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.
The idea of cycles is also evident in a more ritualized form through the bull-fighting and the Catholicism. One of the best examples of cycles and the passage of time is the contrast of Romero and Belmonte. Belmonte is an old bull-fighter who has passed his prime ; his sun is setting. Romero is a young bull-fighter who is just coming into his own ; his sun is rising. This contrast suggests the cycle of life and death.
This cycle of life and death can be seen on a much larger scale by looking at the ex-patriots. The ex-patriots are the members of the post World War I generation writers and artists who are sometimes referred to as the "Lost Generation" and Hemingway himself was one of them. They went through the horrors of War and depression in their young lives and found themselves seemingly devoid of morals, spirituality and purpose so they found real meaning in nothing as they spent their time reveling in their sinfulness while living in Europe. The picture of despair surrounding the verse is typical of what he and the others who were living this life, felt disillusioned by the materialism of post-war America. This might lead one to think that their best days are passed. The title "The Sun Also Rises" suggests that while things might be bad for them now, there is always a tomorrow.
While the context of the verse/title is despair, there is also hope. Though everything seems hopeless, the sun will rise again tomorrow and then it will do so again the next day...and the next. There is not much hopefulness in this novel. The last words in the novel suggest an extremely poignant sadness about Brett and Jake and how, even if they had been given a chance to start a relationship, it would have ended up shipwrecked on the rocks like Brett's many other relationships. Hemingway presents his characters as living with moral voids that leave them unable to create meaningful relationships.
Despite that hopelessness about what might have been, there is a glimmer of hope for the future of the Lost Generation in the rising of the sun. Symbolically, the title is also very optimistic, as it observes that no matter what happens today and no matter what tragedy or mistakes are made by the characters, there is hope for a better tomorrow. This is very significance given by the novel's focus on the so called "Lost Generation" who spent their days inanely wandering around Europe engaging in acts of hedonistic debauchery. Even though the novel itself seems to offer little hope for these characters, the title reminds the reader that there is hope even for the lives of Jake and Brett. But it is not a complete hope, it is the promise of a tomorrow which may have more meaning and significance than today. If it does not, there is always the next day - or the day after that.
There is another possible interpretation of the title and that is as a sexual metaphor. The sun may be rising but Jake's situation sure is not. With this interpretation there seems to be a theme of unrequited love. To a certain degree his whole generation lost something in the war. And that is why they struggle on trying to find satisfaction and fulfillment in life, yet never be able to fully achieve it. The sun is setting on the lost generation, their best days have passed them by. And that is why the thirty-four year old Brett can not be with the nineteen year old Romero. They are on different sides of the cycle. It is also possible that Hemingway is saying that the sexual nature of relationships is not important.
Hemingway shows enough images of loss and heartbreak to give this book a possible depressing tone. Yet that is not the ultimate message. He is not trying to dwell on the fact that the fiesta is over. That is because there will be other fiestas. One can never be saddened by an ending, a new beginning is always just around the corner. And so although the sun may set on good times, it always rises again.
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