The Sun Also Rises
Writer: Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)
Title: The Sun Also Rises
Allusive significance of the title: The title of the novel comes from the quotation from the bible that suggests nature always regenerates as each generation falls.
Time of composition: 1925
Published date: 1926
Genre: Novel, Historical fiction.
Point of view: First person limited.
Time setting: 1920s
Place setting: The capital city of France Paris, San Sebastián is a northern coastal city of Spain, Pamplona, the capital city of the Autonomous Community of Navarre situated in northern Spain, Bayonne, a region of southwestern France, Burguete of Pamplona.
The key concept of the novel:
The novel has been divided into three books. There are seven chapters in the first book, eleven chapters in the second book, and only one chapter in the third book.
Themes:
- Paris and the lost generation
- Superficiality
- Effect of War and Disillusionment
- Masculinity and impotence
- Sexuality and bullfighting
- Antisemitism
- The fiesta and nature
- Escapism
Symbols
Bullfighting: Bullfighting symbolizes masculinity and the fraught relationships among the men—Cohn, Jake, Mike, and Romero—and Brett.
Water: For the characters in The Sun Also Rises water symbolizes purification, both physical and emotional.
Read More: Beloved English Summary
Characters
Major Characters
Jake Barnes: Jake Barnes who is an American war veteran is the protagonist and narrator of the novel. He is a war veteran and presently works as a journalist in Paris, the capital city of France. It is his permanent sorrow that he has been impotence from the injury of WW1, World War First.
Lady Brett Asley: She is presently divorced and maintains multi-level relationships with male characters of the novel.
Robert Cohn: Robert Cohn is an irritating friend of Jake and an American Jewish expatriate. He is the boxing champion and novelist who has lost most of his inheritance because of his unsuccessful conjugal life. He is now in Paris with a rude and exploitative lady namely Frances.
Bill Gorton: Bill Gorton is an American writer who provides comic relief as Jake’s best friend.
Mike Campbell: Mike Campbell is a Scottish veteran who drinks heavily to forget the horrors of war. He is his fiancé of Brett and is presently bankrupt because of his false friends.
Pedro Romero: Pedro Romero is a nineteen years old handsome, talented bullfighter who embodies the ideal of masculine sportsmanship.
Minor characters
The Count: Count Mippipopolous is a rich Greek count and veteran of seven wars. He is different from others because he drinks his life best after wartime.
Frances: Frances Clyne is Robert Cohn’s fiancée before Mr. Cohn meets Brett. Frances feels entitled to marriage even though Cohn does not love her.
Georgette: She is the Parisian prostitute with whom Jake flirts and the impotence of Jake is indirectly exposed through this flirt.
Montoya: He is a Spanish hotel owner who prides himself on being a fan of bullfighting.
Read More: The Sun Also Rises English summary
