Vivian Chen

AP English 3
Summer Assignment

The Sun Also Rises (Logs)

Pedro Romero
“Romero was the whole show. I do not think Brett saw any other bullfighter. No one else did
either, except the hard-shelled technicians. It was all Romero” (167; ch. 14).

Romero, a young 19-year-old bullfighter, embodies all the elements of heroism and masculinity
that Jake and his friends lack. The novel introduces him at the annual San Fermin festival held in
Pamplona, Spain. Creating a lasting impression on everyone he meets, Jake describes Romero as
a handsome, well-mannered and respectful boy. Because of his age, Romero is too young to be
affected by WWI; therefore he lives by the traditional values of pre-war times. At one bullfight,
Jake notes that Brett is fully absorbed into watching Romero’s actions. Among the matadors, he
noticeably stands out from the rest, due to his unique style of practicing the sport. Romero is the
center of attention, and his individuality starkly contrasts with the life of a WWI soldier. John
Gordon Steele asserts in his article that “at the core of Western thought lies the concept of the
importance of the individual human being.” Prior to the war, the rising political power of the
upper middle class resulted in a belief that each individual mattered and was valued. The soldiers
were hardly treated as men but rather as animals, trained to follow orders at all costs. It did not
matter if one man died, for the vast amount of men who were blown to bits every day made an
individual death seem insignificant in comparison. As a result, a man was not valued much: all
soldiers were treated the same, dressed in the same uniform and suffered the same pain. WWI
was a war of attrition, and ultimately, no country won and every country lost. Soldiers were no
longer seen as heroes because they proved vulnerable and weak in the face of battle. However,
Romero is the exact opposite. He receives immense recognition and admiration from the bull-
fighting enthusiasts. Skillful in his sport, Romero manages to make a violent struggle seem
graceful; he is victorious in his efforts every time. Although he gains fame for his technique,
Romero accepts his accomplishments with chivalrous modesty. He possesses the qualities that
define a man worthy of honor as a direct contrast to the WWI generation of men. Jake embodies
the veteran lifestyle as he indulges in drinking, affairs with prostitutes and excessive spending all
without considering the consequences. Clearly, he and his ill-mannered expatriates lack the
ambition to focus on a life goal. Manners and goals mean nothing to them; those beliefs were
obliterated in the war. Ambition does not get Jake anywhere because he is a broken man. From
his pessimistic outlook, conventional values prove worthless. He appears extremely flawed when
compared to Romero, the idealized man. It must not be forgotten that Hemingway aims to
demonstrate that these “flaws” are the psychological effect of war. Romero is untainted by
inhumanity; he has been spared of mental and physical torment. The war that Jake fought in can
be paralleled by the bullfights Romero participates in. In Romero’s fight, he always comes out as
the triumphant hero. Not only does he win, he displays a genuine passion, or aficion, to his sport.
This strong dedication Romero holds is a source of purpose in life. He is driven by his devotion,
whereas Jake, in comparison, has nothing to believe in while he searches for values to live by.
Brett plays a role in emphasizing the character contrast between Romero and the expatriates,
especially Jake, Mike and Cohn. Brett is the female object of desire in the novel, yet none of her
male companions succeed in winning her love. While she comes in and out of affairs with Cohn,
Mike and Jake, she is absolutely smitten with Romero and the two ensue a serious relationship.
Brett’s masculine name is demonstrative of that, as is her boyish appearance and clothing choice.
Although she is a woman, her sense of dominance overpowers the weakness of the other men.
Her assertive nature is compatible with Romero’s strength, thus illustrating his ability to obtain
her love.
Brett’s remark to Jake
“You know it makes one feel rather good deciding not to be a bitch.”
“Yes.”
“ It’s sort of what we have instead of God.”
“Some people have God,” I said. “Quite a lot.”
“He never worked well with me.” (245; ch. 19)

When Brett confides in Jake that she is “deciding not to be a bitch,” she refers to her
promiscuous ways that hurt Jake and other men she toys with in a casual manner. She only ever
tempts men for entertainment, never intending to commit to a serious relationship. Towards the
last portion of the novel, she finally develops some sense of empathy and begins to understand
how her actions affect others. After her lust-based relationship with Romero, Brett grows
increasingly aware of her self-destructive lifestyle. Knowing very well that her immorality will
inevitably influence his virtue, Brett feels that she may cause ruination to his honorable
reputation and aspirations as a bullfighter. She recognizes a pure man in Romero and is afraid
that the corruption she embodies will damage that purity. Romero abides by a code of chivalry
and traditional pre-war societal values that judge how a man should present himself. His
conservative views of the female gender contradict Brett’s independent lifestyle of a modern
woman. She is unconventional in choice of physical appearance; she engages in masculine-
oriented activity such as heavy drinking and scandalous affairs. Unlike the women of her time,
Brett sports a short boyish haircut and opts for less feminine clothing. When Romero suggests
that she grow her hair long to appear more womanly, Brett feels as though she would need to
sacrifice her freedom to maintain a relationship with him. Romero’s ideal woman is feminine
and graceful, serving as a docile wife and a nurturing mother. It is only after her experience with
Romero that Brett reconsiders the way she treats men; this indicates a newfound awareness of
guilt. Like her fellow expatriates, Brett is incapable of feeling remorseful about her chosen
lifestyle because they lack a firm set of moral codes that religion can offer. They do not consider
their daily activities as sinful, as they invest no faith in the matter of sins or divine retribution.
War has shaped their opinions towards religion, proving that it is worthless in the end. No matter
how much they prayed or how devout they were, the soldiers felt that God failed them. It was
impossible to believe that such an atrocity that stole the lives of millions was able to occur under
God’s watch. Consequentially, the veterans cannot honestly bring themselves to place faith in the
world around them and the people living in it. God is abandoned in the search for new values to
live by in a world shaped by war. Jake was a Roman Catholic, though he now struggles to
rediscover his religious identity. However, his aficion comes close to a substitute for religion.
The culturally rich ritual of bullfighting in Spain sparks a passion in Jake. It replaces his religion
in the sense that it is something he is devout and zealous about. He worships Romero’s sport; a
bullfighter is like the idealized soldier he never was. Whereas WWI was a battle fought through
treacherous trench warfare, attrition and injustice, bullfighting is defined by a set of clear rules
that are honored. As for Brett, her spiritual disconnect is even more severe than Jake’s. Aficion
provides Jake a sense of purpose in life, but Brett suffers from phases of spontaneous infatuation
with the wrong men. As she needs to replace her true love that died from dysentery in the war,
her search for a new faith is grounded in her need for a romantic identity.
Jake Barnes’ castration
“My head started to work. The old grievance. Well, it was a rotten way to be wounded[…]I
never used realize it, I guess. I try to play it along and just not make trouble for people. Probably
I would never have had any trouble if I hadn’t run into Brett when they shipped me to England”
(31; ch. 3).

While he is with friends, Jake is able to take his mind off his injury in the war. The constant
drinking and city life causes him to push those thoughts to the back of his mind. When he is
alone with his thoughts, it becomes clear that Jake is in fact extremely self-conscious about his
wound. During the war, he suffered from an injury that is not completely specified in the novel,
though it implies that he is impotent. His impotence is possibly the greatest factor in shaping his
character. Not only does it inflict insecurity, it places a limit on his love for Brett. It tortures Jake
because he can still feel love, yet not physically love. Jake’s castration means that he will never
be able to satisfy Brett’s needs, thus preventing them from establishing stable relationship. While
it is it clear her emotions lie with Jake, Brett fulfills her sexual desires with various male
acquaintances. Their experiences in war prevent them from ever attaining love: Jake is impotent
and Brett’s first love died of dysentery. She occupies herself jumping from one man to the next,
in some cases gaining noble title, status, money or temporary pleasure but never genuine love.
Through examining Jake and Brett’s relationship, it can be concluded that Hemingway
intentionally attempts to illustrate a switch of gender roles. Brett’s name alone carries a
masculine tone. Although she involves herself with Mike, Cohn and Romero, Jake rarely
engages himself with other women. It may seem that Brett’s promiscuity should irritate Jake, but
he has grown accustomed to it and comes to tolerate it. As the woman, it is surprising that Brett
is actually the dominant figure of power in the relationship. Knowing that Jake will comply to
her every need, she turns to him only in times of desperate help, solace or reassurance. Brett
takes advantage of him and he loves her to the extent that he is willing to do anything to satisfy
her. This is probably because he attempts to make up for his impotence by displaying extreme
devotion. While Brett plays the dominant male role, Jake is rather submissive in nature and all
too willing at times. His castration also symbolizes that he loses the ability to reproduce or
perform male functions. WWI dramatically reframed the way society perceived men. At the
home front, a soldier was glorified as a young heroic man defending his motherland. This was
hardly so. The truth of war lay in the trenches, the deadly machinery; never had a war been so
massive on scale. Soldiers suffered from immense physical and psychological burden, as war
became the routine of their lives. Just as Jake lost a body part, parts in the war destructed the
body of a man. The newly developed technology allowed for weapons that could blow body
parts apart, and the result was that there was a decomposition of the human body. The families of
soldiers were ignorant to the truth of how brutal war was. The propaganda they were exposed to
depicted war with a romanticized approach, and the older generation believed their children were
war heroes. This is what Gertrude Stein describes in her quote regarding the lost generation.
Parents lost their sons forever by sending them off the army, yet did it believing it was the moral
thing to do. The result is a permanent gap or disconnect between two generations. Jake’s
insecurity and lack of self-confidence is derived from his wound, for he does not feel like a
complete man. The greater theme expressed by the symbol of castration is that the post-war
Western World lost total confidence in themselves and who they were as a civilization. As Steele
proposes, the post-war period felt disgusted with themselves by the outcomes of a war they were
wholly responsible for. Mounting political ambitions and lust for power exploded into the
greatest catastrophe they had experienced, and mankind was to blame. Hemingway’s veteran
characters lead aimless lives because their sole identities are soldiers. Most men were enlisted
straight out of school, an age when they are just starting to develop independence, a sense of
invincibility and youthful energy. The war demolished all of that. These young men were not so
young at all: they have seen too much, became detached from reality, and war grows to be the
only life they know. As Jake is living in the post-war world, the soldiers who survived the war
essentially have no future. They have been ruined as men, with no purpose in life. These men are
insecure as husbands and as fathers and they only see themselves as soldiers. Set in post-war
Europe, The Sun Also Rises illustrates the adaptation Jake and his friends must undergo as a
disillusioned soldier leaving the bloody battlefield and entering the reality of civilian life.
Camaraderie between Jake and Bill
“I think he’s a good writer, too,” Bill said. “And you’re a hell of a good guy. Anybody ever tell
you were a good guy?”
“I’m not a good guy.”
“Listen. You’re a hell of a good guy, and I’m fonder of you than anybody on earth.” (116; ch.
12)

During Jake and Bill’s fishing trip in Burguete, Jake bonds with Bill on a high level of honesty,
unlike his other companions. Carousing, drinking and wasteful spending constitute the activities
his other friends indulge in, whereas with Bill, Jake engages in wholesome recreation. The
geographic change is significant in understanding the change in behavior. Escaping the empty,
corrupt city of Paris, Jake opts for a holiday in the country, symbolic of a serene land untouched
by industrialization and war. The shift from a wasteland to a pristine one corresponds to Jake’s
honest communication with Bill. Out of all his friends, Bill is the most genuine. As opposed to
the drunken, introversive and dismissive demeanors of his companions, Bill expresses himself
clearly and directly. Because Mike, Brett and Cohn are always drinking in the city scene, their
attachment to alcohol indicates their seemingly unconscious personalities, never able to address
their problems, emotions and desires. A constantly drunk state represents a dependence on
alcohol to numb their pain and conscience, to ward off the guilt associated with their aimless
lifestyles. The relationship between Jake and Bill is built on trust; they are almost like brothers.
Trench life in the war inevitably created camaraderie among soldiers. Daily life in the army
consisted of no more than a routine, where men were transformed into animals. They must stay
in line formation, follow orders and are stripped of all the luxuries of civilized life. Comradeship
is perhaps the only good aspect of the war. The soldiers are bound by the horrors they have seen;
they share the same suffering from the brutality of war. All they had was each other, and men
developed deep intimate brotherly relationships with one another. Jake’s expatriate companions
are the opposite of camaraderie. They do not truly care for each other, but rather disguise their
loneliness and loss with a circle of false friends, pretending to enjoy a liberal life. Bill revives the
feeling of camaraderie in Jake, who is able to connect with him on a deep level. They share a
country getaway of wholesome activities, such as fishing and hiking through woods and rivers.
In such a serene setting, Jake eventually opens himself up and feels happiness. When he reunites
with Brett, Mike and Cohn again for the fiesta, he succumbs to his insecurity and personal pain.