The Sun Also Rises Masculinity Analysis

In "The Sun Also Rises" masculinity is one of the most recurrent topic covered. To male characters in the novel, being considered as a man isn't always the easiest thing. Even though Jake is impotent, he is considered more of a man than Robert who has not been in the war. Robert is more fragile and dependent where as Jake is independent and has fought in the war which determines him as more masculine than Robert. Jake's insecurity, due to his impotence is emphasized by when brett refused to be with him. So when Robert gets to have his way with her, Jake starts to despise him. Not only does he feel more insecure about himself but he's frustrated. He can't stand seeing a man, being called manlier than him. To compare Jake to another man we see that Romero is Jake's foil in the story because he is everything Jake is not. He is a bullfighter meaning he lives his life at his fullest, is not impotent and has brett but loses her as well. …show more content…
All of this shows that masculinity in The Sun Also rises isn't really obvious to find out because it's controversial and based on several aspects who sometimes are not reliable. Physical features and aspects do not make a man manly in the novel. Hemingway contrasted a lot what society considers a man and how a man considers himself a man. It's not as easy to be outstanding as a man. Sometimes just like Romero, you might just have to be yourself in order to be a man but some other times, society threatens you to consider you as a man and this is what's the most complicated. Robert at first was not considered as manly that's why the book starts with him being a boxing champion. We know that boxing is a fighting and rigorous sport and only the toughest gets to be a champion but that's not enough to compete with a former soldier who was tough enough to put his life in a high risk and was ready to