The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Heminway

The Sun Also Rises” was written by an author regarded that many individuals regard as the greatest modern writers; Ernest Hemingway. Written in 1926, in a time that can only be described as firmly within the “modernist movement” of literature, it was heavily impacted upon by the reality of carnage that was the First World War. Critics of this particular period of literature oftentimes refer to the writings that come from this era as being the product of a “lost generation”. This is of course with reference to the fact that those individuals within this “lost generation” had their youth, hopes, and dreams dashed as a result of the horrific carnage and terror of the first global conflict of the modern era (Bercovitch &Cyrus 62). True to this approach, the story in question incorporates key elements of modernism within its plot. The goal of this particular paper will be to provide the reader with key insights into the way in which imagination and elements of modernism/realism are reflected within the work in question. Further, the paper will seek to explore the how imagination in the novel impacts the characters’ lives.

The central conflict in the novel is a love that is destined not to be between the protagonists Jake Barnes and Lady Ashley Brett. All along, the author takes the audience through a journey full of turmoil in the lives of the character; all while it becomes clear as that imagination is playing a key part in what ultimately provides the fuel and passion for this relationship. This imagination that is being defined and described is more of a hopeless imagination; as it eventually is exhibited as a breakdown in the main character’s love illusions. Lady Brett fails to accept Jake; due in part to his incapability of p...

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...e not appropriate. They would rather embrace reality, regain a moral direction and do away with their naïve imaginations. It is an aspect that Hemingway brings throughout the story and emphasizes in the conclusion (Reynolds 87).

This novel is a good case of interaction between realism and modernity as well as imagination. It portrays smooth transition as and relevance of each approach used by the author. Certainly, modernism in the novel, realism and imagination all contribute to make this literary piece a relevant novel to the society. It also addresses the historical perspective very well. Moreover, the true “action” of the piece is most accurately depicted with respect to the realizations that the main characters have that imagination in and of itself is no longer a fitting or appropriate way through which they should seek to direct or master their own fate.