The Sun Also Rises

From ArticleWorld

The Sun Also Rises is a novel written by Ernest Hemingway and it centers around a group of Americans in Europe during the 1920’s. The novel is a powerful revelation of the life and values of the Lost Generation. The Lost Generation was coined by those in the 1920’s who were emotionally traumatized by World War I. The The Sun Also Rises is considered to be a roman a' clef which is a novel in which actual events are given a superficial fictional mask. Many of the characters in The Sun Also Rises were based on the author and his friends.

Synopsis

Jake Barnes end up at a club, with a girl name Georgette. Barnes sees Lady Brett Ashley. Ashley and Barnes had a romantic relationship in the past that only involved kisses. Jake meets a friend of Brett’s named Count Mippipopolous. Brett and Jake say goodnight agreeing to see each other tomorrow. Jake goes home and cries over Brett, who shows up drunk at his door but leaves soon afterwards.

Jake discusses Brett with Cohn. Jake confesses that when he first met Brett it was during the war when she was a volunteer nurse and married to another man. Jake also tells Cohn that Brett is engaged to be married to a man named Mike Campbell who is in Scotland at the moment. When Brett does not show up for her date with Jake he is disappointed. Cohn girlfriend Frances humiliates him in front of Jake forcing him to leave.

Brett shows up at Jake’s door with the count. Jake tells Brett he loves her and asks her to live with him. Brett turns him down and she tells Jake that she is going to San Sebastian tomorrow to stay until her fiancé gets back. The count, Jake and Brett go out to a club later that night. The evening ends with Jake kissing Brett goodbye at her hotel door.

Jake decides to take a trip to Spain with his friend Bill Gorton. Brett is now in San Sebastian and Cohn has taken a trip to the country. When Bill arrives in Paris, he and Jake go out and run into Brett back from San Sebastian with her fiancé Mike They separate, Jake and Bill agree to meet Brett and Mike later on. Cohn writes to Jake saying he wishes to go to Spain with him. Mike and Brett also decide to got Spain with Jake and Bill. Bill and Jake takes a train to Bayonne and meets Cohn that night. Then Jake, Bill and Cohn take a car to Pamplona. Brett and Mike have not arrived yet because they are in San Sebastian again.

Cohn meets Brett and Mike in San Sebastian instead of going on with Bill and Jake on their fishing trip. Jake and Bill is in Burguete bonding during fishing. They meet, Harris, an Englishman in the inn they are staying at. After their fishing trip Jake and Bill return to Pamplona. Jake, Bill, Mike and Cohn find each other again. They go and watch the bulls being released from their corrals. After they are released, they chase and core steers which are young oxen who have been castrated before reaching sexual maturity. They want to prevent the bulls from fighting each other. Jake has a rough night because he can’t stop thinking about Brett.

Pamplona gets ready for fiesta for the next two day. It is Sunday when fiesta explodes at noontime. Jake, Bill and Mike have dinner with some Spaniards. The next afternoon, Jake and his friends go to a bullfight. Later, Jake meets Pedro Romero, a young bullfighter. At dinner, Jake, his friends, and Romero discuss bull-fighting. Brett is taken with Romero and later admits to Jake she has fallen in love with Romero.

Jake reunites with Mike, Bill and Cohn. Mike than tells Jake that Brett has left with Romero. Later on that night, Cohn gets into a argument with Mike and Jake, beating them up. Cohn begs for Jake’s forgiveness after the fight. Cohn leaves the next morning and Jake goes to watch the bulls run in and sees a man gored. The town holds a funeral for the man. Jake is then told by Mike that Cohn beat up Romero after he beat him and Mike up after he found Romero with Brett. When Cohn tries to apologize to Romero, he refuses to accept his apology and hit him in the face. Then Brett told Cohn off, and is now taking care of Romero.

The day of the fiesta Jake and friends go to a bullfight. Romero and two other matadors are there. That night Brett leaves with Romero on a train. When the fiesta is over the men split up again and Jake ends up alone in San Sebastian. Brett telegrams Jake, telling him that she needs his help. Jake arrives in Madrid where Brett and Romero have been staying. Brett tells him she is leaving Romero because he wants to marry her. Brett and Jake leave. They get train tickets for that night and go on taxi ride through Madrid. Brett tells Jake that he and her could have had a good time together.