(1)”I can’t stand it to think my life is going so fast and I’m not really living it,”(p.6) said Jakes Barnes in The Sun Also Rises. [ITALICIZE BOOK TITLES] The Sun Also Rises is a book written by Ernest Hemingway. In this paper we will look at Ernest Hemingway himself, the inspiration for Hemingway’s writings, and the different styles of writing Hemingway uses. Another thing we will look at in this paper is World War I and the effects that the war caused. Lastly, we will look at the book itself, The Sun Also Rises, the characters from the book, the relationships the character had, and the effect the war had on the characters in this novel.
Ernest Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899 in Cicero, Illinois. When Hemingway was young, he learned how to hunt and fish, which led to some of his novels such as The Old Man and the Sea. In 1918, Hemingway served in World War I as an ambulance driver in the Italian Army. While in a hospital in Milan, Hemingway met a nurse and proposed, but she declined and ran off with another man. Hemingway went to Europe for a portion of his life; he spent most of his time there in Paris. His time in Paris later became the basis for The Sun Also Rises. Hemingway was the type of person to chase adventure, which he relates to the characters in his novels. Hemingway won the Nobel Prize as well as the Pulitzer Prize for his literary accomplishments. Toward the end of Hemingway’s life, he was suffering from the injuries he had sustained in the military and from old age. Hemingway ultimately committed suicide on July 2, 1961. Hemingway was the ideal American author who many people today strive to be and write like. He is looked up to by many Americans as well as many people around the World. Hemingway left a legacy that will be hard for modern authors to live up to. However, his accomplishments will forever be remembered and his writing wisdom will be used as inspiration for many.
Ernest Hemingway, just as most other writers, was influenced by other former authors from his era. He would learn the ideal way to write based off of previous authors’ ideas and creativity. Hemingway like a lot of other authors was also influenced by the war. He may have had the best “view” of the war as he served in the Italian army and served as a journalist later in his life. The war inspired Hemingway’s writings and we can see this in a lot of his novels such as The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms. Hemingway was also inspired with his time in Paris. We see that he uses his experience in Paris as an idea in his novels as well. Hemingway spent a lot of time in Europe and his time in Spain also contributed to some of his books. Hemingway was also influenced by the friends that he has around him and the people he spent the most time with such as Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein. Like many authors, Hemingway was mostly inspired by the experiences he had while traveling or growing up, which allowed him the basis to write many books that are known and taught in the World today.
Ernest Hemingway had an interesting writing style, in the modern day it is known as the hard-boiled style of writing. The term hard-boiled when referring to literature, is a term that originated during World War I. The term hard-boiled refers to the style of writing is straight and to the point with no emotion almost seen as harsh or coldhearted. The hard-boiled style of writing was common for the era and Hemingway like other authors of his era wrote this way. Another style that Hemingway is thought to have used is the omission theory also known as the iceberg theory. The omission theory is when the “true” meaning of the story is not expressed by the author but seen as an underlying message that the author has given basis to. This style of writing allowed Hemingway’s books to become popular and inspirational to the many children, to which the schools distribute the books to and the upcoming, new authors who are looking for a particular style of writing.
World War I was a war that took place from July 28, 1914 until November 11, 1918. It was a global war that was between the Allied Powers and Germany and Austria-Hungary known as the Central Powers (The United States later joined the Allied Powers). The cause of the war in the first place was the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand. The war took place in a lot of different locations such as; Europe, Mideast, Africa, Pacific, Atlantic, Mediterranean, North Sea, and lastly Baltic Sea. The war lasted over fours years and resulted in a win for the Allied Powers. According to (World), there were 22.5 million casualties for the Allied Powers, and 37.5 million casualties for the Central Powers. The war is known for the use of trenches, which was not the case in previous wars. This was the first major war that took place on land and at sea. According to (World), the results of the war were the end of the Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian empires. The war also affected people in a way that was not seen, until after.
World War I was a very bloody battle that did not only leave its mark on the battle field. The war affected more people than thought previously, due to an undiagnosed PTSD that affected many soldiers. People from the war came back home and their actions and experience from the war affected those who were not directly there. A lot of soldiers were directly affected by the war and a lot of people uninvolved were affected indirectly. The war caused many different types of long term affects including tuberculosis, asthma, and trench foot. Many soldiers required daily assistance on their wounds and or sicknesses. These were due to unsanitary conditions as well as close quarters which allowed sicknesses to spread easily. The biggest emotional trauma soldiers experienced was shell shock, which was previously thought to have been caused by the loud noise of shells. But, shell shock was later found that soldiers who had not been around the loud shells were developing the same symptoms and illness. Shell shock was something that was psychological and was not a physical ailment. Shell shock is not the same as PTSD but they are very similar, because they are both psychological illnesses caused by war primarily. When soldiers came back, the one’s suffering from PTSD affected those not affected directly by the war. The people taking care of the victims of the war also were affected by seeing their loved ones this way. The survivors of the war who suffered psychologically were still trying to “survive” well after the war.
The Sun Also Rises is a book written by Ernest Hemingway. Jake Barnes is the main character and is also the narrator of the novel. Robert Cohn is a person that works with Jake and they spend a lot of time together during the novel. Jake spends most of his nights out drinking with his “friends” and then going home drunk and crying himself to sleep over Lady Brett. Jake is in love with Brett but they agree that they cannot be together. It turns out that Cohn is also falling in love with Brett. Lady Brett is currently getting divorced and already has plans to marry Mike Campbell. Jake and Cohn despise Count Mippipopolous because he is dating Brett although she has plans to get married to Mike. Bill Gorton is Jake’s friend and the two and Cohn go to fish in Spain and then go to a fiesta in Pamplona. While in Pamplona, the three meet up with Brett and her soon to be husband, Mike, to watch bullfighting. While at the bullfight Brett tells Jake that she has fallen in love with Romero the bullfighter. To end the novel, Lady Brett goes to Madrid with Romero and then breaks up with him; Lady Brett then asks Jake to go to Madrid. When Jake gets there, Brett tells him she wants to get back together with Mike, and they leave together to find Mike and Brett tells Jake that they would have been wonderful together.
Jake Barnes is the main character in The Sun Also Rises; he is in love with Lady Brett. Lady Brett and Jake met during World War I when Jake was wounded. Brett worked as a nurse and helped Jake with his injury. This story that is written by Ernest Hemingway is very closely related to his own life. Hemingway fought in World War I and met a woman who he tried to propose to, but she denied him when he was wounded. This woman also happened to be a nurse. Jake’s injury from the war, which we never find out what it actually is, kept the two from being together according to Brett. Brett cannot commit to Jake due to this injury. Jake says and tells us that he is in love with Brett, and we read that he cries himself to sleep at night. Jake watches throughout the book Lady Brett going through different men and not committing to one for a long period of time. Over time this hurts Jake and does not allow him to live his life how he wants to. Jake is trapped in the past, and seems to not see the bright side of anything in life. Jake seems to not be able to move on with his life because he cannot move on from Brett. Jake keeps going into old habits and sticking around and helping Brett, when he should space himself from Lady Brett.
In many ways, we see that Jake and Ernest Hemingway have very similar character traits. Hemingway intertwined his life into a fictional tale to create a book that is taught in school today. The Sun Also Rises is not the only one of the books that Hemingway intertwined his own personal experiences into; take for instance, The Old Man and the Sea. Hemingway learned to fish when he was really young, which he shows by the old man in the book on a never ending quest to catch a huge marlin. Also, this book shows the never ending quest for adventure that Hemingway was known to have when he was growing up as well as in his adulthood. Jake Barnes served in the World War I which is the same as Hemingway himself. They both suffered wounds and met the love of their lives in a hospital, where the only difference is Hemingway moved on whereas Jake could not. Jake’s wound he suffered in the war was a long term ordeal that he could not overcome. Ultimately, Hemingway committed suicide but this may have been due to injuries psychologically that he experienced while serving. Hemingway was known as a person that loved to travel and had a thirst for adventure, which we can see the same in Jake. Jake travels nonstop during the book and Hemingway travels pretty much nonstop during his whole life. Jake lives in Paris and travels to other parts of Europe, which we know is a place where Hemingway traveled and spent a lot of time including parts of Europe other than Paris. Overall, Hemingway and his characters in his novels seem to have a lot of close characteristics about them and Hemingway’s character Jake Barnes and he seem to have a whole lot in common.
All in all, Ernest Hemingway is a very interesting guy and he is a great American author. He has left a legacy that all authors strive for, and all authors look up to him. Like many author’s Hemingway used his own personal experiences and things he loved to do in life as a basis for many of his books. Hemingway’s style of writing was a common way to write in his day, but he seemed to take it to another level. World War I played a big role in Hemingway’s life and how he “viewed” the war. From Hemingway’s World War I experience, he was able to write several novels based on his “view” of what happened during the war. He was also able to write about the effects that the war’s aftermath had on people who were directly or indirectly involved. The Sun Also Rises is an example of a novel from Hemingway that portrays the life of Jake and his experiences in life after World War I. Lastly, we see that Hemingway was affected by the war whether psychologically or physically, and that Hemingway had the talent to relay his thoughts and experiences of situations to other people through different novels.
Works Cited
- “Ernest Hemingway.” Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 03 May 2017
- “Ernest Hemingway – Biographical.” Ernest Hemingway – Biographical. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2017.
- “Ernest Hemingway.” HISTORY. N.p., 19 Mar. 2013. Web. 03 May 2017.
- “The LitCharts Study Guide to The Sun Also Rises.” LitCharts. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2017.
- “Ernest Hemingway Biography.” – Life, Family, Childhood, Story, Death, Wife, School, Mother, Young. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2017.