crucial independence. Her independence did not make her happy, and during the entire novel she complains to Jake saying that her life is very miserable, and says that she does not like this kind of life, it is very unsatisfying. She had a great desire to wander from one relationship to another, a factor that parallels Jake and the others wandering from one bar to another and drinking all the time. Brett although was against relationships, she did not like herself and her personality as being Brett and feels herself a dirty woman, as she calls herself bitch, but Jake comments better when he says that she can t go anywhere alone. Brett was a woman shamelessly sexual and aggressively immoral. And her character was like a man, even her hairs were cut very short. She referred to herself man. She seems to have no female friends and Hemingway refers to her as man s woman. Since she was very attractive, most of the men in the novel fall in love with her, not only the main character Jake, or Cohn but 14

15 also others such as Romero, Mike, Count and also the other people that meet her in the night club. Brett and love have a great love for each other but they try to stay far from each other. For the character and the way of representation of Brett in the novel The Sun Also Rises are different opinions from different critics because since she disrupts relationships with men, there seems that in the author s view, a modern woman is very corrupting and very dangerous force for men. This is better explained through the novel when Brett and Romero apart from each other because she represents danger for Romero s life and career, she is convinced that her power and independence will destroy Pedro s independence and strength. Since she doesn t belong to the traditional feminine behavior, she thinks that is the danger itself. Bloom (2007) understands that the difficulty of the novel The Sun Also Rises rests on the influence of Brett s disagreement as she ironically possesses both disagreement and importance at the same time. However, although there is an agreement on Brett s role as the hinge of the novel, it is clear through the history of critical reception that Brett s true nature has been largely ignored; she has been largely cast aside with scathing descriptions such as a nymphomaniac, a woman devoid of womanhood (Bardacke. Th pg, 309), or a woman who never becomes a woman really. (Fiedler, L The Mythical Role of Lady Brett Ashley. P, 319 ). Still it is clear that critics through the history have neglected to pay attention to her real traits regardless of her importance in the novel. There are three reasons why Brett appears unhappy through the novel. Firstly, like all his friends she was a war veteran. Although she did not fight in the battle she served in the hospital, and helped a lot of people but it gave her an experience that for sure traumatic, especially when people died from the brutal weapons of the war. The other reason that she is unhappy is that she does not belong to the society, because her personality was like Don Juan, and it cannot be accepted a woman with that kind of personality. And finally, she is unhappy because her love for Jake is unanswered. Actually her affairs can be seen as intentions to forget him, especially when Jake tells her that is in love, she answers that she loves Pedro, as an intention to bury her feelings for Jake. "Do you still love me, Jake? "Yes," I said. "Because I m a goner," Brett said. "How?" "I m a goner. I m mad about the Romero boy. I m in love with him I think." 15

16 "I wouldn t be if I were you." "I can t help it. I m a goner. It s tearing me all up inside." (Hemingway, 1926, p.149) Jake and other friends are the ones that played an important role in the Bret s character. Since were the war time, her true love died and her pointlessness, especially with regard to men, is interpreted as useless, a hidden search for her original love. This personal search is as a symbol of the Lost Generation for the hidden prewar values of love and romance. At the end of the book Brett has changed. "You know it makes me feel rather good deciding not to be a bitch." "Yes." "It s sort of what we have instead of God." "Some people have God," I said. "Quite a lot." (Hemingway, 1926, p,196) She has been able to truly love someone besides her love for Jake. Although she accepts that loves Romero but leaves him in order to protect him, this shows her generosity which is not seen in the first of the novel and also a moral strength which could not be imagined before Robert Cohn Robert Cohn is the character of the novel The Sun Also Rises which appears in the first chapter, but despite that fact he is not the hero of the book, he is considered as the hero s foil whose character will serve as a highlighter of the protagonist s weakness and strengths by contrast. He is the person that feels himself an outsider because he was Jewish. During the time that he stayed in Princeton he put his feeling of inferiority and shyness into conflict. He was not a war veteran and firstly this makes him appear everything that his friend Jake is not, and vice versa. Cohn does not feel comfort because during all the time he has a fear about being different or fears because does not consider himself good enough. This fear from failure explain better his crazy attachment to Lady Ashley, and when he refuses him, he becomes very nervous and does not accept her rejection. (Bloom, H Ernest Hemingway s The Sun Also Rises ) For Jake opinion he is very insecure and very naïve, because he lets women control him such as his wife, mother or even lover, and later by Brett as well. His friends with whom he travels to Spain are the ones that grow his insecurities and naivety. Since he was not war veteran, Jake and 16

17 his friends during all the time remember to him these differences and their personal insecurities put into Cohn. His behavior toward Brett was the same as of the other men of the book. They all show the desire to have her because of the way she resists, but his attempts to win her are very foolish and in this way provide a target for ridicule. He is a person who believes in true love, and has fantasies for him and Brett, and hopes for their relationship. Since he truly loves Brett he does not think of sex as a recreation, as she thinks, their time together ends catastrophically for him. Cohn was boxer and he fights only with the margins of the gym until his jealousy and frustration make him tie in the Jake and Pablo. He played tennis as well and if he loses he elegantly accepted the defeat. Cohn was an emotional person and in any way could not accept that his affair with Brett was not emotionally valuable. Even though he acted as a fool he kept his traditional beliefs and values and it is maybe he wasn t part of the war. But these values have no place in the world of the war, and he could not keep them. This is proved when Cohn flies from Pamplona. His friend Jake doesn t like his skills, but from his jealousy wants to hurt him and in this way he will become unwounded as well Bill Gorton Another character in The Sun Also Rises is Bill Gorton. As Jake and his friends Bill is also a veteran of the war, although he is not an emigrant. His personality in the book is used for many purposes, especially is used to exemplify Hemingway s authority for the ability in the storytelling. In order to deal with psychological and emotional fallout of the war, he most of the time uses humor. His jokes particularly on the fishing trip of Burguete, have not outlasted their particular time and this kind of humor is nearly the same as of the characters in the Shakespeare and Chaucer s books. His drunken jabber about his back from Vienna to Paris is completely comic. Bill Gordon s occurrence in the book gives the author the chance for further characterization of his leading role. He and his friend Jake make several conversations during the novel and Jake confesses some things that he does not say to anyone other, including the reader as well. As American veterans Bill and Jake share a strong friendship which reflects the most emotional connections in the book. Through their friendship we learn that Jake has the ability to be 17

18 generous and friendly with the surrounding people without including his desire to hurt Cohn, whereas the character of Bill tells us how his friend Jake acts outside toward the other people, so Bill s personality reflects the public face of Jake. In contrast to his friends Mike, Jake, Count and Brett, he did not fight in the war, but he has been only a war correspondent. His distance toward Brett make his friends think that he is gay, but maybe he has struggled with a sexual secret, and this is the battle that he has to face every day, his carrying of the burden sexuality in a homophobic culture, but still this is a way that allows him to be part of the group in a manner that Robert Cohn cannot Mike Campbell Brett s fiancé Mike Campbell, a Scottish veteran of the war is a rude and inappropriate character of the novel The Sun Also Rises. Since the characters almost all time drink alcohol, Mike drinks as well and most of the time is drunk. He was a person with terrible temper which is better expressed during his tremendously frequent bouts of drunkenness. After drinking some glasses of alcohol he totally lost himself and he loses his temper in the party in Pamplona, while talking with Robert: Tell me Robert. Why do you follow Brett around like a poor bloody steer? Don t you know you re not wanted? I know when I m not wanted. Why don t you not know when you re not wanted? [ ]. Shut up. You re drunk. Perhaps I am drunk. Why aren t you drunk? Why don t you ever get drunk, Robert? You know you didn t have a good time at San Sebastian because none of your friends would invite you on any of their parties. You can t blame them hardly. Can you? I asked them to. 18 They wouldn t do it. You can t blame them, now. Can you? Answer me. Can you blame them? Go to hell, Mike. (Hemingway, 1926, p,113). His jealousy and temper is shown in public. The author his character has personalized as a person who lives by the allowance and help of his family and his friends. Since he loved Brett, her personality and attraction to the other men disturbed him, this caused outbreaks of self-pity and anger into him. During the entire novel Mike was insecure for the lack of money and for disloyalty of Brett. As Jake and Bill speak a lot for war, he never wanted to remember or to speak for war, even on the external level, when the theme was war he tried to turn the situation into comedy. According to this we get the feeling that his lack of focus for life is related to his personal background as the 18

19 implementation of his family, and his sudden evaporation of any wisdom of reason as the war end Pedro Romero The character that gives hope in the novel The Sun Also Rises is Pedro Romero. He was a handsome, nineteen-year-old who likes bullfighting. Romero s personality is used to preserves instinctive sense of purity and honor, a characteristic that Montoya and Jake recognize as the blot of the true bullfighter. He had talents in ring and sports. For Jake and his friends he served as a foil, because all the time he acts with confidence and self-respect. As a young boy he was virile, and at his age it was impossible to be damaged psychologically or physically from war, because when it ended it was only thirteen and this makes him different from Mike, Cohn, or Bill. He characterizes the healthy and good thing that is left from the world; He loves his craft and dedicates to it more than to his life. His passion for bullfighting is the reason that his life is filled with purpose and meaning, since they live in a world filled with corrupted masculinity and with sexual immorality he is the figure of strength, purity and honesty. 19

20 4. Main Conflicts in The Sun Also Rises 4.1. Internal conflict regarding Jake s Struggle with Brett One of the most important conflicts in The Sun Also Rises is Brett s and Jake s relationship. This also can be considered as man vs. man conflict. Since both of them were part of the war, their physical and emotional personality was wounded without leaving the opportunity for repair. The Sun Also Rises is a novel that gives the reader the impression than anyone from the male characters in that novel cannot be able to be with Brett. As the novel continues, their relationship stays almost the same, it doesn t change. Jake is in love with Brett in a hopeless way, but the war caused him damage in his body and personality but still he is able to do anything to have her. They both are in love with each other, but cannot be together. Although Jake knows that they cannot be together, he has a hope but the reader of the novel expects from him to realize the truth, to change his mind, and to put everything behind him. This idea change by the end of the novel because he was in front of Brett, but this time he didn t beg to her, he doesn t ask her to live with him. Jake s personality is very complex and his past hurts him every day. His inability to have sex with women forces Brett to stay far from him. This fact makes him suspicion about his masculinity, and even he says that his manhood is dead, I never think about it (Hemingway, 1926, p,34). This is the sad true and whatever he does cannot change the past. Here is also an internal conflict which is known as man vs. self conflict. Brett in the other hand is a woman with charm but is unable to love only one person for a long time. She had hard life and her marriages weren t successful. Her first husband abused her, and this is why she decided to go in the war and there is where she meets Jake. However, he is unable to fulfill her sexual needs, and she left her old life in order to live when she can decide how to live without living with the bad things around her. By the end of the novel she said I ll just talk around it. (Hemingway, 1926, p,195). Instead of facing the problems she throws them just like she did with Jake, but if they could face these problems and choose them, they could help each other and be together. Through the novel Jake persistently tried to get her to live together. Jake s true emotions can be seen in the beginning of the book, when they run into each other. Brett tries to turn him away because doesn t want him to love her, but he doesn t give up even that knows that is impossible 20

21 to be with her. His intentions grow every day, and one day he says: Couldn t we live together, Brett. Couldn t we just live together? (Hemingway, 1926, p.62). His way of speaking is so desperate but still he should think and accept the reality. But the answer that he receives is still more desperately. She says I don t think so. I d just tromper you with everybody.,(hemingway, 1926, p.63) in this way tells him that if they commit together, she will betray him. By the end of the novel, finally, Jake realizes that they can t be together and decides to move on and to enjoy his life by traveling, drinking, fishing and spending a lot of time with his friends. He also likes to swim and he says he blew the salt water on his head.this shows the reader that he dived into water as if he was baptized. In a hastily manner this means that he is reborn and has forgotten everything from the past. As the novel continues the reader may think that he finally left everything, and moved on. Not only readers there are also opinions from critics such as from Fielder who says that Brett never becomes a woman really; she is mythicized rather than redeemed. And if she is the most satisfactory female character in all of Hemingway, this is because for once she is presented not as an animal or as a nightmare, but quite audaciously as a goddess, the bitch-goddess (Fiedler, L The Mythical Role of Lady Brett Ashley in Ernest Hemingway s The Sun Also Rises. Pg.91-96) In the last chapter of the novel something different happens. Brett writes a letter to him, asking Jake to help her. Without any doubt he accepts and goes. But this time he is convinced that the only relation that they can have is their friendship. He doesn t ask her anymore to live with him. Unfortunately, even though they love each other their love isn t strong enough to fight the hard reality that they are not for each other. 21

22 4.2. The external conflict: Lady Brett Ashley versus the Men The conflict appeared between Lady Ashley s suitors and her own personality is something that can be compared as a game between a mouse and a cat. This is the reason that is considered as the main external conflict. During all the time, she tempts the men and when they finally think that have won her, she lets him and goes to the other man that is in her list, waiting for his turn. Jake mind is divided into two parts, he thinks that if he hadn t gone in the war, he would be healthy without any physical or psychological injures and as a healthy person he could have Brett. On the other hand, he would not have the possibility to meet her, if he wouldn t be injured, as she was nurse and worked in the hospital. So no matter what has happened or what will happen one thing is for sure, there is no happy ending for him. Brett is engaged to Mike Campbell, whom she leaves for another man, this way was in line Pedro Romero, the handsome bullfighter. Her admiration for Romero is seen in the very beginning when she says to Mike: Brett: Oh, isn t he lovely, Brett said. And those green trousers. Mike Campbell: Brett never took her eyes off of them. Brett: I say, I must borrow your glasses to-morrow. (Hemingway, 1926, p,13). Mike is very disappointed from her and he joins his friends, all them belonged to the Brett s dust. She decides to be with Romero, saying that she loves him, but then in order to protect him she ends their relationship, and realizes that she wants to marry Mike, whom she was engaged once. Through this novel even if tensions between characters end, there will always come something new to rock the boat. 22

23 5. Themes of The Sun Also Rises 5.1 The Challenge of Moral Value One of the most important themes in the novel The Sun Also Rises is the challenge of the moral value. For most of the readers and for critics it is considered as an immoral book, with sex as a powerful force. Many characters through the novel do things that are not appropriate to be done and that parents wouldn t like from their children to do so. The most shocking character is the Lady Brett, which seems to have sex in an indiscriminately manner. Jake on the other hand betrays Montoya, in this way allowing Brett and Romero to disappear together. Another immoral character is Cohn who lets his fiancé, only with the reason that she hasn t got enough experience to marry. Whereas Mike is very unkind when is drunk, and shows interest for his fiancé only when she already has affairs with someone other. Nearly all characters of the novel are great drinkers, and every character gets drunk to walk at some point through the novel. Since the book speaks and includes the War time, it was very difficult for people who had lived at that time and observed horrors, to believe in one beginning of a happy and quiet life. They had seen different weapons, and also have seen hundred of thousand people dying and also asking from them to help, in their last seconds of life. For persons such as Mike, Jake, Brett and the others who survived these and many other terrible things, it might denote that the world has lost its innocence, and the morality of traditional Christianity has no longer value or relevance. Or also it can be understood that everything that before had mean something such as love, art, peace, now has become helpless. What this mean in simple terms is that the world had changed as a result of the war, and people in order to know what has changed started to experiment in order to find out. Through the novel, in some four or five chapters where they meet in Pamplona for fiesta, all Jake, Mike, Cohn and Brett are tested in one or other way. Cohn has got in his mind that those beautiful women that are Well-bred are not able to do immoral things like Brett does with Romero. And if they are able, it is a process that they need to be rescued, not something that they should benefit from and decline to throw away. (1991. Racial and Sexual Coding in Hemingway s The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway Review, p.39 41) 23

24 Not only Cohn is provoked from Brett, Mike is also. Differently from Cohn, he tries to devastate himself drinking all the time, failing, and gently sleeping until the end of the fiesta and then returning to France, trying to forget the abandonment of Brett. Their relationship was not about moral or any meaningful promise, because Brett had relationships almost all the time with other men. He seems to feel proud that he saw her interest for Romero, and now he is clearly a victim and a moral failure. As almost all men of the novel John is tested as well, and although he fails he seems to take more attempts for her, and to take more seriously than the others. Brett and Jake love each other, she says him that yes she loves him and also treats him in different way, but doesn t accept to be with him since she cannot gibe up from sex. She cannot be with only one man. Through Jake she connects with Cohn, even though he doesn t knows that they are planning to go and travel to San Sebastian. He also knows about her interest for Romero, so he not only introduces them, he also lets them be together and helps them. By risking the Romero s dishonesty, which actually is the only character that remains with full moral, Jake risks hopelessness, a situation which appears in the last line of the book, that it may be only a good lie that Brett and Jake could be together if he wasn t powerless. The greatest moral choice and the best example of moral value of this novel might be Brett s decision Not to be a bitch. She is a woman with no moral, is drunk almost all the time, and plays with Jake in different ways, but in the end of the novel she lets Romero go, and not because she doesn t love him, nor that she doesn t care for him, she wants to be with him, but she leaves because she is afraid that will hurt him and fill affect his future career. She believes that will have bad effect on him. She cares a lot for him, as much as she leaves him knowing that is choosing the best thing for him. He was innocent, but he was a good person with strength spirit and also has courage that even though Cohn tries cannot beat out of him with his fists, and that demonstrates himself in the bullfighting ring. He was considered a hero, with great future, with dreams to be rich and famous, but despite these good things she leaves him. During the time in relationship with Brett, are possibilities that Romero teaches her much about the value of moral as she realizes that she doesn t belong with him and that his future will be better without her. So if this is true, then the character of Romero becomes the only source with moral clarity. He all things does in the proper way; he is used as a model of virtue, since he has 24

25 respect for tradition, for people, history, himself and even for the animals that he kills..(1991. Racial and Sexual Coding in Hemingway s The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway Review p.39-41) 5.2 Living Aimlessly The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway is considered as the main prose of the Lost Generation. This term Lost Generation was firstly coined by Gertrude Stein in a conversation made in Paris on The novel is considered as an impressive document of people, who belonged to this group known as Lost Generation because they had dreams and innocence shattered by World War I, emerged from the war sour and aimless, and most of the time spent partying away their frustrations and drinking. The World War I challenged traditional notions of faith, moral and justice. They weren t able to rely on these traditional beliefs that make life meaningful, but women and men that experienced war get lost psychologically and morally, and suffered without purpose in a world full of meaning. So, war changed and affected all those who experienced it, and those who came in that war time are known as Lost Generation. Characters of The Sun Also Rises belong to the Lost Generation as well. Brett, Jake and the others have dramatic life, because they do not believe anymore to anything, nor to anyone, their lives are empty. This fact in the novel is known as loss. When they loosed their ideas, nationalism, and structures that herd self identity in the time of World War I, they seem to have lost themselves as well. Most of the time characters are restless, always in wander, asking for change of landscape, as if looking to run away. They would like to live somewhere other, rather than in Europe, but there are also some reasons why they stay. They have made themselves refugee, far from their houses, learning European cultures, but not joining them. The reader of the novel finds a scene in which Jake and the others feel as if not belonging anywhere. Sometimes Jake and his friend find some jobs such as editing or writing, but these occupations don t seem to have regular hours and none of them are acceptable to any location or to any boss. These characters spend their time dancing, socializing, playing games, drinking and enjoying. They decide to drink a lot and then to stay drunk as Mike says: I am rather drunk, Mike said. I think I ll stay rather drunk. [ ] I m going in the room. Try and get a little sleep. He smiled. [ ] We ll see you at noon at the Iruña, Bill said. Mike when out the door. We heard him in the next room. He rang the bell and the chambermaid came and knocked at the door. Bring up a dozen bottles of beer and a bottle of Fundador, Mike told her. These are all activities that are 25