What is the significance of the title of The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway ?

A good title is one of the most important elements of a book. One such title is The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. The title suggests an importance of time and a cyclical motif. Yet it also has a hopeful tone, focusing more on beginnings than on endings.


There are many cycles in the book and one of the most evident is that of Lady Brett Ashley and men. Brett has affairs with Cohn and Romero in the course of the book. In both cases there is a process of wooing,acceptance and eventual rejection that takes place. It is also suggested that having affairs is a common practice for her, making that a cycle in and of itself.

Show how The Sun Also Rises reflects some of the problems left behind by the First World War .

World War - I undercut traditional notions of morality,faith and justice. The generation is no longer able to rely on the traditional beliefs that gave life meaning. The men and women who experienced the war became psychologically and morally lost and they wandered aimlessly in a world that appeared meaningless. Jake, Brett and their acquaintances give dramatic life to this situation. Because they no longer believe in anything, their lives are empty. They fill their time with inconsequential and escapist activities, such as drinking,dancing and debauchery.

What use does Hemingway make of bull-fighting and bull-fighters in The Sun Also Rises ?

One of the greatest of all American novels is Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises . It tells the story of a group of American ex-patriots living in Paris during the decade following World War I . The story is set in several locales , particularly Paris . Hemingway's description of the nightlife and debauchery of the French capital in the 1920's is probably the most memorable ever set to print . The latter section of the novel is dedicated to the Festival of San Fermin , in Pamplona , Spain and it is another example of wild drinking and sexual tension run amok and highlighted by the famous "running of the bulls" .

Compare and Contrast between the characters of Jake Barnes and Robert Cohn .

Jake Barnes is the narrator and protagonist of the novel The Sun Also Rises.  Around him the story of the novel goes on. His passion, frustration, misfortune, helplessness and even his cursed life touch us and make us sympathetic towards him. The novel is driven by his needs and desires more than those of the other characters. We observe the other characters through his eyes.

Would you agree with the observation that The Sun Also Rises is Hemingway's version of the moral wasteland Europe has become after the First World War ?

Any work of literature has a number of themes and this novel The Sun Also Rises is no exception . Both T.S.Eliot and Hemingway were deeply troubled by the events of  the war , and the way that Europe was completely devastated , physically and emotionally after the war . Hemingway himself served on the Eastern Front in some of the ugliest and in many ways arguably the most pointless fighting of the war (in a war filled with it ) . One clear theme is the way the novel explores morality and the various moral codes that the characters in this novel ascribe to . Let us consider Jack for a moment , who describes "morality" as "things that made you disgusted afterward " . He quickly corrects himself , saying that this must be the definition of "immorality" . Throughout the novel it is clear that Jack is more interested in his own problems and issues , and then , only secondly , those of Brett .