Ernest Hemingway was an American author born in 1899 in Oak Park Illinois to a conservative middle class family in the suburbs of Chicago. At his late teenage years, Hemingway travelled to Europe to serve as a Red Cross office for the Italian army at the onset of the First World War. Later, Hemingway was to travel to different parts of Europe including Germany and France eventually becoming the European reporter for the Kansas City Star Newspaper. Hemingway leaves a legacy of novels such as A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and the most famous of all his novels The Sun Also Rises. For the purposes of this paper, we explore the use of language, style and form in Hemingway’s The Sun also Rises.
The Sun also Rises is a novel about the lives of the people often called the lost generation whose adult life was consumed by the First World War. The book explores effect of the First World War in regards to its impact on the livelihoods of families. Moreover, it accounts how the First World War changed people’s perspectives of war, faith, and love. In the novel, Hemingway writes about the pursuit of meaning and purpose of life for many youth’s whose lives were shattered by the influence of war. Some scholars also argue The Sun also Rises is a story about word play and symbolism. Evidently, the novel exhibits the influence, and the anxiety of other works of famous scholars of the twentieth century including Ralph Ellison because of its emphasis on primitive low modernism. Still, a complete analysis of Hemingway eludes many scholars. Literary critics agree that Ernest Hemingway remains an interesting and mysterious writer because of the possibility to read his work in more than one way. This paper takes a twenty-first century postmodern approach of literary criticism by analyzing Hemingway’s The Sun also Rises through the lenses of style and language.
The events in the novel The Sun also Rises are described through the eyes of Jakes Barnes. To realize the effectiveness of Jake as a narrator and Hemingway as a writer, one has to look carefully at Jake’s Strengths and weaknesses. Hemingway creates Jake as a fully realized character who holds his opinions and values. Although Jake is used as a vessel to show some hints of Hemingway’s views in life, he does not completely represents Hemingway in the novel. Jake is a different character altogether. Still, there are obvious similarities between the two individuals. First, Jake and the author are the same age when both of them are journalists in Paris, both are Americans, and both are First World War veterans. Stylistically, in the view of Robert Dunn and Michael Spring, “Jake is an unreliable narrator.” Jakes unreability accrues from his inability to give the readers an independent account of events. In the novel, Jakes tells the readers what the readers would like to hear while putting himself as the good person of the novel. In addition, Jake makes judgment of other narrators without allowing the readers to make decision. For example, in the novel, Jakes hate for Cohn is apparent. This hate is a function of Cohn’s affair with Brett. However, Jake hatred has double standards since he is fond of Mike who is an alcoholic. The infusion of Hemingway’s personal values and biography in a fictional novel makes the novel unique and elaborate. Garry Holcomb in the article The Sun also Rises in Queer Black Harlem: Hemingway and McKay’s Modernist Intertext argues that Hemingway’s style was the inspiration behind Ralph Ellison’s nameless narrator in the masterpiece Invisible Man of 1940s.
Wagner Martin points that The Sun also Rises provided twentieth century readers with a startling example of the modern novel of that time. Traditional writers such as Charles Dickens and Jane Austen in which leisurely narratives told stories with well-built characters found Hemingway’s cryptic of characters about different. In The Sun also Rises characters are introduced who are not helpful. First, the story of the novel centers on the life of a First World War veterans but had nothing substantial about the actual war. The scenes shift from one scene to another. For example, the introduction of the novel focuses on the character Robert Cohn who was a boxing champion at Princeton University and shifts to the story of Pedro Romero the bullfighter from Spain.
The novel The Sun also Rises contains elements of structural oddities that are uncharacteristic of English novels. Following about previous English novels, the story starts with an exposition, however the oddity of the novel is the character presented at the beginning does not play a central role as the novel progresses. The reader of the novel would assume that Robert Cohn would be the protagonist in the story, however as the story progresses, one realizes that the actual protagonist in the novel is not Jake and not Robert. It is unusual that the writer does not give us background information on the protagonist and let the reader finds this information on ourselves. Moreover, the conflict of the novel waits until the fourth chapter.
Another notable character of The Sun also Rises is the excessive use of dialogue that was unusual for most novels at this time. Many scenes in novel begin with dialogues. For example, chapter eight begins with the word “we were sitting in the café” Dialogues become instrumental in the development of information and knowledge of other characters and their relationships with other characters in the play. The dialogue also helps the reader to know the behaviors while reproducing the actual things as he saw them.
Perhaps the biggest style that Hemingway employs in the novel is the use of language to demonstrate miscommunication in the society. Hemingway uses his writings to show that there is a lot of misunderstandings in the world that accrue from people’s inability to communicate with one another in ways that show respect and understanding. In the book, the communication between different characters with one another is often marred with a high level of dishonesty and unwillingness to listen to one another. For example, the dialogues between Jake and other comrades are usually not honest. The conversations exhibit dishonesty employed by hidden feelings. Even though Jake and his friends are victims of the war, none of them wants to come out openly and talk about the war experiences. Instead, the characters would rather hide their true feelings to avoid unmasking the worms of torments and sufferings. To do this, the characters make fun of the war hoping that this will should them from the real situation. A notable example is at the dinner between Georgette and Jake. Jake reasons, “The war would have been better avoided” (pg. 69). However, Jake do develop this discussion further as he is interrupted. Hemingway makes the characters expose their true feelings only when they angry or when dark feelings are expressed. For example, Jake and Brett’s disagreement is marked by exchange of harsh words that is uncharacteristic of the two. In addition, when Mike is drunk, he opens his mouth and exposes how much the presence of Cohn disgusts him.
Another style that Hemingway employs is the use of symbolism. The biggest form of symbolism portrayed in the book is that of the bullfights. In the novel, every episode that involves bulls or bull fighting points to the meeting of Jake and his friends. For example, when the bull kills the steer at the beginning of siesta foreshadows the fight between Mike and Cohn. This incidence can also point to the demolishment of Cohn’s valued by Brett. The bullfights not only foreshadows occurrence of violence, they also point to the society’s view on violence particularly at the end of the First World War. In another perspective, bull fighting may symbolize permissiveness in the society that uses sex for leisure and not the traditional procreation. Bull fighting thus stands for the seduction and the conquest of masculine men over weaklings. Chapter 2 records the conversation between Cohn and Jake. Jakes verbalizes that “I can’t stand it to think my life is going so fast and I’m not really living it”. Instead, Cohn responds that nobody seems to live his or her life except the bullfighters. This means the bullfighters stands for survivors, who can be destructive but also sexually desirable.
Although critics argue that Hemingway is often seen as an alcoholic writer, the symbolic function of alcohol in his early novels is a matter of much debate. For instance, as one reads The Sun Also Rises, the reader notices the enormous amount of alcohol that the characters consume as well as the portion of their lives that they spend drunk or “tight” in the slang of the period. Nevertheless, is alcohol also a symbol in this novel, like “paying” or money can be? For instance, what does it mean when Brett says “‘I can’t just stay tight all the time.’” (162)? She’s referring to her own drinking problem, but it’s also an admission of the emotional crisis that is unstated in the dialogue that precedes it on the page (161-162).
Although the metaphor of the bullfighter is the biggest literary images used to symbolize the societal distortion and obsession with violence and sex, literary critics point out that The Sun also Rises has uncharacteristically limited use of metaphors, similes, and few adjectives. In the view of Dunn and spring, Hemingway has wanted to focus more on things and the ideas as they were and not the coloring of ideas and events to produce art. This is the reason he employed a style that focused on the use of nouns are representative of the characters emotions and feelings. Perhaps this is the reason why the novel is lean and simple. Hemingway achieves this goal by vividly describing smell, sights and, sounds to produce feelings for the reader.
Most critics of Hemingway’s style in the book The Sun also Rises argue that Hemmingway content is an in between the line. As such, Hemingway’s style of writing is analogous to the surface of a rock that has a large section of it covered under the ground. Because of its mystery in content, The Sun also Rises requires an inquisitive exploration of issues beyond the surface. Shallow critics would argue that the book is written in a masculine way that understates the role of women in the society. As such, one would ask the whether Hemingway is sexist or is purely not concerned about women’s rights at this time of history. Many scholars assume that Ernest Hemingway is a heterosexual who exaggerates the masculinity in his work. Comley and Scholes argue that Heming’s way was one was conscious of gender issues. The Sun also Rises perhaps best depicts the struggle for women empowerment on the part of Hemingway. His style of excessive depiction of masculine violence and disregard for women’s right as in the relationship between Mike and Cohn serves to show that he was criticizing the society instead of condoning such practices. Moreover, the representation of the Bell Tolls suggests that he gives female characters that are usually attributed to masculine characters (Comley and Scholes, 1996).
A complete analysis of Hemingway‘s depiction of gender and sexuality alludes many scholars. Post human literary critics agree that Ernest Hemingway was liberal in issues of lesbianism and homosexuality. Comely and Scholes argue that issues of lesbianism, sex changes, and miscegenation function as centers in the novel. Hemingway must have had the experiences of lesbianism and homosexuality. In the novel, Romero the bullfighter and Brett are described at the same time causing ambiguity of references. It is hard to tell if the dialogue between Jake and Cain is referenced to Brett or Romero. “There’s a certain quality of about her, certain fineness. She seems absolutely fine and straight (Cain). She’s very nice” (Jake) (p.35). The same reference is used to describe Romero when Jake and Montonya talks about him as he prepares for a bullfight.
“He was standing, straight and handsome and altogether by himself, alone in the room with the hangers-on as we shut the door. “ He’s a fine boy, don’t you think so?” Montoya asked. “He’s a good-looking kid,” I said. (144)
The gender confusion is that words used to describe beauty in women are the same words that are used when admiring bullfighters. The sexual ambiguity is partly one example of the iceberg where the writer hides the bulk of information from the readers. Perhaps, Hemingway denies the reader the prerogative of getting to know his ideas on gender relations and homosexuality.
In conclusion, Hemingway is a far more difficult author than the simplicity of his prose suggests. This is, in many respects, the greatest challenge, and the greatest reward for reading Hemingway – he is both extremely easy and extremely difficult. The contrast lies between his clear and simple prose versus his unstated or implicit interests. This leads many readers to assume they’ve “understood” Hemingway by simply reading him. Before we consider Hemingway in his social context, we must first recognize how he trains us to be more careful and more critical readers.
Works Cited
Comley, Nancy, and Robert Scholes. Hemingway’s Genders: Rereading the Hemingway Text. New York: Yale University, 1996. Print.
Dunn, Robert, and Michael Spring. Ernest Hemingway’s the Sun Also Rises. Chicago, IL: Barron’s Educational Series, 1984. Print.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises. New York: HarperCollins, 2012. Print.
Holcomb, Gary Edward. “The Sun Also Rises in Queer Black Harlem: Hemingway and McKay’s Modernist Intertext.” Journal of Modern Literature Vol. 30.No. 4: 61--81. Print.
Wagner-Martin, Linda. Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises: A Casebook. London, UK: Oxford University Press, 2002. Print.
