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Corrine Johnson
The Sun Also Rises
Ernest Hemingway, like most of his literary pieces, reflected similar personal qualities
that correlated back to his own life. This notion of life living through art is represented in
Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. Along with the entire book, the ending of The Sun Also Rises
also links back to Hemingway’s life at that particular moment when he wrote the novel. By the
end of the novel, Hemingway also helps to define the feeling of angst after World War I. Ernest
Hemingway used this novel to not only express how the world moved forward from World War
I, but how soldiers dealt with life in the aftermath of war. Hemingway, having been injured and
served in the war is one of the many connections that can be made to Hemingway’s world view
during that period of time. Many of Hemingway’s literary pieces reflect back upon his own
reality, and throughout this story reflections of Hemingway shine through.
To understand who Ernest Hemingway was as person, it is a key component to
understanding the thought process behind the stories he wrote. It is said that “Hemingway was
throughout his career, after all, a writer, a very literary person, an artistic person, something of a
historian, and consequently a writer whose work must be read” (Lewis 209). To read
Hemingway’s literary work was the same as reading an excerpt from his journal, because he
placed a piece of himself carefully into his design. Ernest Hemingway “made writing look as
though it happened between life’s experiences” (Hishmeh 92).
The evidence of Hemingway reflecting upon his own circumstances can be seen
throughout The Sun Also Rises. The Sun Also Rises was written when Hemingway moved back to
the U.S from Europe where he was participating in a literary apprenticeship (Ernest). The novel
itself is based in two locations, Paris and Spain. Hemingway lived in Europe and experienced a
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lot overseas that greatly impacted his future. Living the European life definitely gave influence
to not only the setting of this novel, however even to the characters. Italy was one of
Hemingway’s favorite places. It is said that “later in his career he frequently returned, and each
visit seemed to inspire more writing set in Italy” (Lewis 212). Also,
of the numerous countries that Hemingway visited or lived in, Italy must be counted as
one of those that he knew and loved the best. It was there, in a significant period of young
manhood, that he had his first extensive experiences of a foreign culture heightened by
the war and his dramatic role in it and climaxing with his severe wounding and frustrated
love for an American nurse (Lewis 212).
The Sun Also Rises is surrounded by European influences. The activities including drinking,
cafes, bull fighting and dancing were all essences of Europe. Hemingway spent so many years
overseas that it is clear why it plays an important role in the novel.
One of the other aspects that occur toward the end of the novel that reflects back to
Hemingway is bull fighting, drinking and fishing. Ernest Hemingway was said to be “a hard
drinker, big-game hunter, fearless soldier, amateur boxer, and bullfight aficionado” (Ernest).
Almost all of these qualities are engulfed in this novel. Drinking especially is an activity that all
of the characters participate in and sometimes gets taken to the extreme. For example, during the
fiesta Jake says that “the drinking kept up, and the noise went on” (Hemingway 158). During the
fiesta there is even fighting and violence. Hemingway made alcohol appear to be able to drown
out all of the violence and sorrow that the war caused.
Another aspect of Hemingway’s personal life that reflects in the novel The Sun Also Rises
is the influence of military and World War I. It is said that “the emotional source of The Sun Also
Rises is not so much Hemingway the man, as the generation that experienced World War I”
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(Hishmeh 98). Many people were affected by the war and Hemingway does help define these
feelings in the novel. While he explains what the majority had felt, it is evident that this feeling
and view was greatly engulfed into Hemingway’s life experience. Ernest “Hemingway enlisted
in the Red Cross medical service, driving an ambulance on the Italian front. He was badly
wounded in the knee” (Ernest). This injury can be linked to Jake in the novel, which also has an
injury pertaining to the war. The feeling throughout this novel is how World War I basically
destroyed and changed the lives of everyone. The Sun Also Rises makes a “major statement of
the "lost generation," describes a group of expatriate Americans and Englishmen, all of whom
have suffered physically and emotionally during the war; their aimless existence vividly
expresses the spiritual bankruptcy and moral atrophy of an entire generation”(Ernest). While
Hemingway did not have his life completely get destroyed due to his serving in the war, he does
place emphasis on some of his reality of being hurt, and the angst that followed World War I.
This novel reflects many personal aspect of Hemingway’s life, “because of Hemingway's
fame, because of his identification with his characters, because be advertised himself as writing
from experience, and because he gradually failed to provide his fictions with sufficient distance,
the attraction of the biographical fallacy has seemed nearly irresistible” (Benson 356). Ernest
Hemingway became greatly associated with his characters and for good reason. Hemingway
expressed his ideas on the world through his novels, including The Sun Also Rises. It can be
viewed that “Hemingway confused what he created in his imagination with fact, and when it was
written down, he was confirmed in his belief” (Benson 357). While direct links can be made
from Hemingway to his novel it is important to recognize that not every aspect reflected his
views, however the views of the generation at that time.
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Aspects of Ernest Hemingway’s life reflected throughout the novel, The Sun Also Rises,
not just toward the ending of the novel itself. One of the main influences would definitely have
to be European life styles and the cultures that Hemingway experienced when he was a young
man. While the traits and life experiences of Hemingway can be linked to many aspects of the
novel the main theme is the angst that was generated from World War I. Hemingway himself
was deeply impacted by war because he served and had left the service due to an injury that was
caused of his willing participation. Hemingway survived his injuries; however the emotional scar
appears to continue to have lingered in his mind, especially when writing this novel. The
character that Hemingway has most of his connections with is Jake. The connections between
Jake and Hemingway are similar and allowed Hemingway to express his true ideas. Most of
Hemingway’s view on the world can be seen thought the character Jake. Both were greatly
impacted by the war and so were the characters that Hemingway created. This particular novel
gave Hemingway freedom to express just not his own feelings after the war, but of the people
surrounding him.
Overall, Ernest “Hemingway remains a pillar of Modernism, one of its most popular and
enduring literary celebrities” (Hishmeh 97). Ernest Hemingway placed a piece of his own
character and view on the world in the novel The Sun Also Rises. It is through this novel the
reader can come to understand the hardships of war and how it shaped the lives of many,
including Ernest Hemingway.
Works Cited
Benson, Jackson J. "Ernest Hemingway: The Life as Fiction and the Fiction as Life." American
Literature 61.3 (1989): 345. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 5 Apr. 2011.
"Ernest Miller Hemingway." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Gale
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Biography In Context. Web. 5 Apr. 2011.
H e m i n g w a y, E r n e s t . T h e S u n A l s o R i s e s . S c r i b n e r B o o k C o m p a n y, 2 0 0 6 .
Print.
Hishmeh, Richard. "BYRON: ROMANTIC POSTURING IN THE AGE OF MODERNISM."
Hemingway Review 29.2 (2010): 89-104. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 5
Apr. 2011.
Lewis, Robert W. "Hemingway in Italy: Making It Up." Journal of Modern Literature 9.2
(1982): 209. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 5 Apr. 2011.