FREE ESSAY ON THE SUN ALSO RISES - HEMINGWAY'S IDEAL MAN

THE SUN ALSO RISES - HEMINGWAY'S IDEAL MAN

Marshall E. Beggs
1999-02-05
Hemingway's Hero
Of the segments of American society scarred by the anguish of the First World War, the
damage was most severe amongst the younger generation of that time. Youthful and
impressionable, these people were immersed headlong into the furious medley of death and
devastation. By the time the war had ended, many found that they could no longer accept
what now seemed to be pretentious and contradictory moral standards of nations that could
be capable of such atrocities. Some were able to brush off the pain and confusion enough
to get on with their lives. Others simply found themselves incapable of existing under
their country's thin fa?ade of virtuousness and went abroad, searching for some sense of
identity or meaning. These self-exiled expatriates were popularly known as the "Lost
Generation" a term credited to Gertrude Stein, who once told Hemingway: 
"That's what you all are. All you young people who served in the war. You are a lost
generation... You have no respect for anything. You drink yourself to death."1 
Many of these individuals tended to settle in Paris, a suitable conduit through which to
pursue their new lifestyle. Content to drift through life, desperately seeking some sort
of personal redemption through various forms of indulgence, these people had abandoned
their old value system and heroes, only to find difficulty in finding new ones. A great
deal of new literature was spawned in an effort to capture the attitudes and feelings of
such individuals to reinvent a model of sorts for a people sorely lacking any
satisfactory standard to follow. At the forefront of these writers was Ernest Hemingway,
whose Novel, The Sun Also Rises, became just such a model, complete with Hemingway's own
definition of heroism. 
Many of the characters in the novel represented the popular stereotype of the post WWI
expatriate Parisian: wanton and wild, with no real goals or ambitions. Mike Campbell,
Robert Cohn, and Lady Brett Ashley, and even the protagonist Jake Barnes all demonstrate
some or all of the aforementioned qualities throughout the novel. All seem perfectly
content to exist in their own oblivious microcosm, complete with their own 'unique' set
of moral values. While the qualities of these characters dominate, to an extent, the flow
of the novel, it is important to acknowledge their contrast to Jake and the bullfighter,
Pedro Romero. Unlike the others, these two characters serve as heroic figures, albeit
each in a very different way. 
Jake is a truly realistic protagonist. Like his friends, Jake is a victim of many of the
same circumstances. The difference is that Jake does not let his emotional turmoil
corrupt his life to the same extent as the others. Unlike the other expatriates, he has
not completely rejected all of the old values of the pre-WWI era. For example: While Jake
seems to be having difficulty in completely accepting his religion, he still tries to
grasp on to it, though perhaps a little fearful that his handhold will break if he grasps
too tightly:
"Listen, Jake," he said, "are you really a Catholic?"
"Technically."
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know." (128-129)
Along with this emotional baggage, Jake also has a physical defect in the form of a wound
he suffered in the war, which has rendered him sexually impotent. Despite the way in
which his injury thwarts his relationship with Brett, Jake accepts his situation with a
great deal of integrity, despite the scathing pain of his unfulfilled love. 
As is consistent with the realistically human portrayal of Jake's character, his role as
a heroic figure is stifled somewhat by the constraints of society. Rather than exhibiting
gallant feats of bravery consistent with the romantic definition of a hero, Jake's
valiance is displayed in a subtler, less tangible manner. By displaying the virtues of
tolerance, honesty, patience and understanding, Jake proves himself to be as much of an
heroic figure as can reasonably be expected in the real world under conventional
circumstances. Jake's maturity and understanding of the limitations of modern society is
shown particularly in his remark that: "Nobody ever lives their life all the way up
except bull-fighters." (18)
Pedro Romero truly is set apart significantly from the others. Virtually flawless, this
young man lives in the world of the matador: a world immune from the constraints of
civilization. When Romero is in the bullring, he is able to transcend the confines of the
modern world. He truly becomes the closest approximation to the classic definition of a
romance hero, perhaps even to mythical proportions. To the crowd, he is not just a man;
he is Theseus slaying the Minotaur. Romero demonstrates all the ideal qualities of
masculinity. He is youthful, handsome, skilled, courageous and passionate. Even outside
the boundaries of the bullring that provide a stage for such daring feats, Romero seems
to still carry something with him that sets him above a normal man. When Jake is
introduced to the young bull-fighter, he sees this immediately:
The boy stood very straight and unsmiling in his bull-fighting clothes. His jacket hung
over the back of a chair. They were just finishing winding his sash. His black hair shone
under the electric light. He wore a white linen shirt and stepped back. Pedro Romero
nodded, seeming very far away and dignified when we shook hands. Montoya said something
about what great aficionados we were... Romero listened very seriously. Then he turned to
me. He was the best-looking boy I have ever seen. (167)
It is evident that Romero's qualities are not just mere illusions induced by his
occupation. The boy seems also to reflect Jake's best characteristics. He is not arrogant
or pompous; he is dignified, courteous, and gracious. Truly, Romero is the epitome of the
missing icon of this Lost Generation. Seemingly immaculate in all aspects, both physical
and spiritual, the bullfighter certainly makes an impression on the group. 
While Jake is impressed with the young Pedro, Brett is completely enraptured. Her
fascination goes deeper than the man's looks, though. In Romero, Brett envisions a
possible solution to her hopeless search. From the stands of the arena, she sees her Holy
Grail glistening in full splendor in the Pamplona sun. The illusion does not last long
for Brett. After finally obtaining her prize, she finds it sorely lacking in that Romero
turns out to be a mere mortal after all. An interesting parallel can be drawn between
Romaro's failure to live up to Brett's impossible expectations and his predecessor,
Belmonte's failure to live up to the crowd's:
When he retired the legend grew up about how his bull-fighting had been, and when he came
out of retirement the public were disappointed because no real man could work as close to
the bulls as Belmonte was supposed to have done, not, of course, even Belmonte. (218)
The others are not oblivious to the power of Romero's presence nor to its effect on
Brett. Mike is quick to recognize the threat that Romero presents and he shows it, but
only through a veil of humorous intent:
"I believe, you know, that she's falling in love with this bullfighter chap," Mike said.
"I wouldn't be surprised."
"Be a good chap, Jake. Don't tell her anything more about him. Tell her how they beat
their poor old mothers." (172)
Just as Jake finds his ability to be heroic limited by the standards of the civilized
world, Mike knows that these subtle protestations are about the extent of what he can do
to keep Brett. As painful as it is for him, Mike gracefully steps back as Brett pursues
her new love. 
Robert Cohn also sees Romero in much the same way as the others. The bullfighter
represents to Cohn, perhaps more than anyone else, the ideal man. Cohn sees in Romero all
the things that he finds lacking in himself, and consequently becomes extremely jealous,
especially when he sees Brett's fascination with the young man. While Romero's heroic
feats continually produce adulation, Cohn's own attempts at chivalry and courage end up
in his making a fool of himself:
(Jake) "Oh, go to hell."
He stood up from the table his face white, and stood there white and angry behind the
little plates of hors d'oervres. 
"Sit down," I said. "Don't be a fool."
"You've got to take that back."
"Oh, cut out the prep-school stuff."
"Take it back"...
"Oh, don't go to hell," I said. "Stick around. We're just starting lunch."
"Cohn smiled again and sat down. He seemed glad to sit down." (47)
Even Cohn's final desperate attempt at proving himself completely backfires. While
pummeling Romero repeatedly in a jealous rage, he unwittingly provides the bull-fighter
with an opportunity to prove himself to be even more courageous in everyone's eyes,
especially Brett's. It is only after this final humiliation that Cohn desists in his
pathetic, pseudo-chivalrous pursuit of Brett and retreats back to Paris, an utterly
defeated man. 
Despite the grandeur of the bull-fight, it is important to recognize that it is little
more than an escape from the trappings of real life. Just like Belmonte before him,
Romero is eventually destined to deteriorate, and to be faced with an outside world that
has no room for chivalry (as Robert Cohn found out). While this happens, we can assume
that Jake Barnes will continue as before: confident and self-assured, with a clear
understanding and acceptance of his limitations. Jake is Hemingway's hero for a new age
in which the old standards of chivalry and romanticism are quite dead. Brett understands
this partially, and demonstrates so by her inability to completely fall out of love with
him, but she is still driven on by a promise of something more. Something that she saw,
if only fleetingly, in the young Pedro Romero. Something that only exists in legends,
storybooks and bull-rings.
Works Cited
Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises. Ed. Simon & Schuster Inc. New York. 1926.
Author Unknown. The Kaplan Calander of Events.
http://www1.kaplan.com/view/calendar/event/preview/1,270,715-3,00.html 1999.
Monahan, Kerrin, Ross. Dramatica Storytelling Output Report . "The Sun Also Rises."
http://www.dramatica.com/dCritiques_folder/dAnalyses_folder/the_sun_also_rises.html 1998