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The Sun Also Rises (Jake Barnes p-the-sun-also-rises-tyrone-power (Jake…
The Sun Also Rises
Jake Barnes 
Jake suffers from anxiety, insomnia and repressed anger as a result of his experience of the war. The war left Jake impotent, fracturing his relationship with Brett Ashley and his sense of being a man- the feelings of which he tries desperately to supress. He is challenged by Brett's actions and Robert's interactions and feelings for Brett. He has been severely damaged by the War, and takes pleasure in simple things, like fishing, bullfighting and tries to stay distracted.
It could be interpreted, however, that Jake's interests are an attempt to appear more masculine than he feels, particularly with the bullfighting with it's danger and gore.
Jake's relationship with Brett is self-destructive. He proves himself as nihilistic, as he helps set Brett up with men, as well as saving her at the end of the novel when she has made the wrong decision. He knows it goes against everything he wants, but he is held down by his love for her, regardless.
Robert Cohn
Robert's relationship with Brett is different from Jake and Mike- primarily as he acts like he is the only man to have been with Brett. He creates tension among the group because of his ignorance towards them and infatuation with Brett.
Several things affect Robert's masculinity. The main one being his absence from the War, as he is left unaffected, he has remained romantic and blissfully unaware. This leads him to his premature reactions to his relationship with Brett, as he is not as careless as her. This absence from the War heavily effects his relationship with the other men, as he simply does not understand them. He challenges Jake's masculinity, despite being more effeminate and untouched by disaster.
Bill Gorton
Bill is the one who instigates travelling down to Spain. He is a primary example of a young man in the 1920s- travelling for pleasure and experience- perhaps even to just keep busy. Bill is generally neutral to Brett, unlike the other men. Whilst being affected by the War, he latches onto distraction through eating and drinking rather than being with a woman. Perhaps this is because he now understands the futility of it all after the destruction of War.
Brett Ashley
Brett very clearly represents the sexual liberation of the New Woman, with her ability to change men whenever she desires. There is also a liberation in her want of having no commitment with any of them.
Brett has a relationship with all of the men on the trip apart from Bill. There appears to be an unspoken rule about discussing experiences of being with her. She acts like it is normal and changes her relationship based on her level of boredom. She treats the men meaninglessly, destroying them after she leaves them.
Mike Campell
Mike represents the aggressive nature of a Post-War individual. This is particularly seen when he is drunk, and Robert creates a fuss over Brett- who Mike is actually engaged to. Alongside this Mike just wants to drink, despite his lack of money. He can see nothing else better to do, and is persistent in getting the group to drink with him. His form of masculinity is closer to that of Hemingway's himself, as it can be considered a more 'pure' form.
Locations visited by Jake and co.
Paris, France
Bayonne, Pamplona, San Sebastin, Madrid, Spain
The preoccupation of location should be noted within the novel, as Jake refers to each bar, restaurant, hotel and coffee shop by name- and as can be seen from the maps, they are in excess. This highlights the hedonistic culture- a low regard for money, and high regard for experience.
The 1920s
Hemingway writes about the Post-War, Lost generation, who were living a life of excess and hedonism as a result of their experiences and sudden economic growth. The 1920s is best-known for this culture. Hemingway details it through an autobiographical tone, travelling through Europe.
In the 1920s women were gaining new forms of freedom after being needed in the war-effort. It was also a time of sexual liberation and independence.
Masculinity was an underlying issue in this time period, as after the War men were commonly subject to some degree of injury, emasculating them.
Hemingway
Hemingway was part of the 1920s generation. Similar to the events of the novel and Jake, he lived in Paris, writing and also traveled various European cities. The novel is a biographical map of one of Hemingway's trip with his friends. Notably, Hemingway enjoyed bullfighting as is depicted through Jake in the novel as well. The article below depicts the events side by side.
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