The Sun Also Rises written by Ernest Hemingway takes place on the backdrop of the Great War. Jake Barnes, the main character, is left powerless and psychologically corrupt from the war and is desperately yet aimlessly trying to find his place in the new modern world post World War I, just as many expatriates and Europeans are as well. This period of damage and hopelessness displaced Europeans of their moral standards leaving many psychologically and physically incapable as they adjust back into modern society. Highlighting their own primitive individualism, the war functioned as a stimulus that rapidly increased Jake Barnes’ love and romanticized his view of bullfighting as heightened by his identification with the creature; while My Old Man
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Hemingway explains how the interests of war and bull-fighting aligned to gain wider influence “The only place where you could see life and death, i.e., violent death now that the wars were over, was in the bullring,” (Hemingway). Death is a necessary and common occurrence in the wild; It is not somber nor solemnly viewed. Civilization and society seized this trait from humans over time, but the war brought this apathetic view of death back. Bull-fights are death shows but are attended as a form of entertainment. The war numbed that which previously felt painful; death, and thus became a subject of interest to many. Furthermore, Hemingway explores human's innate savage desires with the following provocative comment, “Killing cleanly and in a way which gives you esthetic pleasure and pride has always been one of the greatest enjoyments of a part of the human race,” (Hemingway). Taking life from another is a Godlike attribute. Millions experienced this trait during the first world war, and they marveled at the feeling it gave them. Hemingway’s experiences with killing have engendered power and pride, and this dark pleasure is shared with great matadors. People continued to pursue the emotions and perceptions they derived from WW1 with gruesome performances such as …show more content…
Hemingway constructs the character Joe to symbolize the upcoming generations many questions and confusion about the world they live in. Joe is aware of the shady deals his dad is a part of as shown when he notices, “something big was up because George is Kzar’s jockey,” (Hemingway, 122) but does not have enough information to understand what is happening. In a similar way, Hemingway and many others are trying to understand The Great War and find their place in the new world. On another note, the horse Joe adored, Gilford, ended up being the very thing that killed his old man. After the failed jump Joe, the narrator, comments on the scene, “Then Gilford rolled over to one side off my old man and got up and started to run on three legs with his front off hoof dangling and there was my old man laying there on the grass flat out with his face up and blood all over the side of his head,” (Hemingway, 128). The fall that kills his father is represented as the war and Gilford represents the animal nature that comes alive in men during battle. There are no apologies from Gilford, he is a horse, likewise there are no apologies for death during war. Joe’s virtue transcends the story to symbolize the plight of many adults, young and old, who are trying to make sense of the war,
Hemingway explains how the interests of war and bull-fighting aligned to gain wider influence “The only place where you could see life and death, i.e., violent death now that the wars were over, was in the bullring,” (Hemingway). Death is a necessary and common occurrence in the wild; It is not somber nor solemnly viewed. Civilization and society seized this trait from humans over time, but the war brought this apathetic view of death back. Bull-fights are death shows but are attended as a form of entertainment. The war numbed that which previously felt painful; death, and thus became a subject of interest to many. Furthermore, Hemingway explores human's innate savage desires with the following provocative comment, “Killing cleanly and in a way which gives you esthetic pleasure and pride has always been one of the greatest enjoyments of a part of the human race,” (Hemingway). Taking life from another is a Godlike attribute. Millions experienced this trait during the first world war, and they marveled at the feeling it gave them. Hemingway’s experiences with killing have engendered power and pride, and this dark pleasure is shared with great matadors. People continued to pursue the emotions and perceptions they derived from WW1 with gruesome performances such as …show more content…
Hemingway constructs the character Joe to symbolize the upcoming generations many questions and confusion about the world they live in. Joe is aware of the shady deals his dad is a part of as shown when he notices, “something big was up because George is Kzar’s jockey,” (Hemingway, 122) but does not have enough information to understand what is happening. In a similar way, Hemingway and many others are trying to understand The Great War and find their place in the new world. On another note, the horse Joe adored, Gilford, ended up being the very thing that killed his old man. After the failed jump Joe, the narrator, comments on the scene, “Then Gilford rolled over to one side off my old man and got up and started to run on three legs with his front off hoof dangling and there was my old man laying there on the grass flat out with his face up and blood all over the side of his head,” (Hemingway, 128). The fall that kills his father is represented as the war and Gilford represents the animal nature that comes alive in men during battle. There are no apologies from Gilford, he is a horse, likewise there are no apologies for death during war. Joe’s virtue transcends the story to symbolize the plight of many adults, young and old, who are trying to make sense of the war,