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    Major Themes
    The Lost Generation: The Sun Also Rises is an impressive
    document of the people who came to be known, in Gertrude Stein's
    words (which form half the novel's epigraph), as the "Lost
    Generation." The young generation she speaks of had their dreams and
    innocence smashed by World War I, emerged from the war bitter and
    aimless, and spent much of the prosperous 1920s drinking and
    partying away their frustrations. Jake epitomizes the Lost
    Generation; physically and emotionally wounded from the war, he is
    disillusioned, cares little about conventional sources of hope --
    family, friends, religion, work -- and apathetically drinks his way
    through his expatriate life. Even travel, a rich source of potential
    experience, mostly becomes an excuse to drink in exotic locales.
    Irresponsibility also marks the Lost Generation; Jake rarely
    intervenes in other's affairs, even when he could help (as with
    Cohn), and Brett carelessly hurts men and considers herself
    powerless to stop doing so. While Hemingway critiques the
    superficial, empty attitudes of the Lost Generation, the other quote
    in the epigraph from Ecclesiastes expresses the hope that future
    generations may rediscover themselves.
    Emasculation and impotence: One of the key changes
    Hemingway observes in the Lost Generation is that of the new male
    psyche, battered by the war and newly domesticated. Jake embodies
    this new emasculation; most likely physically impotent, he cannot
    have sex and, therefore, can never have the insatiable Brett.
    Instead, he is dominated by her (see "Sexuality and bull-fighting,"
    below), as is Cohn, who is also abused by the other women in his
    life. Jake is even threatened by the homosexual men who dance with
    Brett in Paris; while not sexually interested in her, they have more
    "manhood" than Jake, physically speaking. Though a veteran, Jake now
    works in an office and fritters away his time with superficial
    socializing; he admires bull-fighters so much, and Romero in
    particular, because they are far more heroic than he is or ever was.
    Though Romero's appearance is more feminine than Jake's, he fulfills
    the code of the Hemingway hero, commandingly confronting death as a
    man of action with what Hemingway has called "grace under pressure."
    Jake, on the other hand, has returned from his confrontation with
    death feeling like less of a man, physically and emotionally.
    Sexuality and bull-fighting: Hemingway draws numerous
    parallels between bull-fighting and Brett's sexuality. Early in the
    novel, Brett tells Jake she cannot commit to him, as she will
    "tromper" him; while this means "to be unfaithful to," it also means
    "to elude," and it makes sense why she is attracted to Romero: as a
    great bull-fighter, he is the consummate eluder, deceiving the bulls
    into thinking they are close to him, then pulling away, much as
    Brett does with men. Romero also penetrates with his phallic sword
    both the bull and, as Jake metaphorically describes it, the
    audience; he begins as the coy, elusive female, then metamorphoses
    into the violent, dominant male. In one episode, Jake and Cohn also
    resemble steers (Mike even calls Cohn a steer), young oxen castrated
    before sexual maturity. Jake resembles the steer that joins the herd
    of bulls (much as he, as a castrated male, manages to belong to his
    group of virile friends), while Cohn is like the steer excluded from
    the group, the pariah who follows around Brett.
    Nature and regeneration: Hemingway depicts nature as a
    pastoral paradise uncorrupted by the city or women. Each time Jake
    ventures into nature, especially on his fishing trip, he is
    rejuvenated. While fishing with Bill, they bond and are unafraid to
    be intimate with each other; Jake does not mind that the fish he has
    caught are smaller than Bill's, in what sounds like an admission of
    lesser sexual virility, while Bill tells Jake he is fond of him and
    says that he would be called a "'faggot'" in the city for saying
    that. They also enjoy camaraderie with the Englishman Harris there,
    in a departure from the competitive relationships with women that
    develop when women -- especially Brett -- are present. In San
    Sebastian, Jake undergoes a symbolic baptism while diving in the
    water. Even the characters' excessive drinking is given greater
    significance during the fiesta; they return to a spiritual sense of
    ritual and generosity while partying, a distinct comparison to the
    spiritually bankrupt, competitive rituals of city life.
    Hemingway's journalistic style: Hemingway's spare, laconic
    prose was influenced by his early work as a journalist, and he has
    probably had the greatest stylistic influence over 20th-century
    American writers of anyone. The key to Hemingway's style is
    omission; we usually learn less about Jake through his direct
    interior narration, but more through what he leaves out and how he
    reacts to others. For instance, we understand him much better
    through his thoughts on Cohn, who shares many of Jake's traits. As
    an example of how much Hemingway omits, Jake never even fully
    describes his war injury, leaving it somewhat open to
    interpretation. Hemingway provides a good outline of his own style
    when Jake describes Romero's bull-fighting style: "There were no
    tricks and no mystifications." Like Romero, Hemingway moves close to
    his subject, but eschews flashiness in favor of honest, authentic
    writing.

    ClassicNote on The Sun Also Rises

      About
      Ernest Hemingway
      About
      The Sun Also Rises
      Character
      List
      Major
      Themes
      Glossary
      of Terms
      Short
      Summary
      Full
      Summary and Analysis
      Summary
      and Analysis of Epigraph and Chapters 1-4
      Summary
      and Analysis of Chapters 5-9
      Summary
      and Analysis of Chapters 10-14
      Summary
      and Analysis of Chapters 15-19
      Related
      Links
      Author
      of ClassicNote and Sources
      Purchase
      the Book and Related Material
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      Yourself! Quiz 1
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      Yourself! Quiz 2
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