The sun also Rises: final blog

This book seemed so pointless. It talked about a man's struggle having to deal with wanting something he knew he absolutely could not have. But as the book progressed, the central conflict concerning Jake's wound seemed to fade away and any other conflict that occured was just a little conflicts concerning the people around him. There seemed to be no plot or anything. However, while this is true, this book did have a few positives. The author was able to bring emotion out of me by either extremely hating or liking a person. Portions of the story made me laugh and the dialogue was much different than other novels that I have read, but I still liked its quickness and choppiness. But my final question is, are all Hemingway books like this?

Maybe there is a reason...

At the end of chapter 17, book 3 starts to begin the final chapter of The Sun Also Rises. At first, once again, it seems pointless to begin a new book, especially one at the very end of the novel. But when I looked into it, I feel certain that I found a reason for beginning new books. As a predicted in a previous blog, Hemingway starts a new book every time Brett goes away from Jake. However, the reason for having new books every time this happens still remains unclear. Maybe the new book represents a new stage in his life where he has to go on without Brett, and each time, he doesn't seem to need Brett as much. The reason I think this is because in book one, Jake is always the first to tell Brett that he loves her. Also, book one is the only book that has the two kissing and it's also the one where he becomes preoccupied by Bretts actions. In book two, Jake seems to be able to grow a little away from her becuase they never kiss in this book and he rarely tells her that he loves her. In book 3, he stays in Spain by himself and not once does he think about Brett until the very end when he gets the telegram from Brett telling him to come to Madrid.

Big difference

Jake and Robert are both in love with Brett. However, the way that they handle this love is very different. Jake is very calm, and one might say a pushover, when it comes to loving Brett. He doesn't stare at her continuously as Cohn does and he gives her her space. Cohn on the other hand is different. He seems to be obsessed about her as he thought the time in San Sebastian was something special while Brett thinks otherwise. Also a big difference is when they both find out about Pedro Romero and Brett. When Brett expresses how she loves Romero to Jake on page 187 by saying: "I'm a goner. I'm mad about the Romero boy. I'm in love with him, I think." All Jake does when she tells him this is to not be in love with him and how it's a bad idea, but when she persists, he caves in. However, when Cohn figures it out and walks in on Brett and Romero together, he proceeds to beating Romero up. What I think influences how these two act with her is how she feels about each person. To Jake, she tells him repeatedly how she loves him and hoes to him for advice. Because of this, this causes Jake to not have any sore feeling around her. But with Cohn, Brett does not love him and she gets very tired of him and this is what makes Cohn bitter. He knows that he can't get her.

We know it's coming

As we all know, Brett isn't shy when it comes to men. Pretty much everyone in the group knows that she has had affairs with many different men. However, it is easy to tell that she is soon going to fall for another. On page 169, she begins to talk about the bullfighter Pedro Romero. Brett says, "Oh, isn't he [Romero] lovely. And those green trousers." Mike then replies by saying how she never took her eyes off of them. Since she seems to "fall in love" easily, one would think that she will become interested, and sure enough she does. In chapter 16, she tells Jake how she has fallen in love with Romero. The way the author foreshadows this is very effective. He only has her make a remark or two about Romero, but from that, you get the hint that she is goint to start liking him too.

Cohn's downfall

After reading Mike go off on Cohn in chapter 13 about Cohn not being wanted, I get the feeling that Cohn is not going to be having a good time in Spain. Everyone seems to be turning against him. On page 146, Mike starts to go off about how he follows Brett around and won't stop looking at her. Things that he said include: "Tell me Robert. Why do you follow Brett around like a poor bloody steer? Don't you know you're not wanted? I know when I'm not wanted..." While Mike is going off on Robert, Jake does nothing to stop Mike from doing. If anything, I think that he was enjoying it because he probably isn't too happy about Cohn going off to San Sebastion with her either. Brett later also says how Cohn behaves badly by always following her around and staring at her. Also, Bill easily gets annoyed by Cohn. Cohn is going to be the person of the group that no one is going to want around or anything. I have a feeling that something bad will probably happen.

Old Billy

In my opinion, there are very few normal people in this novel. One of these is the central character Jake who at least thinks moderately straight. The other is his newly introduced friend Bill. Bill is the comedian of this novel. When with Jake, he's very comedical and will go off on random rants about anything he can think of. He is very articulate. When they are along fishing in Spain, Billy and Jake seem to have a really good time together that Jake and Cohn never seemed to have. This kind of represents how Jake never really wanted to get close to Cohn. Also, to me, Cohn became very annoying in the novel when he whined and got mad at everybody. However, Bill seems to be an easy going guy, who enjoys to get mad at Cohn because no one likes him, and is easily my favorite character. One passage that really made me laugh was on page 121 when Bill went on about Abraham Lincoln being "a faggot" and many other people were also included in this rant.

Wine, wine, and more wine (and some food)

I know that it is very obvious that the characters in this book drink as if there were no tomorrow. But because of how much wine and alcohol is mentioned in this book, I thought that it would be a good idea to dedicate a post to it. One thing that I am confused about is whether or not that alcohol really is such a big part of Europe's culture. The characters of the book will go and drink at a bar, then go eat at a restaurant, then go drink at a few more bars, then eat again, and so on. It seems as if their only purpose in life were to drink, and this would mean that the characters in this book are supposed to have no purpose. For example, at the end of chapter of 11 on page 116, Jake and Bill are getting a hotel and the Jake believes that the price to stay there is too high. But then he asks, "Is the wine included?" And she replies, "Oh, yes." And because of this, Jake decides to stay at the hotel. I'm sure that he'll get his money's worth of wine.

Very Descriptive

The term local color is a term applied to fiction or poetry which tends to place special emphasis on a particular setting, including its customs, clothing, dialect, and landscape. Hemingway does this very much. In his descriptions of Paris and the trip through Spain, he gets into very much detail about even the street names that Jake travels through. For example, in chapter 10 on page 99, a passage describes this term very well: "After a while we came out of the mountains, and there were trees along both sides of the road, and a stream and ripe fields of grain, and the road went on, very white and straight ahead...." This is only a small example of Hemingway's descriptiveness. However I think the purpose of this is to attempt to immerse the reader in the environment that Hemingway describes. For me, it got a little too descriptive. Because of this, I started to get lost making me not able to become immersed in the environment described. So for me, this style was a little ineffective.

metaphor in my opinion

In chapter 10, I believe that Hemingway was using a metaphor that reflected the relationship between Jake and Brett. The passage starts page 98 and says: "You couldn't see the sea. It was too far away. You could see only hills and more hills, and you knew where the sea was." This describes perfectly the relationship of the two and is, therefore, very effective. With Jake, Brett is present much of the book with him. However, it is impossible for him to get physically and emotionally close to him becuase of his wound and she pushes him off every time that he tries. This resemble the metaphor of the hills and the sea. All the hills, which were the only things he could see, represent all the pain and difficulty he has to go through without truly being able to be with Brett, which represents the sea. This could be a stretch, but this was the first thing that went through my mind when I read this passage.

Very Static

While not certain if Jake Barnes would ever stand up to Brett and tell her not to be with other men, chapter 9 proves that Jake is a very static character. When Brett tells Jake about how she was in San Sebastion with his friend Robert, he seems as if he doesn't care but we all know that he is very hurt by it. His reply on page 89 to Brett telling him about her and Cohn is only, "Congratulations." Instead of showing anger, he still appears to be kind of a pushover when it comes to Brett being with other men. In my opinion, Jake needs to tell Brett how he feels about all of this, and not just stop whenever he knows that she feels insulted. Instead, he will just apologize and act as if there is nothing wrong with what Brett is doing in which we all know that there is something wrong with it. I think the purpose of Jake being a static character is to keep the mysteriousness between Jake and Brett going. Also, another thing I found interesting is that Jake never directly thinks about how Brett is making the wrong decisions.

Why separate books?

As I had just said in my previous blog, I have finished reading book 1. However, while I was reading further, I am confused to why there are separate books. The story seems to take off exactly where it had left off in the previous book and it seems very pointless to have this. But at the same time, the author would not seperate this story into different books for no reason. There must be something behind it I believe. As I look into it, the location does not change so locations is most likely not a reason that there is a separate book. The characters stay the same and the central character remains Jake so a shift in characters is not a reason for the new book. However, one thing that I did notice is that Brett left Jake at the very end of book 1. On page 63, Brett says to Jake, "Oh don't be a fool. I am going away to-morrow." And her leave is confirmed in book 2 because the very first sentence of book 2 is "I did not see Brett again until she came back from San Sebastion." So maybe this might have something to do with it but I'm not sure.

Plot or no Plot? That is the question

I have just finished reading book 1 and so far this book has a plot much different than that of other books. Ordinary books have a story line in which conflict rises and rises throughout the story and there is usually purpose in the story. However, with The Sun Also Rises, there seems to be very little purpose. The central conflict seems to be Jake's wound and his relationship with Brett, but that is about it. He just goes through life and meets up with friends and drinks as if there was no tomorrow. Moreover, there is no rising action as other books traditionally have. No other complications in conflict occur because of his wound. It just seems to be continuous pain for Jake and his inability to be with Brett, but nothing more ever comes out of it. Jake never tries much to do anything about it either when he very much could. For example, when the count comes with Brett to Jake's hotel in chapter 7 on page 60, Brett offers to send the count away but he replies by saying, "No. He's nice." However, I think that the author wants to make it appear as if they have no true purpose in life.

Stream of Consciousness

I just came across a term that describes perfectly how the book is composed. Hemingway uses the writing style stream of consciousness for the central character Jake. So far throughout the book, we hear Jake' inner thoughts that portrays to us what kind of a person Jake is. For example, in chapter 5, Jake thinks 'God help you' about Cohn right after he gets mad at Jake for saying go to hell. But then he goes on to say "Forget what I said. I'm sorry." Knowing what Jake is thinking allows us to actually know what he thinks about a person. The dialogue alone would not be able to tell us this. By being able to read most of Jake's thoughts and compare it to his dialogue, we are able to figure out how Jake's mind works and this is a very effective way of analyzing Jake.

Neutral

It has become obvious that Jake Barnes is the central character of this novel and pretty much everything that happens revolves around him. But also, many people also come to talk to him and share their feelings with him. For example, in chapter 6 on page 53, Frances wants to talk with Jake about how Cohn wants to leave her. I think that many people like to talk to Jake because he primarily remains neutral between the conflict of two people. While Frances is talking about how Cohn wants to leave her, he never appears to take Cohns side or Frances side, he's just there to listen. However, I get the feeling that Jake is growing away from based on the thoughts and actions of Jake toward Cohn. For example, in chapter 5, Jake tells Cohn to go to hell and also think in his mind "God help him" toward Cohn. Because of his, I don't think that Jake will always be neutral towards Cohn.

Not so central

In my first post I described how I thought that Cohn and Jake would be the central characters of the novel. However, I think that I was wrong. While reading past the first 5 chapters, Cohn seems to drift away farther and farther into the background. In the first chapter it seemed as if this story was about him, but over the next few chapters, he seems to slowly transform into a character that doesn't seem that important anymore. He's just a character that is plainly just... there. For example, in all of chapter 4, Robert Cohn is not mentioned one. This is just very different from Chapter 1 when he seemed to be the main character of the book. I think the author did this on purpose and it has some meaning behind it but I have no idea what that would be.

Spoiler Alert!

Unfortunately, someone had already told me about Jake's wound before I had read the part the talked about it with Brett. Because of this, I will never know if I would have figured it out on my own. However, the reason that it would be difficult to realize about Jake's wound is becuase the author uses indirect characterization. Never once does the author directly describe Jake's wound. Instead, he gives little hints and clues about the incident. For example, on page 38, he is undressed looking in the mirror and thinks about how "of all the ways to be wounded. I suppose it was funny." The author will never say much more than this throughout the book. I am not certain what the reason is for this but it certainly does challenge the reader. However, this seems to be what Jake's conflict will revolve around. He is in love with Brett and she loves him too, but so far it appears that she will never permanently be with him because of his wound.

Cohn's conflict

From what I can see from the first few chapter, Robert Cohn is going to be a character who is consumed by internal conflict. In chapter 2 he seemed to be going through a midlife crisis and later on in the story, he falls in love with Brett but she does not love him back or even want him around. This is not going to make Robert Cohn a character who is well like by the reader. Instead, this is only going to make him annoying to the characters and the audience. Another thing about Cohn's internal conflict is that he lets his preoccupations affect the people around him. For example, in chapter 2 on page 17-18, he wants to drag Jake along to South America with him for reasons such as that Jake speaks fluent spanish. Cohn's problems are only going to push his friends away from him.

Is she who I think she is?

Chapter 3 brought about confusion to me. Jake was just sitting by himself at a restaurant and it says in the first paragraph of page 22 how he caught the eye of a girl and just simply by that she came down and sat with him as if they had known each other and this meeting was planned. However, after a while, I get the feeling that she may be a prostitute. Also, when she asks if Jake is sick and then she tells him that she herself is sick, I wasn't sure if they were talking about a simple cold or maybe a STD. I may be way off but this is just what came into my mind when I read through this chapter. I am also confused why Jake calls her his fiancee when he introduces her to his friends. My guess is that fiancee is not used the same way I am familiar with. For this book, I am going to read it without sparknotes so there are probably going to be many times where I am confused.

Short and Quick

The style used in The Sun Also Rises is much different than other books I have read. First of all the dialogue between the characters is very short and quick most of the time. For me, it seems very choppy when read through quickly. So far the tone of this story has neither been happy nor sad. Instead, its been very ponderous with limited conflict. Cohn has also appeared to be a troubled man who is going through personal problems that resemble a mid-life crisis. Back to the subject of the diction and dialogue, the quick and choppy dialogue between the characters could symbolize how life goes by quick. This was also something that had been troubling Robert Cohn in chapter two when he wanted to travel to Spain. But an example of this choppy dialogue can be found on pages 19 through 21 with the conversation between Robert Cohn and Jake. Personally I like this dialogue because it moves through the book quicker and simpler.

Who's story?

This first chapter of The Sun Also Rises begins describing the life of Robert Cohn who is an American living in Paris. However, this story is told in the First Person point of view. Because of this, I am thinking that this story will focus mainly around two characters who are friends. The character telling the story is named Jake Barnes, and he is the friend of Cohn. However, I am not certain that they are too great of friends becuase Jake only describes themselves as tennis friends. This gives the impression that while Jake is fond of Robert Cohn, he does no sincerely want to be his best friend. This can be found at the end of the second paragraph on page 13 when Jake describes Robert's two friends. Based on reading the summary of the book, I am thinking that the story will focus on their travels together through Europe. However, this chapter does not talk much about any other third parties other than Frances who is Cohn's wife who wants to marry Cohn.