90 pages • 3 hours read
Ernest HemingwayThe Sun Also Rises
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1926A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Character Analysis
Jake Barnes
Jake, the novel’s narrator and protagonist, is an American World War I veteran who lives in Paris and works as a news correspondent. In the war, he suffered a wound that left him impotent, preventing him from being with the love of his life, Lady Brett Ashley. Throughout the novel, he remains a faithful friend to her, though he numbs his internal pain through drinking and traveling. By opening the novel with background information about Cohn, and saying nothing about himself, he establishes a pattern of avoiding his past.
Like other members of the Lost Generation, Jake eschews tradition and institutions for hedonism and living in the present. He is passionate about bullfighting and casts bullfighters in a heroic light. He greatly admires Romero, who fights with a style that is clean and honest. A regular user of alcohol who has several blackout episodes in the novel, he believes he can eventually stop abusing alcohol and instead enjoy drinking in an Epicurean way. He appreciates the simplicity of transactional relationships, while at the same time feeling the emptiness of his friendships.
At the conclusion of the novel, Jake is once again in Brett’s company, but still not with her romantically. Though she expresses regret about their inability to be together, he fully accepts that their love is not meant to be.
Lady Brett Ashley
A strong woman and the love interest of multiple men, Brett shares a long-standing love with Jake, but she will not commit to him because of his impotence. She is engaged to Mike but has an affair with Cohn, who soon becomes a nuisance to her. She falls for Romero and they have an affair in Pamplona before running off together to Madrid.
Like many members of the Lost Generation, Brett desires to live freely. She is turned off by jealousy and insecurity. She enjoys receiving the affection of many men and isn’t greatly bothered when her fiancé is hurt by her affairs. Though she cherishes her lack of attachment, she still depends on men: She needs Jake’s help and plans to crawl back to Mike.
Robert Cohn
From a rich Jewish family, Cohn went to Princeton, where anti-Semitism compelled him to become a boxer. He inherited a lot of money but lost much of it by publishing a literary magazine. Unlike the novel’s other primary characters, Cohn did not serve in World War I. Because of this, he maintains more traditional beliefs.
In Paris, Cohn becomes Jake’s friend and tennis partner. He goes back to America and publishes a novel to moderate acclaim before returning to Paris to live freely and romantically. He parts with his girlfriend, Frances, and falls in love with Brett. He and Brett secretly spend time together in San Sebastian. In Pamplona, he pines after Brett and acts obnoxious toward the rest of the group.
Bill Gorton
Like Jake, Bill is an American writer who served in the war. Of the writers in the book, he has experienced the greatest literary success. Bill criticizes Jake’s expat lifestyle, although he drinks heavily and Jake truly enjoys his company. Unlike the other men in the group, Bill does not fall in love with Brett, though he does find her attractive.
Mike Campbell
A Scotsman who served in the war, Mike is Brett’s fiancé. He is also bankrupt and runs from creditors everywhere. Though he says he doesn’t mind her affairs, his drunken outbursts suggest otherwise. By the end of the novel, he is depicted as a full-blown alcoholic.
Pedro Romero
A 19-year-old bullfighter, Romero is admired by Jake and adored by Brett. When the group first meets him, he is still viewed as uncorrupted. After Jake connects him with Brett, Romero loses his innocence. Hemingway defines courage as “grace under pressure”: Romero exhibits these characteristics and is thus painted in a heroic light.
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By Ernest Hemingway
