Noah Ford
Mr. Works
English 11, E Period
August 18th, 2012
The Sun Rises and so does Chaos

The protagonist in Ernest Hemmingway’s The Sun Also Rises, Jacob Barnes, is a down on his luck war veteran living in France. Jake is characterized by his experiences prior to the events of the book and he narrates the story from a quiet observer’s third person perspective, often times quite cynically, exemplified when he tells his friend Robert Cohn, “You can’t get away from yourself by moving from one place to another.”Although never openly stating it, Jake on several occasions implies that due to a war injury he has lost the ability to have sex which leaves him feeling very insecure about his own masculinity, likely contributing to his
During the small group’s travels, they meet and make many new friends, each new person contributing to the group in a new and unique way. The first night out, Jake takes a prostitute out to dinner, but ditches her to be with Brett later on. That same night they meet the Count Mippipopolous, a wealthy Greek who immediately takes an interest in Brett. Although infatuated with Brett, the Count, unlike most men, does not subscribe to the jealousy which often time surrounds Brett. He stands out as a sane and moral person, accentuating Jake and all of his friend’s insecurities and flaws. Later on, while in Spain, the group also meets the bull fighting prodigy Pedro Romero, a very attractive 19 year old bull fighter who becomes involved with Brett. He stands out from the group as a symbol of purity. He carries himself with pride and confidence, and his passion and talent for bullfighting gives his life a purpose. Romero is a figure of honesty and purity who again accentuates Jake and his friend’s flaws. The story likely climaxes when Cohn, full of jealousy, violent beats Jake and Mike for making fun of him, and then goes back to the hotel to ruthlessly beat Romero. This just goes to show what Brett’s corrupting and controlling attitude can do to people, and the scene captures the petty cruelty characterized by Jake and his