The Sun Also Rises By Ernest Hemingway

The Lost Generation was a term created by Gertrude Stein for a group of writers and a generation of people in the 1920s, post-WW1 era, who were detached from normal society with materialistic, untraditional, aimless views. In fact the Lost Generation was part of Modernism which is why they both embody such similar characteristics. The ideals of the Lost Generation and Modernism are strongly displayed by Ernest Hemingway throughout the plot of his novel The Sun Also Rises, which displays characteristics of Modernism, and the lack of direction and purpose in the lives of the characters: Jake Barnes, Lady Brett Ashley, and Robert Cohn. Jake Barnes expresses the Lost Generation ideals incorporated by Ernest Hemingway by the way that Jake Barnes

Rather than any other problems, Barnes is kept awake by his love for Brett and her unobtainable love, making him “[think] about Brett and all the rest of it [going] away” (Hemingway 39). This reflects the people of the Lost Generation because Jake Barnes does not really have a direction in life, but his life is consumed by following an untraditional form of love that has less emphasis on romance and more on sex. He strives for the dream that he loves Brett and she loves him back, but Brett’s lustful desires make it unsuccessful. His inability to love plays a major role in making his life the pointless one he leads in the novel. The pointless life of Jake Barnes and his friends is seen in their many travels that have no goal except to party, drink, and watch bullfights. Jake Barnes clearly expresses the Lost Generation influences when he rebukes Cohn, telling him that going to South America “doesn’t make any difference” because he knows from experience that “[one] can’t get away from [oneself] by moving from one place to another” (Hemingway

One major factor that displays his separation from Modernism and the Lost Generation is the fact that he has retained his faith, unlike the people of the Lost Generation who are characterized by a loss of religious faith. For example, when Brett is worried about Romero, Barnes suggests that she “might pray” which of course she rebuffs (Hemingway- 211). Brett having the Modernistic loss of faith, believes that Barnes is unreligious too, which Barnes refutes by stating that he is “pretty religious” (Hemingway 212). The fact that Barnes has retained his religious faith shows that although he reflects the Lost Generation, he does have some purpose in his life and has not lost all his traditional values. Also, Jake Barnes seems to be the only character who truly understands the negative impact of the life they are living which can be analyzed from Georgette’s statement that “everybody’s sick” (Hemingway 23). This quote implies that, and Jake Barnes understands that, it is not a physical illness that plagues the world, but the illness of the Lost Generation which destroys people’s lives by creating lives that are lived day-by-day with no ultimate goal. Another example is, Jake Barnes is often the only one who can observe his friends and see