The Sun Also Rises Essay Example

The Sun Also Rises Mystery Essay Ernest Hemmingway’s novel The Sun Also Rises is not considered to be a mystery. However, through his creative storytelling, Hemingway nimbly evokes an aura of uncertainty and mystique surrounding the relationship of Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley. Their attraction to each other is palpable, yet without the ability to consummate her sexual desires, and the tragic war wound that rendered him impotent, Brett obstinately pursues a variety of other meaningless relationships. There appears to be a recurring internal conflict with Brett throughout the course of the novel. Incapable of dealing with Jake’s injury, she meanders from relationship to relationship searching for that same unequivocal love she and Jake share. Jake all the while has nothing but unremitting love for this woman, and time and time again proves he is willing to sacrifice anything, even his own moral compass, to be with her. In essence, the real mystery of this novel is the potential relationship that could have ensued had life dealt these characters a different hand. If Jake’s accident not occurred, and had Lady Brett not been emotionally damaged by prior relationships, could they have been together forever, or do their circumstances allow love and friendship to grow because there is no chance of any real romantic future? Although it is not her intention to manipulate their hearts, Brett’s inability to commit to any man, toys with their emotions and pits them against each other at times. Why she finds herself incapable of such commitment is a mystery in itself. Once the subject of brutal spousal abuse, Freud’s psychoanalytic perspective would suggest that Brett’s reservations toward commitment stem from the trauma she endured while married. Being ultimately controlled by her husband’s threats of violence, she refuses to allow herself to be cast in another submissive and domineering relationship. As a result, she acts purely on her own desires and is