Symbolism In The Sun Also Rises

Hemingway and the Crisis of Meaning Ernest Hemingway’s novel The Sun Also Rises perfectly encapsulates the meaningless mentality of the post World War I or “lost” generation. Aimlessly drifting about their lives after the damaging effects of the war, the characters in this novel struggle through each of their existential crisis’s in their own ways. Hemingway illustrates this crisis of meaning through each character’s aimless view on life and the struggle the male characters have with their masculinity. This highlights the negative effect of war on American citizens and society, and the unrealistic expectations and views of the soldiers at that time. Throughout the entire duration of the book, the main characters were in a constant cycle of searching for a new adventure in the hopes of finding some excitement, getting to said adventure (be it a restaurant, bar, or a new city or country) and going through the motions of dancing wildly and consuming such copious amounts of alcohol that they could not possibly even enjoy themselves. While Hemingway never outright says that his characters are lost and searching
for a means of finding purpose in their lives after being damaged by the war, it is very heavily implied by the contrast between their mental and emotional states and the way they portray themselves outwardly to each other. They spend pretty much all of their time getting drunk and partying, but they remain forlorn and unfulfilled. Their drinking and dancing is pretty much a futile grasping of straws for distraction characteristic of a purposeless, wandering lifestyle. “You can’t get away from yourself by moving from one place to another.” Jake says this to Robert Cohn when Cohn tries to convince him to travel to South America with him on vacation because he feels that he isn’t living life to the fullest. Jake knows that what Cohn is looking for is something psychological, not geographical or external, and he looks down on Cohn for not being able to recognize that; however, Jake does the exact same thing in his own way (as does each of the other characters damaged by the ravages of the war). Hemingway also illustrates Jake’s crisis of meaning through his inability to perform sexually due to his injury from the war and his never-ending journey to find ways to compensate for it. This is most obviously seen in his obsession with the bull-fights as well as the bull-fighters. “[Cohn:] ‘I can’t stand it to think my life is going so fast and I’m not really living it.’ [Jake]“Nobody ever lives their life all the way up except bull-fighters. ()’” Bullfighting is obviously an extremely masculine sport, with bravery and confidence being necessary in order to succeed, both of which are traits associated with sex appeal. By submersing himself in the manly sport of bullfighting and idolizing these men, he is able to forget his own incompetence. Of course, this incompetence continues to bother him only because of Brett. Despite the bullfighting, Jake can’t seem to escape a nagging sense of inadequacy, which is only worsened by Brett’s refusal to have a relationship with him because of it. He carries the burden of feeling that he is less of a man than he was before. While Jake’s impotence is the most obvious example of a weak sense of masculinity in the novel, it is certainly not the only one. All of the veterans are insecure of their manhood in some shape or form. Hemingway first presents this through his portrayal of Brett, a character that seems to be used to contrast the men’s insecurities. It seems that in many ways, she is much more masculine than any of the men in the book. She wears her hair cropped short like a man, she regards herself and calls herself a “chap” just like her male counterparts, she wears men’s clothing and she is strong and independent, manipulating and controlling her love interests with ease. She confidently and ironically personifies all these traditionally masculine character traits while all the males in the novel struggle with their own masculinity. Hemingway also shows this masculine insecurity through the way the men treat Robert Cohn. They make Cohn the brunt of abuse when they see him behaving in unmanly ways such as following Brett around and being extremely and openly insecure about himself to his friends. They cope with their fears of being weak and non-masculine by criticizing the weakness they see in him. World War I had extremely negative effects on American soldiers, citizens, and society. WWI showed the introduction of “shell shock syndrome” and post traumatic stress disorder (Alexander, Smithsonian Maganize). After the war, many adults in their twenties and thirties that had lived through the war were referred to at the “Lost Generation.” This term was coined by Gertrude Stein and popularized by Hemingway himself. This term refers to the undermining of the belief in justice, morality, manhood, and love “resulting from the horrific disillusionment felt by those who grew up and lived through the war” (O’Conner, writersinpsire.org). After seeing such widespread suffering, death, and destruction, it was hard to keep up their patriotism and they often lost values of courage and masculinity, turning instead to aimless and reckless spending and traveling, becoming expatriates. Hemingway’s characters fully embody this forlorn sense of being lost. Their post-war lives are defined by wandering from bar to bar, drinking heavily and getting nothing done. They have lost faith in the American way, choosing to move to Europe instead. Jake even makes a remark about not wanting to go to a certain restaurant because too many “compatriots” dined there, showing his disdain and distrust of everything American. The ravages of war destroyed many soldiers’ sense of masculinity, as shown literally by Jake’s injury as well as the rest of the men’s insecurities.
Before joining the armed forces, many of the men that fought in WWI viewed soldiering as a glamorous, chivalrous job. It was the ultimate way to show masculinity, and there was no job more honorable than protecting and fighting for one’s country. However, he expectations of heroism and stoicism was no match for the mass amount of pointless death, disease and suffering within the trenches of WWI, thoroughly shattering the facade and leaving the soldiers confused about their masculinity as well as their purpose in life (Carden-Coyne, French Journal of British Studies). The Sun Also Rises perfectly illustrates the disillusionment felt by many American men at the time towards their roles as men in the United
States. World War I was an extremely trying and difficult time for American citizens and society, especially for the soldiers that were sent to fight. With the subtlety that is characteristic of him, Hemingway constructs complex characters that wholly embody what it meant to be a part of the “lost generation” post World War I. The crisis of meaning is approached in The Sun Also Rises through the characters’ inability to find purpose in life, choosing to go about their days aimlessly, as well as through the male insecurities and the confusion the men have about their place and purpose in society. This