This essay will discuss how the natural environment during Bill and Jake’s fishing trip reflects the characters’ ability to communicate with one another. More specifically, the setting gives the characters the possibility to tackle the main themes of “The sun also rises” by Ernest Hemingway in an open and respectful way. These main themes are the aimlessness of life, the insecurity about masculinity and the destructive force of sex and love.
The purity of nature during the fishing trip, in contrast with the noise of Paris, gives Bill and Jake the possibility to discuss honestly the aimlessness of Jake’s fake life, filled with parties and alcohol. For the first time in the story, Bill states clearly that Jake has problems:
You're an expatriate. You've lost touch with the soil. You get precious. Fake European …show more content…
Bill touches the subject of impotency with respect, and Jake feels less insecure about it. This is not the case in other settings in the story: when Georgette asked for a kiss in chapter 3, Jake says that this is impossible because he got hurt in the war, without making this more specific. (chapter 3) A second example is the visit of the liaison colonel to the hospital, when Jake was wounded after the war. Jake says that “they had told him about it”, without specifically saying that this refers to his impotency. When the colonel tells Jake: “You have given more than your life”, Jake appreciates this compassion. (chapter 4) The mystery and Jake’s insecurity about this subject, only disappear during the fishing trip: Jake does not blame Bill because of his comments about being impotent: “I was afraid he thought he had hurt me with that crack about being impotent. I wanted to start him again.” Also from this point of view, it is clear the natural environment gives both characters the possibility to tackle a sensitive
The purity of nature during the fishing trip, in contrast with the noise of Paris, gives Bill and Jake the possibility to discuss honestly the aimlessness of Jake’s fake life, filled with parties and alcohol. For the first time in the story, Bill states clearly that Jake has problems:
You're an expatriate. You've lost touch with the soil. You get precious. Fake European …show more content…
Bill touches the subject of impotency with respect, and Jake feels less insecure about it. This is not the case in other settings in the story: when Georgette asked for a kiss in chapter 3, Jake says that this is impossible because he got hurt in the war, without making this more specific. (chapter 3) A second example is the visit of the liaison colonel to the hospital, when Jake was wounded after the war. Jake says that “they had told him about it”, without specifically saying that this refers to his impotency. When the colonel tells Jake: “You have given more than your life”, Jake appreciates this compassion. (chapter 4) The mystery and Jake’s insecurity about this subject, only disappear during the fishing trip: Jake does not blame Bill because of his comments about being impotent: “I was afraid he thought he had hurt me with that crack about being impotent. I wanted to start him again.” Also from this point of view, it is clear the natural environment gives both characters the possibility to tackle a sensitive