The Sun Also Rises By Ernest Hemingway Essay - 1676 Words

Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises presents an interesting commentary on the fluidity of gender roles and the effects of stepping outside of the socially constructed binary approach to gender. Jake’s impotence and his inability to win Brett romantically results in a struggle with masculinity and inadequacy. Brett, possessing many masculine attributes, serves as a foil and embodies the masculinity the men in the novel lack. The juxtaposition of Jake’s struggle and Brett’s refusal to adhere to conventional feminine roles begs the question that gender, as a binary opposition, is simply a social construct and nothing more than a hypothetical truism. Brett’s assertion of masculinity over Jake further emphasizes the problem of his lack thereof. Lady Brett Ashley contradicts every notion most have about women in the early twentieth century. She is strong, assertive, promiscuous, masculine (her name, hair, clothing and personality having masculine qualit ies, to name a few examples) and generally holds power over the men who surround her. Most women around this time at her age, 34 years old, would have been married with children performing the role of a common house-wife. However, Brett is not ashamed of her character nor does she make any attempt to hide under the veil of classic feminism; she is out front with her seemingly scandalous behavior and proud of it. She is the embodiment of a New Woman emerging after World War I and opposes the standard binary classifications ofShow MoreRelatedThe Sun Also Rises By Ernest Hemingway1649 Words   |  7 PagesThe Sun Also Rises Ernest Hemingway Introduction Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises is a classic work of American prose, and is essential to understanding the social climate of the 1920’s, and the â€Å"Lost Generation†. Hemingway’s motley cast of star-crossed lovers, rabble-rousers, expatriates, gamblers, and burgeoning alcoholics reflect the excitement, loneliness, and disillusionment experienced by Hemingway and his contemporaries. In addition, the post-war angst of young people of the time isRead MoreThe Sun Also Rises By Ernest Hemingway Essay889 Words   |  4 Pages Books are long. While â€Å"The Sun Also Rises† by Ernest Hemingway is a relatively short book, it still contains a wealth of intricate detail. In any short analysis of such a work of literature, some detail is almost assuredly lost. Hemingway has a lot to say through this story, despite his brevity with words. While not necessarily the most important elements of the book, I shall cast our focus on what Hemingway says thr ough the characters alcoholism and personal relationships. These characters haveRead MoreThe Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway656 Words   |  3 PagesErnest Hemingway is an American twentieth century novelist who served in World War I. During World War I, he served as an ambulance driver for the Italian army. He wrote the novel The Sun Also Rises in Paris in the 1920s. Hemingway argues that the Lost Generation suffered immensely after World War I because of severe problems with masculinity, alcohol, and love. Masculinity creates a strong tension amongst the male characters in The Sun Also Rises. The clearest example is the impotency of theRead MoreThe Sun Also Rises By Ernest Hemingway1169 Words   |  5 PagesThe Sun Also Rises, written by Ernest Hemingway, is a novel about a group of young expatriates, living in Paris after World War I and going on a trip to Spain filled with drinking, bullfighting, and much more. The protagonist, Jake Barnes, an impotent American WWI veteran and bullfighting aficionado, spends much of his time watching and sometimes helping Brett, the woman he loves, go off with other men. Most of the book takes place in urban areas like Paris and Pamplona is filled with drunken fightsRead MoreThe Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway1195 Words   |  5 Pagespowerful aspects of a book. For instance, when a reader reads the title The Sun Also Rises, written by Ernest Hemingway, the reader is able to understand that the title of the novel is connected directly to the message that the author is attempting to convey. The title later brings forth much more s ignificance towards the very end of the novel when the reader pauses and contemplates Hemingway’s motives. The title The Sun Also Rises has the ability to stimulate deep thought within a reader, thus forcingRead MoreThe Sun Also Rises By Ernest Hemingway Essay2149 Words   |  9 PagesErnest Hemingway was one of America’s premiere authors during the early 1900’s. He brilliantly wrote a short story or novel in a fashion that was unconventional for the time period. While reading any work by Hemingway the reader has to keep in mind that what is written might be tied to some other part in the story. Hemingway many different writing strategies to keep the reader engaged throughout his stories. Ernest Hemingway is able to keep the readers engaged throughout this novel by incorporatingRead MoreThe Sun Also Rises By Ernest Hemingway1918 Words   |  8 PagesZach Ullom Eng-125F-SO2 Dr. Les Hunter December 3, 2015 Brett Ashley: Whore or Heroine in The Sun Also Rises After a thorough reading and in-depth analyzation of Ernest Hemingway’s riveting novel The Sun Also Rises, the character of Brett Ashley may be seen in a number of different ways. While some critics such as Mimi Reisel Gladstein view Brett as a Circe or bitch-goddess, others such as Carol H. Smith see Brett as a woman who has been emotionally broken by the world around her. I tend lean towardsRead MoreThe Sun Also Rises By Ernest Hemingway1245 Words   |  5 PagesThe writer of The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway was a short story writer, journalist, and an American novelist. He produced most of his work between the nineteen twenties and nineteen fifties. One of Hemingway’s many novels, The Sun Also Rises was originally published on October 22, 1926. In the novel, The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway uses the lead female character, Lady Brett Ashley to portray the new age of women in that time period. In the beginning of the novel when Brett is introduced, sheRead MoreThe Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway1101 Words   |  4 PagesIn most cases all anyone needs in life is love. But what is love? In The sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway we get the sad truth about what love sometimes is in the real world and in some cases alike this novel, there are many reasons in which love is lost. One of the reasons for lost love is sex. Unfortunately the sexual drive of other characters in the novel dictates whether they love each other or not. Another factor that plays a huge role of leaving love hopeless is alcohol. In this novelRead MoreThe Sun Also Rises By Ernest Hemingway2494 Words   |  10 PagesThe theme of male insecurity is a prominent theme in Ernest Hemingway s novel, The Sun Also Rises. While many soldiers suffered from disillusionment with the Great War and how it was supposed to make men of them, Jake bore the additional burden of insecurity because of his war wound. Inse curity operates on several levels and surfaces in many ways through the characters we encounter in this novel. We learn from observing Jake and his friends that manhood and insecurity are linked sometimes unfairly