Literature Analysis 3

1. The protagonist of The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway is Jake Barnes, an American journalist living in Paris. Jake suffered a war wound that has caused him to be impotent, though the nature of his wound is never explicitly described in the novel. He is in love with Lady Brett Ashley, a twice-divorced Englishwoman. Jake plays tennis with his college friend Robert Cohn, picks up a prostitute (Georgette), and runs into Brett and Count Mippipopolous in a nightclub. Brett and Jake leave together; in a taxi she tells him she loves him, but they know they have no chance at a lasting relationship. Jake is joined by Bill Gorton, recently arrived from New York, and Brett's fiancé Mike Campbell, who arrives from Scotland. Jake and Bill travel to Spain, where they meet Robert Cohn north of Pamplona for a fishing trip. Cohn, however, leaves for Pamplona to wait for Brett and Mike. Cohn had an affair with Brett a year earlier and still feels possessive of her despite her engagement to Mike. Jake and Bill enjoy five days of tranquillity, fishing the streams near Burguete, after which they rejoin the group in Pamplona, where they begin to drink heavily. Cohn's presence is increasingly resented by the others, who taunt him with anti-semitic remarks. During the fiesta the characters drink, eat, watch the running of the bulls, attend bullfights, and bicker with each other. Jake introduces Brett to Romero at Montoya's inn; she is smitten with the 19-year-old matador and seduces him. The jealous tension between the men builds; Mike, Jake, Cohn, and Romero each love Brett. Cohn, who had been a champion boxer in college, has fistfights with Jake, Mike, and Romero, whom he injures. Despite the tension, Romero continues to perform brilliantly in the bullriding. Sober again, they leave Pamplona. Bill returns to Paris, Mike stays in Bayonne, and Jake goes to San Sebastian in northeastern Spain. As Jake is about to return to Paris he receives a telegram from Brett, who left for Madrid with Romero, asking for help. He finds her in a cheap hotel, without money, and without Romero. She announces she has decided to marry Mike. The novel ends with Jake and Brett in a taxi speaking of the things that might have been.

2. The theme of this book is love and how it can be so blind at times. Lady Brett falls in love throughtout the story with different guys also. She thinks that she is actually falling in love, when really it was just lust that she was feeling. She is blindly falling in love with these guys, when really she just has a little crush on them a girl in grade school. It does not seem like she cares about the feeling of the other men she is playing. Since Lady Brett has all those love interests she hurts the friendship that she has with Jake. For most of the book Jake feels like he is in love with Lady Brett, but she shows her true character throughout the book and Jake realizes that he isn't actually in love with her. This shows the blindess of love that was in this book.

3. Ernest Hemingway seems to have more then one tone during the novel. He is stern during parts and can be compassionate at other times. When Robert and Romero fight, the author uses a tone of anger, so the audience learns something about the characters. It shows how Robert is quick to snap to violence and shows Hemmingway having a stern tone. There are plenty of examples of a compassionate tone, because the theme of the book is love. The author has to use compassion as a tone when the lovers interact, like Jake and Lady Brett.

4. One literary element that Ernest Hemingway uses is irony. It is ironic that by the time that Jake gets over Lady Brett, that is when she feels like she might have feelings for him. She says that they should have spent more time together, and he answers it with very little emotion. Another literary techinque that the author uses is flashbacks and that's used by going back to protray some of the experiences Jake had in WW1. There are aslo symbols that are used, like how fishing in the river was so peaceful. Also, Hemingway used hyperbole by emphaszing how easy it is for Lady Brett to fall in love.