The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway | Summary & Analysis

Course Hero Literature Instructor Russell Jaffe provides an in-depth analysis of the plot, characters, symbols, and themes of Ernest Hemingway's novel The Sun Also Rises.


In Ernest Hemingway's roman à clef The Sun Also Rises, a thinly veiled set of characters based on the author and his own acquaintances drunkenly carouse their way through post-World War I Europe.

Jakes Barnes, a stand-in for Hemingway, and Robert Cohn, who represents writer Harold Loeb, vie for the attentions of Lady Brett Ashley, also based on a real-life figure.

Bouncing from Spain to France and back again, the trio and their cohort engage in romantic dalliances and fisticuffs. The young bohemians question whether anything has meaning after the great losses of war. This question is particularly poignant for narrator Jake Barnes, whose war injury cripples his happiness.

Nobel Prize-winning American author Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises was published in 1926. Like Jake, Hemingway expatriated to Europe after a devastating World War I injury. Known for his sparse prose, masculine heroes, and art-imitating-life style, Hemingway conveys the disillusionment and heartbreak of a generation who had experienced a war such as the world had never seen before.

The novel The Sun Also Rises contains many enduring themes including the effects of war, as veterans and civilians alike struggle to find meaning after war; masculinity, as the male characters hide their insecurities and hurt egos by drinking heavily, chasing sex, and playing sports; and disillusionment, as trench warfare leads many young soldiers to feel their contributions and lives are meaningless. Important motifs include alcoholism and sex.


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[ianhuangncubed]

This guy is so enthusiastic, I love it!

[marcosontiveros]

Great summary! Ties the whole book up nicely. For those the like fishing the passages of Jake and Bill out fishing trout have amazing imagery and give you a feeling of peace and accomplishment; Bravo Hemingway!

[asyamovsesyan]

Thank you so much 👏👏
All your videos are rather useful 👍

[khanjones]

Bit embarassing coming to this and seeing everything I missed, well done

[ejazhussain]

Can I give you more than one like on this excellent explanation?

[darlington]

thank you for this, very enlightening <3

[madisons]

tomorrow is my final exam for my ib english 1 class, including all the books we read this year, this just happens to be one of the 2 books I never finished, hope this helps me do well!!

[sonickitkat]

Very good except Bill wasn’t gay. Do you remember the part where he and Jake are discussing Brett’s affair. Bill is shaving in the mirror and says why couldn’t she fall for this face? He was briefly attracted to Brett along with everyone else

[lightningbones]

I bet Dave van Ronk had this in mind when he wrote Luang Prabang

[yousefbouya]

Thank you so much, but i cannot see anything of Bill Gordon makes him "gay".

[GerryDawes]

Did this guy really read this book. Fishing in southern France, NOT! They went fishing in Spain.