In his novel The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway uses alcoholism as a pivotal concept to demonstrate its influence on major character interactions. Although this era in American history brought about a total ban on the consumption of alcohol because it was viewed negatively, Hemingway’s portrayal of alcoholism shows that there can be a positive aspect to drinking.
The Sun Also Rises was written during a period of prohibition- a ban that heavily contrasted many Americans’ habits. While some turned to drinking in secrecy and bootlegging, others circumvented the ban by becoming expatriates so they could drink elsewhere. Hemingway’s novel, told from the viewpoint of an emigrant American living in Paris, sheds light upon the difference in views on alcohol. Jake Barnes, the main character, has no trouble getting a drink any time of the day, and he drinks in frequency- as do the other characters. It could even be said that the novel is less about Barnes’ endeavors as a writer and more about his adventures as a partying alcoholic; Hemingway wrote the characters in such a fashion that alcoholism seemed completely regular- a fun activity, something even moral people could
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In this way, Cohn is setting himself up to fail at belonging, because he is unable to partake of the one activity that all his friends enjoy most. Frequent drinking in Europe made a life of moral upstanding and prohibition (as was commonplace in the United States at the time) seem foreign and boring. Due to the lack of moral upstanding in the novel- religion, mainly- alcohol is used as a second-best coping method for life’s troubles. For example, Barnes uses excessive drinking to cope with his impotency caused by injury- which is why Brett is so heavily involved in his life; Barnes drinks with Brett in place of what he might actually like to do with