Shock remained with multitudes of men who fought in the Great War, 1914-1918, even after battle ceased; consequently, the soldiers returned to their homes with psychological unbalances, like the seeming loss of male identity. In the Great War, men witnessed a more technological, vicious war then they were mentally suited for, and many a man never returned to his former self. Ernest Hemingway witnessed first-hand the effects the Great War had on American men of the 1920s. In The Sun Also Rises (1926), Hemingway addresses the emasculation of former soldiers on several thematic levels; for instance, facial hair and its removal are continuously made know, which has links to gender identity. Hair is a symbol of ‘self.’ Moreover, facial
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Dr. Synnott, a professor of Sociology at Concordia University, means shame in the way women are criticized for facial hair, and a man’s facial hair has become a glorified norm with time, which can affect all genders. Female facial hair is never praised in mainstream society, so the removal of facial hair is a fairly consistent battle (Synnott 395). Similarly, most of The Sun Also Rises’s men always seem to be having a shave. Hemingway has his male characters shaving to prevent facial hair growth to further take away from their already weak masculinity. The Sun Also Rises’s protagonist Jacob “Jake” Barnes, the veteran and impotent narrator, is the most castrated of the male characters both literally and by his love for Lady Brett Ashley, a borderline alcoholic socialite. Despite Jake’s faults, he is one of the more mentally stable characters, but he is far from the manliest character. Usually, young men try to grow beards or mustaches to feel manly, while women “remove unwanted facial hair.” Still, many men do choose to be clean shaven, but a hairless face makes men more similar to women (Synnott 390-91). In The Sun Also Rises, Brett clearly takes many a bath, but Brett’s bathroom activities are otherwise unknown; accordingly, male shaving is vital to the plot on account of the countless missed opportunities of the female
Dr. Synnott, a professor of Sociology at Concordia University, means shame in the way women are criticized for facial hair, and a man’s facial hair has become a glorified norm with time, which can affect all genders. Female facial hair is never praised in mainstream society, so the removal of facial hair is a fairly consistent battle (Synnott 395). Similarly, most of The Sun Also Rises’s men always seem to be having a shave. Hemingway has his male characters shaving to prevent facial hair growth to further take away from their already weak masculinity. The Sun Also Rises’s protagonist Jacob “Jake” Barnes, the veteran and impotent narrator, is the most castrated of the male characters both literally and by his love for Lady Brett Ashley, a borderline alcoholic socialite. Despite Jake’s faults, he is one of the more mentally stable characters, but he is far from the manliest character. Usually, young men try to grow beards or mustaches to feel manly, while women “remove unwanted facial hair.” Still, many men do choose to be clean shaven, but a hairless face makes men more similar to women (Synnott 390-91). In The Sun Also Rises, Brett clearly takes many a bath, but Brett’s bathroom activities are otherwise unknown; accordingly, male shaving is vital to the plot on account of the countless missed opportunities of the female