The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway

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Where is Love?

The novel, The Sun also Rises, was written by Ernest Hemingway and published in 1926. It tells a story of the 1920s, also known as the Lost Generation. World War I affects all of the characters in this book and plays a large role in their love lives. In Ernest Hemingway’s novel, Lady Brett Ashley is an attractive woman who uses her beauty as advantage towards men. Brett is involved in many different affairs and has many different relationships. Mike Campbell, Pedro Romero, Robert Cohn, and the most Jake Barnes. Brett is very powerful in these relationships, causing them to be very destructive to both Brett and the men. A group of American and British citizens travel from Paris to the festival of San Fermin in Pamplona, Spain, where their true characters are exposed through their drunken interactions. Throughout this novel, love is a major theme that is constantly affecting all of the characters involved.

At the beginning of the story, Brett is getting a divorce from her husband and later becomes engaged to Mike Campbell, a drunken Scotch veteran of World War I. This engagement to Mike however does not stop Lady Brett from having many affairs with many different men including Cohn, Pedro, and Jake. However, she does not have a sexual relationship with Jake. Jake Barnes is an American World War veteran who works as a journalist. Brett was not content with her surroundings or the life she was living and looked for escape and comfort in the arms of these men. Throughout the novel Brett seeks many different men in attempt to solve her problems. Although all of these men had strong feelings for Brett, she only had eyes for Jake. Jake and Brett however could not be together because of injuries he received from World Wa...

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...s. Brett and Mike were not in love, leading Brett to many more affairs. Pedro Romero was a young man who was simple, fervent, and courageous enough to love. He captivated Brett almost instantly. He often challenged death in his job as a bullfighter. He was not scared in the bullring and he managed the bulls like an expert. Pedro was the first guy other than Jake who seriously caught Brett’s attention. They were happy and in love but Brett broke it off because she was scared she would ruin him. Unlike Jake she gave him up before she could hurt him like she had hurt all of the other guys. This is the first time Brett shows that she actually cares. Although she did care for Jake she let him get hurt before she broke it off, like she did the other men that she did not care about.

Work cited

Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises. New York: Scribner, 1954. Print.

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