The Sun Also Rises
The remarkable thing about the book was its liberal use of dialogue and how Hemingway
used it
to carry the reader through the book. There was no plot in the book in the sense that
there was no
twists, intrigue, or goals for any of the characters and the dialogue was the only thing
that moved
the reader through the book. Hemingway used so much dialogue that it was difficult at
times to
follow who was saying what, but I believe this didn't matter because any of the
characters, except
for maybe Jake, could have been carrying on those conversations.
I say anyone except Jake because he was different than all the other characters in more
ways than
just being the narrator. He obviously had received a wound from W.W.I that caused him to
be
sexually scarred and thus set him apart from anyone else. Jake seemed to be an observer
who
was watching the lives of his friends unfold and happen around him, but without his
participation. I
read that Hemingway had purposely re-written the book in first person and this was
probably to
spell out that Jake was an observer and was thus aware of what was written on the pages.
There
is a scene towards the end of the book where Jake finds all of his friends eating at a
restaurant and
thinks to himself that he is too far behind to catch up. Jake always seems behind, or at
least only a
marginal player put so in his position because of his injury. He must have had relations
with Brett
before the injury and was a "player" before it, so this leads to the assumption that Jake
purposely
removed himself from being a participant.
As I was reading I was trying to make connections and read into the story to try and
understand if
there was more there than what was just on the page. It was hard, for me, to see more
than just
the story, but perhaps Hemingway just wanted the reader to experience other people's
lives. I say
this because many of the experiences that occurred to the characters also took place in
Hemingway's life and maybe he just wanted to share with us what it was like.
|