Final blog post - Sula

This is the final blog post for Sula. The questions from the last post (as well as the guiding questions) are posted as comments below.

Your responses are due by Wednesday evening at 10 p.m.

Enjoy the end of the book!

Sula Blog post #2

Please respond for the second blog post here. The questions will be posted as comments, including questions from students from last time. 


Please contribute to the blog with your thoughts, questions, and ideas. For each assignment, you must do AT LEAST TWO of the following:

A.     Respond to one of the guiding questions (I will post them on the blog for you).

B.      Send me an email with a thoughtful question, so I can post it on the blog.

C.      Build on someone else’s idea or politely disagree, with a thoughtful alternative opinion.

Sula - Blog post #1

Dear Students,

I hope you are enjoying Sula so far. Your blog post is due at 10 p.m. by Sunday evening. I sincerely apologize but I don't have the guiding questions at home with me. If you are responding to a guiding question, please write it at the beginning of your post so that others can see it as well.

Thanks and happy reading and writing!

Ms. Delman

The Sun Also Rises

By Nathan Tran

Characters:

Jake Barnes: Barnes is a veteran from the First World War who now finds himself drinking and socializing with those he meets at parties.  Jake works as a journalist in France but is often distracted by his lust for Brett Ashley.  Using his skills of observation to spectate the world around him, Jake Barnes acts as the narrator of The Sun Also Rises.

Robert Cohn: The outsider of the group, Cohn is often used as a punching bag by others to take out their own insecurities.  Being Jewish and having not served his country in the war juxtaposes Cohn against Jake and the others.  Robert is the person included in group activities to the rest can call their clique “diverse” when in reality he simply is there for others when it is convenient

Lady Brett Ashley: The leading lady, Brett Ashley uses her beautiful looks and seductive attitude to use men for what she needs and nothing more.  Fiercely independent, Ashley cannot commit to any one man due to a need to be self-sufficient.  She is an example of how beautiful and lustful women of her time lived ultimately unfulfilled lives.

Summary:

            The Sun Also Rises is the story of Jake Barnes and his pursuit of Lady Brett Ashley.  It begins with Jake trying to console his friend, Robert Cohn, from his anxious and nervous state.  Cohn is so desperate to break the stagnant cycle of his life, he begs Barnes to accompany him to South America.  However, Jake refuses, and eventually gets Cohn to leave.  Later that day, Jake is reunited with Lady Brett Ashley.  The two met during World War I and Jake fell madly in love with her.  However, Jake is impotent and Brett, although in love with him, cannot commit to their relationship.  The next day, Jake tells Cohn about Brett over lunch.  Cohn instantly becomes infatuated with Brett.  Later that night, Brett arrives at Jakes apartment to tell Jake that she is leaving for San Sebastian, in Spain, saying it will be easier on both of them to be apart.  Jake and Bill Gorton make plans to leave for Spain to attend the fiesta at Pamplona.  However, Jake mistakenly encounters Brett with her fiancé Mike, her fiancé.  After agreeing to travel Spain together, Brett tells Jake of her affair with Cohn.  After meeting with Cohn, the three arrive to Pamplona.  While waiting for Brett, Jake and Bill go fishing while Cohn stays behind.  When they return, Jake and Bill stay in a hotel.  They meet Montoya, a Spanish bullfighter who enjoys Jake’s company.  Later, Jake, Bill, Brett, Mike, and Cohn attend the fiesta.  There, they meet Pedro Romero, a bullfighter.  Brett is instantly infatuated with him and asks Jake to arrange a meeting.  Later that night, Brett and Romero sleep together.  Cohn soon arrives, asking about Brett.  After knocking Jake and Mike out, he beats up Romero for sleeping with Brett.  The next day, Romero reigns supreme in the bullfighting competitions and depart for Madrid with Brett, leaving Jake in the dust.  However, Jake is contacted by Brett to come to Madrid.  It is revealed that she left Romero in fear of ruining his bullfighting career.  She also states that she wants to be with Mike.  But the heartbroken Jake fails to show sympathy for the woman, and sees her for what she really is.

Review: 4/5 stars

I enjoyed this novel because of its adventurous and spontaneous attitude and the characters that act like high school sterotypes.  The time and place the novel takes place greatly contributes to its successes. However, Hemingway’s novel, when broken down, is simply a high school horror played out in exotic locations with slightly matured people. My only complaint is that Hemingway’s characters are slightly frustrating due to their actions. However, this did not greatly hinder my enjoyment of the story.  Having been educated about the Lost Generation has help me greatly in enjoying this novel.  I have compared The Sun Also Rises to one of my favorite works of American literature, The Great Gatsby. Both novels paint the picture of a disillusioned generation of degernates who fail to see the long term effects of their actions. Hemingway highlights the flaws of younger people, whether it is their intolerance of not getting what they want, their weakness to young love, or their struggle for identity. It is interesting to see that these quirks are still apparent in us today, and show that Hemingways work is timeless.

Invisible Man

By Aaron Alferez

Being underground, the narrator sees himself as an “invisible man”. Then explaining his life leading up to that point. As a young man, he was a good public speaker, which helped him get into a college. At the college, he meets a white trustee, Mr. Norton, who talks about his daughter a lot. The narrator shows him around the campus and brings him to a bar, the Golden Day. At the bar, a fight breaks out and Mr. Norton passes out during the fight, and a doctor who attends to Mr. Norton insults the two for not seeing the racial relations. The college president, Dr. Bledsoe, finds out about what happened at the bar and expels the narrator. He’s then sent to New York City for new college recommendations and to find a job.

    Going to one of the recommendations, Mr. Emerson, he meets Emerson’s son, and the boy helps the narrator get a job at the Liberty Paints Plant. At the plant, he serves as an assistant to Lucius Brockway, who makes white paint. However, he suspects the narrator to be in union activities and turns on him. While the two fight, unattended tanks explode and the narrator is left knocked out. He wakes up in the plant’s hospital with memory loss and no ability to speak. Leaving the hospital with his memory back, he’s taken to Mary, a woman who takes care of him and teaches him about the black heritage. One day he speaks out against the removal of a black couple of their home, and Brother Jack recognizes his talent as a speaker and recruits him into his Brotherhood, an organization to help the oppressed.

    After being trained by Brother Hambro, he goes to his assigned place in Harlem and meets a smart black leader, Tod Clifton, he also meets Ras the Exhorter, who doesn’t like the Brotherhood and believes that blacks should rise over whites. Enjoying his work with the Brotherhood, he becomes a big figure in the Brotherhood, but on a note he’s reminded of his place as a black man. Brother Wrestrum then says that the narrator is using the Brotherhood for his selfishness, and the Brotherhood sends the narrator to a different post to work on women’s rights. Returning to Harlem, the narrator finds Clifton selling “Sambo” dolls on the street, but he doesn’t have the permit to do so, getting Clifton shot dead by policemen. The narrator throws a funeral for him, giving a speech in his praise. However, Jack and the Brotherhood didn’t like that, so they sent the narrator to Bother Hambro to learn the new rules.

    The narrator is angry and wants to get revenge on Jack and the Brotherhood. Arriving in Harlem, he finds Ras, who sends his men to beat up the narrator, forcing him to be in disguise. He then goes to Brother Hambro’s home for answers, and he says that the Brotherhood’s goals are bigger than the people involved in it, and the narrator intends to find out more by making a relationship with one of the members’ woman. Choosing Sybil to be his woman, he gets no help from her because she knows nothing about the Brotherhood. Then he gets a call saying that he needs to go to Harlem immediately. Arriving in Harlem, he finds the place to be in a riot that was started by Ras. He sees Ras and Ras demanded the narrator to be lynched, causing him to run away. While running away he meets two policemen who suspect him to be a looter from the riot, and he runs away from them only to fall into a manhole, in which the policemen mock him and cover up the manhole. He’s been there ever since, but now it’s also the beginning. He must realize his identity and his duty to the community. He’s ready to go back to the surface.

   

I think it’s amazing how Ellison showed how hard it was for blacks in the 20th century. Throughout the story, the narrator was just getting rejected in places where he could have succeeded. At the college, he could have started out good, but he was expelled because he did what he thought was doing the right thing bringing Norton to that bar. At the paint factory he could have started a new life, but even his own kind didn’t trust him there. And shortly after that, being abused by white doctors for experiments. In the Brotherhood, he liked his job there, but a Brother only saw him as a spotlight taker. Not only that, he was then told in a mysterious letter to remember his place as a black man. And in the end, instead of getting help from the two policemen, he was rejected and covered from the world. However, in the end, the message is powerful in which he accepts his identity and is ready to show himself again.

    I like the irony Ellison put in the story. I find it ironic how in the beginning he sees himself as an “invisible man”, but in his story, it’s his skill in speaking that gets him noticed. For example, in the beginning, he was invited to give a speech in front of a bunch of important white men, a chance that not many people get to do. Also, when he gave a speech about the eviction of a black couple, a Brotherhood member recognized his talent and wanted to recruit him. These examples show how the narrator was able to get people to notice his skill and not his color. I also find it ironic when the narrator had to disguise himself from Ras. This is because identifying himself as an “invisible man”, he shouldn’t have to hide, but when he does try to be invisible, it gets him visible to the whole neighborhood, which is what he’s trying not to do. But now, he doesn’t want to be invisible anymore, he wants to become visible to the world as himself.

The Sun Also Rises

By Connor Turmon

To begin, The Sun Also Rises is a novel that takes place after World War I. It follow the main character Jake Barnes- the protagonist and narrator of the novel- an American World War I veteran who moves to Paris and become a journalist. Jake and his friends both engage in endless rounds of drinking and parties, however Jake is the most stable of all of his friends. Throughout the novel, Jake struggles with his love for Brett Ashley. Although it is established that they both have a love for each other, Brett will not engage in a relationship with Jake because of a war related injury that caused him to be impotent (i.e., erectile dysfunction), and she states that she cannot have a relationship with someone she can never have sex with.

    Brett Ashley, an incredibly important character in which the novel’s conflict circles around, is a beautiful British socialite who is heavily into drinking. She has affairs with a vast amount of men, but can never become committed to them. Her life is one that is not much different than that of a member of the lost generation- one filled with aimlessness, and constantly leaving her wanting more.

    Robert Cohn is also an incredibly important main character in The Sun Also Rises. He, like Jake, is an American although he was never directly involved in the war, which causes him to stand apart along with the fact that he is Jewish. Untarnished by the war, he still tries to hold on to the prewar ideals of love and fair play, despite the fact that these ideas now seem absurd. Cohn is often found the easy target to antagonize by Jake and his friends due to his status.

    Bill Gorton, Jake’s alcoholic war veteran friend, is another important character in the novel. He spends a great deal of time with Jake throughout the novel, especially on their trip fishing and relaxing in Burguete, which only strengthens their already existing emotional connection. They have a genuine friendship that is arguably the only one shown in the entire novel, and because of this, Bill is quite an outstanding character.

Mike Campbell, Brett’s soon to be fiancé, is a man of short-temper and alcoholism. He is constantly found drunk, and in these drunken states is when he acts the most violent and temperamental. He has a lot of trouble coping with the fact that Brett cannot seem to be satisfied by just one man, and he often find insecurity in her infidelity, along with his lack of money.

    Pedro Romero, the key piece to the novel, is the associate conflict. Brett essentially ditches Mike because she “falls in love” with Romero when she first sees him. Romero is a nineteen year old Spanish bullfighting prodigy who they meet at in Pamplona. He also appears to be untarnished by the lost generation ideals and tendencies, thanks to the help of Montoya keeping him in check. When it is discovered that Brett has spent the night with him and that they are having an affair, Cohn beats up Romero brutally, only to be discovered by Jake and Bill after they were also beat up by Cohn after an exchange of insults.

    The novel concludes with Brett leaving Romero because she does not want to corrupt him like she has corrupted all of the other men she has been with. Brett calls Jake and requests him to come “save her” because she is unsure if Romero will actually leave and does not have any money. It turns out that Romero does leave, and at the very end of the novel when Jake takes Brett in a taxi to drive around town and puts his arm over her, she says, “Oh, Jake… we could have had such a damned good time together,” to which Jake responds, “Yes, isn’t it pretty to think so?”

    This last line is honestly my favorite throughout the entire novel, and I believe that it is a fantastic wrap up to everything that happens. It is clear that Brett still has a love for Jake, and that she still continues to fantasize about how fantastic their relationship could have been if only he was able to have sex, however Jake, by using the syntax “pretty to think” displays that he no longer fantasizes about how their relationship could have been. He begins to accept that even if he was able to have sex that their relationship would have most likely turned out the same way. This is a shining example of Jake’s growth throughout the novel and his ability to accept his relationship between Brett.

    Jake’s inability to have sex with Brett, and thus never being able to go into a full relationship with her, appears to actually be more of a positive thing than a negative. This lack of advancement between Jake and Brett appears to actually keep their relationship quite stable, unlike all of the other men that Brett has been with. This stability and continual love that Jake has hints that maybe the love is actually genuine, and more than just the common lust that Mike, Cohn, and all the other members of the lost generation had.

    All in all, the novel The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway was, in my opinion, a pretty fantastic read. It was interesting, engaging, and managed to capture my attention through most parts of the novel. I say most because there were times throughout the novel that progressed quite slowly, and although many of them maintained a subtle theme/moral- such as the fishing trip Jake and Bill go on- they left me feeling (for lack of a better word) uninterested. These parts of lesser engagement were quite sparse and not hindering to my overall enjoyment to the novel, and therefore I would give this novel four stars. I thoroughly enjoyed it, its theme of the destruction of sex and aimlessness, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a good, realistic book to read.

The Bell Jar

By Kunsang Sharzur

See her review here.

Heart of Darkness

By Jaden Angeles

See her review here.

Invisible Man

By Thane Fernandes

The book starts out with the narrator sharing the reason behind his name as the “Invisible Man”, stating that it is based on the fact that others choose to ignore him. Feeling invisible, the narrator lives underground as he tries to hide from the world that has been so cruel to him. In the 1920’s the narrator tells a story of an offer to speak in front of important men within his town. But when he arrives he discovers these men are running a fight with other young black participants. After this horrific brawl they are forced to scramble for what are said to be golden nuggets on a rug but turn out to be fighting over copper coins on an electric rug. Only after all of these brutal events is the narrator allowed to give his speech in which none of the men listen. He is handed a brief case containing a scholarship to a well-known college for blacks. The story then fast forwards 3 years later when the narrator is attending that same college. He acts as a driver for a rich white man involved with the college. One day the narrator drives Mr. Norton to a bar where a fight breaks out and Norton passes out from the craziness of the fight between black veterans. Following the fight, the narrator listens to a speech given by Reverend Homer A. Barbee on the topic of the college’s founder. Homer learns of the fight involving Mr. Norton under the narrator’s watch and expels as homer feels the narrator should have shown a more pleasant view of African American social life and activities. The narrator then moves to Harlem is search of work. Following up on one of the references handed to him, he discovers the “letters of recommendation” are actually documents stating the narrator's incapability’s. He finds a low wage job at a paint factory but does not last long as he gets into a fight with a coworker who suspected the narrator of talking with unions, resulting in the narrator being knocked out. During his time in the hospital, doctors proceed to conduct shock experiments on the patient as he is temporarily mute. After leaving the hospital the narrator comes to meet members of a group called the “Brotherhood” who proclaim to fight for social equality. The narrator moves with the group and gains high statues within the group thanks to his strong public speaking capabilities. After returning to Harlem, the narrator finds that many black members have left the organization. The narrator finds one of his friends originally in the Brotherhood selling stereotyped dolls on the streets. Some white police officers discover the man’s lack of a permit for selling goods and get into a fight resulting in the narrator’s friend being shot dead. The narrator holds a funeral for his friend and gives a speech in which he holds his friend in high regards. The Brotherhood is angered by the fact that the funeral was held without their permission and as a result, the narrator is sent back to Harlem to learn of the groups new plans. Upon the narrator’s return to Harlem, he is accused of failing to continue with problems proposed at the funeral. An angered member sends men to rough up the narrator but he goes into hiding, disguising himself as a different man. The narrator soon learns of the Brotherhood’s lack of interest in black rights and plans to fight against the Brotherhood. He attempts this by flirting with a white woman close to the Brotherhood in hope of obtaining secrets. After failing to do so he gets a call in which he returns to Harlem during a dangerous riot. Attempting to escape, the narrator runs into the same man who tried to have him beat up and then encounters police who suspect him of being involved in the riot. As the narrator attempts to evade the police he falls down into the sewers where the police above laugh and cover up the entrance of the sewer. The story is then placed at the same point as the beginning, the narrator reflecting on his past as he remains underground ever since. At the end of the book the narrator stresses the importance of your own identity without compromise finishing with the proposed idea of returning to the surface.

The narrator is also the invisible man. This is because the reader never learns of his name, college or hometown. The narrator is introduced as an innocent young man unknowing of extreme troubles in the world. He often placed too much trust in people which always resulted in damage towards him. Such as gladly accepting a scholarship after being degraded in a racial brawl, or not checking his letters or recommendation beforehand, believing that were what was promised. In these cases the narrator is almost blind to the hard truths of his own experiences until later on. He only realizes these truths after looking back on his life while hiding underground. Many of the narrator’s misconceptions of people and how things work led him to some of the biggest challenges in the story.

The leader of the Brotherhood, known as Brother Jack shows the lack of capability people had at effectively carrying our plans for equality and social justice. While brother Jack seemed warm and kind hearted in the beginning, with plans for black equality, later on the narrator sees his similar racist views as many other men at that time, even within the Brotherhood itself. Jack is just another example of the injustice placed upon blacks at this time, hiding under a mask claiming to want equality.

I personally was interested in this book, originally picking it because my mother told me it was a great read. It is also a very strong book with a lot of depressing truths about this time period. I found it helpful to read as well because in APush, we cover similar concepts and events that are related to this book and time period. I think the way the story is told is also intriguing as it relies on flash backs and previous memories and how they relate to the narrator’s thoughts and feelings now. The idea of beginning and ending at the same point is similar to The Outsiders, another book I thoroughly enjoyed. A big caution I feel the author introduces in this book is the danger of taking things as they are, to completely and wholeheartedly believe something to be true based upon little to no substantial evidence. It is a sad truth as well as things often do not appear to be as they are, a truth that the narrator took a while to learn over many struggles related to it. I would highly recommend this book to anyone but with the caution that a lot of the book is dark and sometimes depressing to read, but none the less it is a very powerful book. Another big take away for me from this book is truly how horrible and horrific people were to blacks and other minorities at this time. The painful extent to which individuals would abuse, torment and oppress those who were simply seeking the same rights and opportunities that their white counterparts had. This book left me speechless at times where there would be a horrific event, partly due to the action itself and partly because, sadly, the events in this book are more than believable and even aren't as horrible as some other real events that had taken place at this time. I believe the Invisible Man is a book that addressed large parts of the black struggle during the early to mid-1900s and can even be related to struggles that can still be seen today with inequality and racism.

Wuthering Heights

By Desi Orr

The book starts of with the narrator Lockwood renting a stanly manor by the name of Thrushcross Grange. The manor is rented by a Heathcliff who lives down the way about two miles at Wuthering Heights. After Lockwood sees how strange Heathcliff is he demands his housemaid Nelly Dean to tell him all he remembers of the odd old man. The story then begins in truth as nelly out line what has happened at and around Wuthering Heights. As a young girl nelly had worked for the previous master of Wuthering Heights, Mr Earnshaw. One day the master goes to Liverpool and returns with a baby orphaned child whom he decides to keep as his own. His name was Heathcliff. At first his children detest h with all of their souls but the daughter Catherine grows to like him and the become inseparable. This however make the son Hindely hate Heathcliff even more that before. Across the way in Thrushcross grange live the snotty and well to do family the Lintons. After Warsaw dies Hindely inherits Wuthering heights and begins to treat Heathcliff awfully. Later on in life Catherine is bitten by a dog and is forced to stay at the Grange to recuperate for five weeks, during which time Mrs. Linton works to make her a proper young lady. By the time Catherine returns, she has become infatuated with Edgar, and her relationship with Heathcliff grows more complicated. After Catherine decides to marry Edgar Heathcliff runs away to the city in rage, his heart in tatters. He is gone for three years and returns a changed man. Soon returning he starts a terrible vengeance against Hindley. While Heathcliff was away he came into a massive amount of money and was able to use that to send Hindley far into debt by loaning money to him. When Hindely dies Wuthering Heights is left to Heathcliff to pay of debt. He also sets to inherent Thrushcross Grange by marrying Isabella Linton whom he treats very poorly. Soon after Catherine becomes ill Then dies in child birth, leaving Heathcliff devastated. Shortly after Isabella runs away and gives birth to Heathcliff's son named Linton after her. After Edgar Linton dies Thrushcross grange is his and his vengeance is complete. He forces Catherine's daughter (also named Catherine) to stay at Wuthering heights with him. As Nelly finishes her tale Lockwood is appalled by the story and leaves soon after. He dies however return six months later to visit Nelly, who informs him of Heathcliff's death and that the property was passed on to Catherine. The story end with Lockwood going to both Catherine's and Heathcliff's graves.

A little bit on the three main characters, Heathcliff, Edgar Linton and Catherine. Although Lockwood is the narrator he plays a small part in the story and is overall not very note worthy so he is not included as a main character in this review.

Heathcliff-
From rags to riches Heathcliff pulls himself by the shirt tails from an orphan to owning two large properties. Heathcliff is in some ways a teasing character he is truly malevolent at heart but the reader keeps wanting to see the best in him, perhaps his cruelty is just his expression of love, nope he is just plain mean and defies understanding. Although we want to see some good in him because he is the main character there is none to see. We keep expecting some hidden virtue to come to the surface that never, throughout the whole book, appears.

Catherine
The love interest of both Edgar and Heathcliff, she drives their motivations as well as the story line. She represents wild nature smattered with cruelty. Her coffin placement between bother Edgar and Heathcliff suggests divided love or loyalty maybe as she is forced to chose between the two men.

Edgar Linton
The proper gentle man and the other side of the Heathcliff coin. He  is graceful and well mannered which causes Catherine to pick him over Heathcliff in the end. He does however have a fear of Heathcliff's wild nature as is shown on more that one occasion in the story. He is also referred to as consistent and tender which backs up my previous statement.

My review of the book
Overall I enjoyed the book and learned many new words while reading it although down words were interesting the definition of Wuthering sort of disappointed me as it only me at windy. Other than that the language in the book really made me think and allowed a better perspective of the time period. The authors use or personification really help to form great images of rolling marshlands and the grand Thrushcross Grange in my head. The way that the book read slowed me to enjoy the story at my own pace and although there were some gripping moments I could  read on and off but still enjoy the story.

The Sun Also Rises

By Isaac Dare

The Sun Also Rises is a complicated book whose sophistication lies in its simplicity with a writing style so bare and dry you could shake dust off the pages. However, the dust is exactly what one is to look for in this brilliantly written narrative for it is entirely up to the reader to piece together the theme.

            Jake Barnes is a middleclass man who lives in Paris during the 1920's after WW1 rendered him impotent. He spends a majority of his time relaxing and eating or relaxing and eating with his friends. Friends such as Robert Cohn, a university graduate who attempts rather halfheartedly to become a writer while spending his family fortune on frequent and unnecessary traveling, and Bill Gorton, a peer of Jake's who works in the newspaper who is rather amiable no matter who he's with. Lastly for the beginning cast of characters is the Lady Brett Ashley, the victim of an unfortunate economic marriage who finds solace in the arms of Jake and many other weak-willed men though eventually settling for the “rich” Mike Campbell. The novel really kicks off when Jake and Bill decide to travel to Spain for a week to fish and watch the bullfights. Robert Cohn tags along, but not before spending a week alone with Brett for undisclosed yet obvious reasons. After a week of relative solace in the Spanish countryside Bill and Jake meet up with Robert, Brett, and Mike in Pamplona. After a couple days of lounging it becomes apparent that Robert has become quite attached to Brett much to Mike's chagrin and eventually results in a fistfight that knocks Jake out cold simply for bystanding. When the bullfights begin there is a brave, new matador on the scene named Pedro Romero who moves bulls like the ocean coils waves, with no more force than needed for the elegance of the act. Brett is instantly enthralled by his charming looks and chivalrous demeanor, eventually bedding him and eloping in the span of a couple days. A few months after the tumultuous events in Pamplona Jake meets up with Brett in Madrid only to learn that she has left Pedro and intends to return to Mike just as she did in the beginning, thus ending only where she began at the start of the novel.

            Obviously The Sun Also Rises (TSAR) has war themes, Brett's promiscuity, Jake's impotence, and the entire group's frivolous lifestyle being the apparent caricatures. But I believe that there is a deeper theme, one also befitting the Lost Generation. Throughout the entire novel there is almost never a moment when someone isn't eating something it's as if there's a feedbag strapped to their wallets. However, I think this is a symbol; in the same way that watching bullfights is a symbol, in the same way that week long fiestas and midnight hookups are a symbol. Symbols that indicate that the tangibility of life does not necessarily allow it to flourish. Jake and his crew indulge themselves in one bit of entertainment after another but it does absolutely NOTHING at all to heal their personal shortcomings. Conflict rises and falls like the prow of a boat guided only by the general emotion of the group, in the entire book no one's feeling is ever directly addressed whilst in public. All the character growth is done away from the party or off the page, in fact the greatest source of relaxation and personal growth in Jake was when he went fishing with Bill, nearly isolated form society! What Hemingway is trying to communicate is that drowning ourselves in the material does nothing to aid our psychological and emotional issues and that the problem with modern society is its excessive encouragement of consumerism that promises to do exactly that which Hemingway disagrees with.

            All in all The Sun Also Rises is a motivating look that takes an interesting stance on issues of human progression. The syntax is flawless communicating simultaneously nothing and everything about the characters. His style is reminiscent of an advertisement, giving the viewer a quick and simplistic idea of the product with a whole other meaning behind the canvas. I do hope to read more of Mr. Hemingway’s work in the future.