Firstly, Jake Barnes, a World War I veteran who as a result of a war injury is impotent, is a direct representation of an alienated character being pressured to conform to society. He served his country and hence conformed to society’s expectation and fulfilled his role as a male citizen. But now due to his injury, he can no longer conform to society’s expectations of him. Although he does not say so directly, there are numerous moments in the novel when he implies that, as a result of his injury, he has lost the ability to have sex. He will never have biological children and likely will not find romantic love. This has severe psychological consequences as Jake seems quite insecure about his masculinity which serves as evidence to society’s unrelenting pressure. …show more content…
This is shown by the line “This was Brett that I had felt like crying about. Then I thought of her walking up the street and stepping into the car, as I had last seen her, and of course in a little while I felt like hell again. It is awfully easy to be hard-boiled about everything in the daytime, but at night is another thing.” This line serves as evidence that Jake is aware that Brett does not love him but feels the intense pressure to please Brett. When Brett leaves, he becomes miserable as he knows he will always fail to please Brett and other women. His impotence is permanent and Jake is always going to fail. Thus he will always be alienated but Jake still tries to achieve the