Ernest Miller Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises instilled in me a fascination for the vibrant nightlife of Paris and the famed bullfighting fiesta of Pamplona. As I read the profoundly descriptive and atmospheric text, both cities came alive so vividly that it seemed as though the events were unfolding right before my eyes. Set in post-World War I Europe, the novel offers a compelling portrayal of the “Lost Generation,” a term coined by Gertrude Stein for those who came of age around the time of World War I and were left socially, emotionally, and economically scarred by its aftermath.
Hemingway was born in 1899 in Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. He completed his graduation and soon after joined journalism as a profession. He rose to fame on account of his impressive, concise prose and distinctive writing style. Later he served in three major wars—World War I, the Spanish Civil War, and World War II—in the capacity of an ambulance driver and war correspondent.
His major works, A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Across the River and into the Trees, and the novel in question as well, are reflections of what he endured during the turbulent war times. Only his novella The Old Man and the Sea is an exception because its plot hinges on the element of hope, unlike his other works. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954 for his impressive art of narrative, especially as demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea.
Ernest Hemingway drew heavily from his own experiences as an ambulance driver and war correspondent
The Sun Also Rises follows the lives of Jake Barnes, Lady Brett Ashley and Robert Cohn predominantly. Once a middleweight boxing champion at Princeton, Jake is working in Paris as a journalist. His participation in World War I as a war correspondent renders him impotent and leaves him unfit to indulge in physical intimacy with his beloved Lady Brett.
Twice divorced, Brett is a bewitching British beauty and a socialite. She loves Jake but finds herself unable to commit to a relationship with him, mainly due to the absence of sex in their life. As a nymphomaniac, she pursues other men during the course of the novel. The third important character is Robert Cohn. He is a Jewish writer and has a contradictory personality. He falls for Brett and suffers pain and anguish when he sees her with other men.
The narrative is supported by three other characters—Bill Gorton, Mike Campbell and Pedro Romero. Bill is also a war veteran and supports Jake as a stabilising friend during their trip to Spain. Mike is a drunkard and the fiancé of Brett. Just like other men, he seeks attention and affection from Brett. Romero is a nineteen-year-old handsome bullfighter. Brett falls for him during the fiesta, and they end up spending time together.
The novel is structured into three books. The first book opens with the narrator, Jake Barnes, recounting his boxing championship days. He then introduces Robert Cohn, detailing his relationships and his behaviour during university, particularly when Cohn goes to America, and his novel is published and praised by American publishers.
When Cohn is back in Paris, he reads WH Hudson’s The Purple Land and gets obsessed with the idea of living his life to the fullest. Cohn says to Jake, “I can't stand it to think my life is going so fast and I'm not really living it.” He pesters Jake with requests about going to South America, but Jake puts the plan off temporarily by saying, “Listen, Robert, going to another country doesn't make any difference. I've tried all that. You can't get away from yourself by moving from one place to another. There's nothing to that.”
In the meantime, the often aimless ritual of characters drinking, conversing and observing while sitting at cafés in Paris continues. Jake is widely accepted as the literary alter ego of Hemingway and reflects the author’s post–World War I disillusionment. He frequently sits at cafés, stays lost in thought and treats himself to delightful French dishes.
His affection for Brett makes his life uncharacteristically complex. For instance, once she turns up at his apartment late at night with Count Mippipopolous, a wealthy, spendthrift Greek war veteran infatuated with her, just because she wants to see Jake. Brett puts Jake in similar unusual conditions throughout the novel.
Book Two follows the characters’ trip to Spain to attend the 1925 fiesta in Pamplona. They travel in two groups and ultimately get together for the main festivities. The days leading up to the fiesta are filled with zeal and zest as people constantly arrive from across the globe to enjoy the bullfighting. The flurry of activities shifts the mood and tone of the novel. There remains no difference between days and nights, nor between sleeping and waking. They are immersed in absorbing the vibe of the fiesta.
Book Three shifts its focus from the festivities to the characters’ gradual return to their routine lives. All the characters gradually leave for the cities they came from. Jake goes to the Hotel Montana in San Sebastian to relax and swim for a few days. Brett, who is in Madrid with Romero, sends a telegram to Jake asking for help.
Concerned for her safety, Jake reaches Madrid the very next day. He learns upon his arrival that she sent Romero away because she didn’t want to ruin his life. However, by this time, she has realised the importance of Jake in her life and how deeply he cares about her. The novel ends with an unspectacular yet remarkable conversation between Jake and Brett as they ride in a taxi in Madrid. It is as follows:
“Oh, Jake,” Brett said, “we could have had such a damned good time together.”
“Yes,” I said. “Isn't it pretty to think so?”
Being deeply disillusioned and emotionally damaged, the central characters are, in some way or another, always running away from themselves. They use alcohol and hedonism to hide trauma, moral emptiness, and the lost meaning of life and traditions. But the cities, as portrayed in the novel, are very much alive with a distinct and active energy, contrasting with the moral and emotional emptiness of the “Lost Generation” expatriate characters. This particular quality makes the novel quite appealing and an impressive read.