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The Sun Also Rises Research Paper

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The Lost Generation’s Failure In Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway writes about life after the tragic years of World War I. He illustrates the life of mainly three characters, Jake Barnes, Lady Brett Ashley, and Robert Cohn. He also explores their journey around Europe. They roam from place to place, doing many activities and trying to enjoy their lives. However, despite their determined attempts to find endless happiness, they fail to find true contentment due to the aftermath of the war. Moreover, Gertrude Stein describes the generation as the “Lost Generation,” because it consists of numerous citizens failing to be content with life. The characters may indicate that they are satisfied with life, but they only obtain …show more content…

Jake Barnes holds the worst traits from the lost generation and acts very irresponsible, aimless, and bitter. Due to the war, he indirectly describes that his injuries causes him to not be able to have sexual intercourse. Moreover, because of his disability, his masculinity drops significantly and fails to find a lover. When Jake has an affair with Lady Brett Ashley, he confesses to Brett his physical disability, and Brett refusing to begin a relationship with him. Like so, Barnes is shown to struggle in areas relating to masculinity and relationships because of the catastrophic events that affected his life during the traumatizing war. When Barnes has an affair with Georgette, they share a conversation after he rejects her kiss. She asks him, “What’s the matter? [Is he] sick?” and he responds saying that “Everybody’s sick. [He’s] sick too” (Hemingway 21). The purpose of him answering that everyone is sick is to explain the aftermath of the war. Everyone is shown to be sick with malaise that appears to be symbolic of the postwar conditions. Just like Barnes, all of the citizens in the lost generation suffer with some disorder and not get away from

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