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Hemingway: the Sun Also Rises

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Isolation, Illusion, and Love: Hemingway Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises was a book that emphasized what the jazz age was all about. The book was written in 1926 and is about a group of Americans and Brits that travel all over Europe after World War One. This is very similar to how Hemingway lived in the 20’s because he too traveled around Europe in the 20’s when this book took place. In the book a group of friends go to a bull fighting festival. The protagonist is Jake Barnes who is an American journalist living in Paris. In the war he suffered a wound that left him impotent, which means he can’t have sexual intercourse with a woman. Even though he cannot have sex he is in love with an Englishwoman, Lady Brett Ashley. Brett embodies the sexual freedom of the 1920’s. Her style is very close to the new woman, bobbed hear and many love affairs. In the first part of the book you can sense the sexual tension between Brett and Jake. While in the cab she confesses she loves him but a relationship would never work. When she tells him this they both are extremely drunk because they have been to a night club all night. The next part of the book Jake goes on a fishing trip with his friend Bill. They enjoy a quite few days with little drinking, playing cards and fishing. After the five days they rejoin their friends in Pamplona, where the festival is. They start to drink heavy again. The group is not fond of a fellow on the trip there with them, Robert Cohn. He had an affair with Brett even though she is engaged with Mike Campbell, who is with the group right now. Later that day they attend the fiesta while drinking and eating the whole day. Brett notices this nineteen year old bull fighter and is smitten by him. After the fight in the hotel Jake introduces Brett to Romero, and they begin to have an affair. The jealous tension among the men builds. They all love Brett and

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