The Sun Also Rises

Book 1: Chapters 1-7

Reading Check

1. Princeton

2. newspaper correspondent

3. the prostitute Jake hires for company; Jake is impotent

4. because Jake has insulted both Brett and Cohn himself

5. Paris

Multiple Choice

1. C

2. D

3. C

4. B

5. A

Short-Answer Response

1. Jake answers that they “want to lead [their] own lives,” and Brett says, “We have our careers,” both of which are false excuses. In truth, when Jake asks Brett if they could “just live together,” she responds that she would simply cheat on him all the time. Brett can’t conceive of a relationship that doesn’t involve sexual intimacy, and because the war has rendered Jake impotent, he is, in her eyes, unable to meet her needs.

2. Jake means that the only people who truly live their lives to their ultimate potential are bullfighters. The bullfighter is an athlete, an aesthete, a gentleman, a hero, and a cultural icon. His fusion of masculinity and artistry are, in Jake’s eyes, the perfect combination, making him a paragon of a man.

3. Cohn is clearly a traditional romantic; he refuses to believe that Brett would marry men she doesn’t love and even stands up at the table to defend her honor when he feels Jake is insulting her. In contrast, Jake sees love and intimacy as transactional. He spends time with a prostitute because he wants companionship while he dines, and he acknowledges that Brett has married for money and status, not for love.

4. Cohn is the only character who doesn’t drink. All of the other characters are constantly drinking, using it as a way to avoid their emotional pain and disillusionment.

5. Georgette’s line captures the malaise of the lost generation itself and the cultural damage of the war. Jake’s injury has taken away a critical component of his identity, just as the war has removed the illusion of stability and safety in human civilization. Georgette is referencing the disorientation that descended in the war’s aftermath, causing everyone to act as though they were “sick,” injured, or lost.

Book 2: Chapters 8-12

Reading Check

1. He is a writer.

2. Pamplona

3. drunk

4. in a cathedral in Pamplona

5. Bill

Multiple Choice

1. B

2. B

3. D

4. D

5. A

Short-Answer Response

1. Bill and Jake both fought in the war. Like Jake, Bill is a writer, and deeply committed to his work. When Bill and Jake go fishing, Bill proves himself to be a loyal friend, a man who can speak honestly and openly about his emotions and the pressures of society to conform to a certain kind of masculinity. He also drinks to excess, like the other characters in the novel. Unlike Jake, however, Bill was not injured in the war, and rather than becoming an expatriate as Jake did, he returned to America. Out of all the characters, he seems to be the one who comes closest to experiencing genuine happiness and contentment.

2. Brett has just had a brief affair with Cohn in San Sebastian, and she thinks it will be a “bit rough on him” to see her with her fiancée.

3. The first reason is that Cohn did not fight in the war; Jake makes a point of saying that Cohn is the most nervous man “in civil life” that he has ever seen. Jake’s emphasis on “civil life” shows a dash of contempt for Cohn; unlike Bill and Jake, Cohn was never in the war, and therefore he is still somewhat innocent to the horrors of the world. The second reason is that Cohn is Jewish. Antisemitic undertones have trailed Cohn since the first chapter of the novel, but in chapter 10 his faith is repeatedly used as a reason for him to be disliked.

4. Hemingway clearly marks the cultural differences between the Spanish and the French, in addition to noting the general attitude of the people. In Paris, Jake is swept along by the ennui and decadence of the city: he goes drinking every night and has sexual urges that he cannot satisfy. There is a concentrated feverish energy in Paris, though everyone claims to be “bored” and “miserable.” By contrast, Spain is depicted as more rustic: its landscape is filled with mountains, trees, fields, and dirt roads, and the people with whom Jake interacts are farmers and laborers who work hard and drink not to numb themselves but to reward themselves for a day well spent. In the Spanish countryside, Bill and Jake speak far more openly with one another than they did in Paris, feeling a freedom that they never did in France.

5. For Bill, becoming an expatriate is a death sentence for writers. “Nobody that ever left their own country ever wrote anything worth printing. Not even in the newspapers,” he declares (chapter 12). Bill tells Jake that he has been “ruined” by “fake European standards,” standards that have caused Jake to “[lose] touch with the soil . . . get precious . . . drink [himself] to death . . . become obsessed by sex . . . [and] spend all [his] time talking, not working . . . [hanging] around in cafés” (chapter 12). However, Bill does admit that, in America, he couldn’t say things to Jake such as “You’re a hell of a good guy” because it would mean he “was a faggot” (chapter 12). In America, Bill is pigeonholed into a version of masculinity that doesn’t allow men to express affection for one another. This lamentation of Bill’s has sometimes been interpreted as Hemingway’s way of hinting that Bill might be gay.

Book 2: Chapters 13-15

Reading Check

1. someone who is passionate about the bullfights

2. “beautiful”

3. This chapter is the most “internal” Jake has ever been in the novel. Before going to bed, he ruminates on the consequences of consumerism and money becoming a value system. He feels that everything is transactional, even relationships. As Jake details the next two days he spends in Pamplona, he says that “no one was drunk.” This is the first chapter in which none of the characters drinks alcohol.

4. San Fermin

5. Pedro Romero

Multiple Choice

1. B

2. C

3. D

4. A

5. D

Short-Answer Response

1. Mike’s “funny” war story is a deliberate way to keep the war in the past. There is no mention of violence or combat in his story; instead, it is about the frivolousness of military medals, which he ends up handing out to party guests as souvenirs. Mike is also mocking the ceremony of war. Though social institutions acknowledge war with gravity and seriousness—awards and medals, honors and promotions—the men who are actually in the war are normal human beings who enjoy a good laugh.

2. Steers are castrated male cows. On the surface, then, the obvious comparison would be to Jake, as his war injury has rendered him impotent. However, Mike attacks Cohn, likening him to a steer because steers “never say anything and they’re always hanging about so” and asking, “Is Robert Cohn going to follow Brett around like a steer all the time?” Mike is angry that Cohn has slept with his fiancée and then followed them to Pamplona. Mike wants Cohn to act like the gored steer: “he did not attempt to join the herd.”

3. As the festival begins, dancers from the procession form a circle around Brett and start to dance; Bill and Jake are also pulled into the circle. Though Brett wants to dance, “they did not want her to. They wanted her as an image to dance around.” Here, Brett is seen only for her beauty, not for her substance. Later in the chapter, however, Brett proves that she has more power than the men around her. While Cohn becomes “quite green” at the bullfight, Brett can’t look away, causing Cohn to call her a “sadist.” (Rising to her defense, Mike says she’s “not a sadist. She’s just a lovely, healthy wench.”) Mike and Cohn are still competing over Brett, while she herself has moved on, becoming attracted to Pedro Romero. While society uses Brett’s beauty as something to objectify, Brett uses her beauty as a weapon, and leaves a trail of heartbroken men in her wake.

4. Just as the matadors taunt the bulls before going in for the kill, Brett is engaged in an elaborate dance with the men as they compete for her attention. Jake, Mike, and Cohn are all in love with Brett. Similar to the way Romero “dominated . . . by making [the bull] realize he was unattainable, while he prepared him for the killing,” so too does Brett dominate, showing the men that they will never have power over her: Jake because he is impotent, Mike because he knows of Brett’s affairs with other men but passively accepts them, and Cohn because he refuses to accept that their dalliance is over. The violence in the bullfights is reflected in the casual cruelty the friends inflict on one another, including the blatant antisemitism towards Cohn and their complete disregard for authentic emotions. Hemingway suggests that all relationships are ultimately struggles over power: who wields it, and how it can be used to inflict a fatal wound.

5. In chapter 14, Jake shares that he “never slept with the electric light off” for six months, though on this particular evening he has turned off the light. His past refusal to turn the light off signifies that he is scared of the dark. This fear may come from many things: memories of the war, his inability to be with Brett, or his general unhappiness. The light dispels his fears and true feelings, which Jake doesn’t want to face. On this night, however, he turns the light off, and the chapter becomes one where Jake’s internal reflection gives us deeper insight into his character. In the dark, he becomes honest with himself, confessing things such as, “Mike was unpleasant . . . I liked to see him hurt Cohn . . . though, . . . afterward it made me disgusted at myself.” Ultimately, Jake uses the light as a way to keep his real emotions suppressed so that he doesn’t have to confront the uglier truths about himself.

Book 2: Chapters 16-18

Reading Check

1. because Jake worries that if Romero has wealthy admirers, he will become corrupted and lose his “purity” as a bullfighter

2. because Montoya thought he and Jake agreed earlier that Romero should be protected from people who may corrupt him, and now Jake has introduced Romero to his group of dissolute friends

3. a pimp

4. He dies.

5. Once a famous bullfighter, Belmonte came out of retirement only to find that “the legend grew up about how his bullfighting had been, and when he came out of retirement the public were disappointed because no real man could work as close to the bulls as Belmonte was supposed to have done, not, of course, even Belmonte.”

Multiple Choice

1. A

2. C

3. B

4. C

5. D

Short-Answer Response

1. Much like Europe after the war, Belmonte’s days of popularity and glory are behind him. During his retirement from bullfighting, the legends about his tremendous skill outgrew the reality, and when he returns to the ring, he realizes how “the legend grew up about how his bullfighting had been, and when he came out of retirement the public were disappointed because no real man could work as close to the bulls as Belmonte was supposed to have done, not, of course, even Belmonte.” Knowing that he will be seen in the audience’s eyes as a failure, Belmonte becomes “utterly contemptuous and indifferent,” just as the lost generation feels about pre-war values and institutions that were supposed to keep the world safe. Thus, Belmonte feels purposeless—just as the characters in the novel are—and seems to simply be waiting for the day he dies, rather than living with purpose and passion.

2. Brett’s enjoyment of the bullfights, and her ability to gloss over the goriest parts of them, further emphasizes that she lives by satisfying whatever desires and impulses drive her, leaving heartbroken men in her wake. Brett’s absorption in the action of the bullfights metaphorically positions her as a matador, dancing around the men who want to “capture” her. To keep the men at bay, she symbolically “stabs” them by inflicting emotional wounds, then turns a cold shoulder after inflicting the fatal blow. She is incapable of true emotional connection, preferring to prioritize her whims and fancies, regardless of the cost to others.

3. To Mike, Cohn is the easiest target: he has attached himself to a friend group in which he is unwelcome and doesn’t pick up on any of the hints that people don’t want him around. His trailing after Brett like a lovesick teenager further adds to his pitiful nature. Therefore, when Mike tells Cohn, “Why don’t you see when you’re not wanted, Cohn? Go away. Go away, for God’s sake. Take that sad Jewish face away,” Mike feels superior to Cohn, even though Mike cannot ask those same questions of himself. (Why does he stay engaged to Brett when he knows about her affairs?) Cohn’s outdated notions of romance, which render him “ready to do battle for his lady love,” further incite Mike’s mockery. Getting angry at Cohn provides Mike with a diversion from the pain that Brett causes him.

4. Bill calls Jake a “human punching-bag” because he sees the way Brett mistreats and hurts Jake. As the only man in the novel who does not fall in love with Brett, Bill has the most objective perspective on the ways Brett manipulates men. He is also the closest friend Jake has in the novel, as seen when they go fishing together and are able to talk openly and honestly. Though much of what Bill says is meant to be humorous, he also offers moments of deep insight. Therefore, Bill is uniquely positioned to point Jake’s flaws out to him. It’s also worth noting that Jake does not respond to Bill’s barb, confirming Bill’s point: Jake will let people mistreat him and be a “punching-bag” for others.

Book 3: Chapter 19

Reading Check

1. Jake

2. Mike goes to Saint Jean de Luz in France and Bill goes to Paris.

3. San Sebastian

4. grow her hair long

5. 15 years (Romero is 19 and Brett is 34)

Multiple Choice

1. C

2. D

3. A

4. B

5. B

Short-Answer Response

1. Brett balks at the idea that she has to change anything about herself for the sake of a relationship. Romero wants her to look more “womanly” and asks her to grow out her hair, but she insists that she’d “look a fright.” Brett also tells Jake that Romero wanted to get married so that she “could never go away from him.” The thought of losing her freedom, especially the ability to flit from one casual affair to another, causes Brett to feel trapped. There are also, however, signs that Brett has realized that perhaps Romero is too good for her. She says that her living with Romero would be “bad for him,” as if she is worrying about his happiness and his career. She also ruminates on their age difference (he is 19, and she is 34) and says that she doesn’t want to “be one of these bitches that ruins children.” She knows she won’t be a good mother, and that Romero has much more of the world to experience before settling down. This is perhaps the first and only sacrificial act Brett performs in the novel.

2. This sentence confirms that Brett is like a child, breaking things and making messes, and expects that Jake will follow behind her to fix whatever situation she’s created for herself. Indeed, this is the most prominent dynamic of their relationship, in which Brett does whatever she wants and returns to Jake when things don’t work out. The relationship is detrimental for Jake, who follows a woman he loves but can never have and prioritizes her happiness at the cost of his own.

3. The swimming scenes show what Jake’s future will look like: though he will be alone, he will find an equilibrium that will build a stable life. The young couple on the raft are a reminder of what Jake will never have: a romantic partner to spend his life with. However, rather than be upset, Jake “tried several dives. . . . [He] swam with [his] eyes open and it was green and dark.” This scene contrasts with the scene in chapter 14 in which Jake is fears darkness. Now, he is learning how to be in darkness with his “eyes open,” unafraid and unflinching. In the second swimming scene, Jake feels as though “[he] could never sink” and swims “slowly and steadily.” Jake is beginning to find an internal peace that he couldn’t access before. He doesn’t need to be drunk, or in the midst of a group of boisterous friends, or pursuing a woman, in order to feel alive. The regular rhythm of swimming—of living—will be enough for him.

4. Brett becomes sympathetic in this chapter because it’s obvious that her life will continue to be a repeating pattern of aimless wandering as she searches for the man who can fulfill all of her desires. Though she treats men cruelly, that cruelty stems from her own dissatisfaction and, it seems, from the death of her one true love in the war. She will be a hedonist her entire life—searching for fun and pleasure—but will never be in a true, authentic relationship. The pity she evokes, as seen through Jake’s eyes, gives her a more sympathetic side than the novel granted her before.

5. Jake’s final line encapsulates the mood of the lost generation. There are nice things to believe in, like civility, manners, religion, and courtship, and then there is the truth of those things. Civility simply masks underlying tension and conflict, manners perpetuate narrowly defined gender roles, religion fails to provide answers, and courtship doesn’t always end with a wedding. The post-war generation sees past the hope and the appearance of happiness to the reality on the other side. Living with pre-war values, as Cohn does, renders a person detached from the real world; accepting the new post-war values, as Jake and his friends do, leads to malaise and disillusionment. While neither option seems particularly attractive, Jake elects to see reality rather than the fictions that mask it, in the same way that the post-war generation resolves not to rely on illusions of stability but rather to confront the tumultuousness that is an unavoidable part of the human condition.