Sun Also Rises, The (MAXNotes Literature Guides)

Connie Hunter-Gillespie

• Publisher: Research & Education Association
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9780738673400
• Topic: Study Aids
• Subtopic: Study Guides

REA's MAXnotes for Ernest Hemmingway's The Sun Also Rises

MAXnotes offer a fresh look at masterpieces of literature, presented in a lively and interesting fashion. Written by literary experts who currently teach the subject, MAXnotes will enhance your understanding and enjoyment of the work. MAXnotes are designed to stimulate independent thought about the literary work by raising various issues and thought-provoking ideas and questions.

MAXnotes cover the essentials of what one should know about each work, including an overall summary, character lists, an explanation and discussion of the plot, the work's historical context, illustrations to convey the mood of the work, and a biography of the author. Each section of the work is individually summarized and analyzed, and has study questions and answers.

SECTION TWO

The Sun Also Rises, Book I

Chapter 1

New Characters:

Robert Cohn: Princeton grad; Jake’s tennis partner; Frances’ lover

Jake Barnes: narrator

Frances: Robert’s girlfriend

Braddocks: Robert’s literary friend

Spider Kelly: Robert’s college boxing coach; only mentioned in story

Summary

Robert Cohn is introduced as an integral character whose life is filled with insecurities. At Princeton, he had taken up boxing as a defense mechanism for insecurities of being Jewish. He was overmatched and got his nose flattened, which made him dislike boxing but like the power his skill could give him. No one from school remembers him.

His shyness made him marry the first girl who was nice to him. He was unhappily married, had three children, lost most of his inheritance, and ultimately was devastated when his wife deserted him.

After the divorce, he goes to California and falls among literary types. With little money, he backs an arts review publication. He is taken on by Frances, an overbearing woman wanting to rise socially. When Cohn can no longer afford the magazine, she decides to take what she can and insists on a trip to Europe so Robert can write. They stay for three years, mostly in Paris. During this time, Robert has two friends in Europe, Braddocks and Jake.

When Frances’ looks begin to deteriorate, she decides Robert should marry her, since he receives a comfortable allowance of $300 per month. At this point in their relationship, her attitude changes from apathy to jealousy and possessiveness. At dinner, when Jake mentions another woman, Robert kicks him under the table so Jake will avoid the topic since Frances is so jealous. Robert decides on travel plans based on these jealousies. As they part, he worries Jake may be angry.

Analysis

From the Ecclesiastes quote that precedes Chapter 1, Hemingway has derived both his tide and his theme. “One generation passeth away, and another cometh; but the earth abideth forever.” Stein’s “lost generation” is always in quest of something that neither Hemingway nor his characters find.

Seemingly little plot happens in this chapter, but Hemingway sets the stage for Robert’s later choices. Robert is a man inadequate in most areas. As a writer, he is poor. His religion is also undesirable since he was ridiculed at Princeton and by other characters throughout the novel for being Jewish. He is physically unappealing both before and after his nose is smashed.

When Jake says the flattening “certainly improved his nose,” he is referring to Robert’s typically long Jewish nose. This reference to the anti-semitism of the 1920s explains Robert’s feelings of inferiority and shyness because of anti-Jewish feelings in Princeton. Jake feels Cohn became good at boxing to protect himself against jeering and insults. No one remembers him as a boxer, however, probably because his faith made him insignificant to his classmates.

Robert is equally inept with women. First, he marries because his wife pays attention to him, but he cannot keep her happy. Then, he is a failure as a man with Frances, who assumes the lead in their relationship. In this chapter, when he gets attention from women because of his writing and later when Brett sleeps with him, he does not put that attention into perspective. His lack of social skills makes him see these things as more important than they are.

He is unable to be assertive, not only with women but also with men. He only has two friends and alienates his acquaintances. He is insecure enough to make decisions based on if Frances is jealous or if Jake is offended. Later, when he fights with Jake and others, he does not see his indignation as justified but rather begs their forgiveness.

Robert’s relationship with Frances demonstrates his personality throughout the book. Frances is the leader, Robert the follower. She wants Robert for companionship and the security that he can give her and does not display a desire for him except as it will benefit her.

Frances, and later more obviously Brett, represents the “lost generation,” which had departed from traditional moral values. For example, she lives with Robert while not married. She lives with him for her own betterment rather than out of love. She lives a wild life of partying. Her actions demonstrate selfish motivations rather than thoughts of what others need.

At this point, Hemingway has presented two women and both negatively. Of the four main women in the novel, three are drunks who are free sexually. Even Robert’s wife is not long-suffering but rather leaves him for another man. He also presents women who are getting divorced, a taboo idea for his time.

Robert does have some athletic prowess. He is good at football and tennis and was middleweight boxing champion in college. However, those are both temporal things since no one remembers his achievements when he gets out of college. These things also fade with age. When he later falls in love, his tennis game also suffers.

Since this chapter adds little to the plot, critics believe Hemingway wants to contrast Robert and Jake. Jake reveals Cohn’s failures and ineffectiveness, presenting him as, according to Jake’s standards, “unmanly” and socially impotent. This later correlates with Jake’s physical impotence.

Robert is impotent of spirit—very unassertive and having little self-esteem. Jake is a “real man” in spirit but not in body. Perhaps Cohn’s description is foreshadowing the impotence of values and mores that are not respected by the “lost generation.” Robert represents the innocence that Jake has lost.

Jake’s character unfolds later, however. Jake is surprised about Cohn’s being a boxing champion. Jake loves sports, as a typical Hemingway hero, and is disgusted by anyone who does not give himself passionately into a sport. Jake has much passion, but he cannot physically give his passion to the woman he loves. He resents he is a “man” who cannot do what a man should. Cohn is “not a man” but has opportunities to do and ruins each chance.

Jake has cynical and sarcastic humor. He derides Cohn by saying his appearance was improved after his broken nose. He also subtly ridicules Cohn by saying he “took to wearing spectacles,” instead of saying eyeglasses, because he read too much. This excessive reading is a flaw of Robert’s because he often lives based on what he reads about rather than from first-hand experience.

Jake continues to ridicule Robert by saying he thinks “perhaps a horse stepped on Cohn’s face.” However, his tone becomes bitter toward Robert when he says he does not trust “frank and simple people.” Robert’s innocence will later make him play the foil character to Jake’s cynicism.

Study Questions

1. Where did Robert attend college?

2. What is Robert’s religion?

3. Who is the narrator?

4. Give three sports in which Robert excelled.

5. Why is Jake suspicious about Robert’s having been a middleweight boxing champion?

6. How many years did Robert stay in Europe?

7. Why does Frances change her attitude toward Robert?

8. What sport do Robert and Jake share?

9. What shows Frances’ jealousy?

10. What shows Robert’s insecurity at the end of the chapter?

Answers

1. Robert attended college at Princeton.

2. Robert is Jewish.

3. The narrator of the novel is Jake Barnes.

4. Three sports in which Robert had excelled were boxing, football, and tennis.

5. Jake is suspicious about Robert’s actually having been a boxing champion at Princeton because no one from Princeton seems to remember him.

6. Robert stayed in Europe three years.

7. Frances decides Robert would be a good catch because her looks are going.

8. Robert and Jake enjoy playing tennis together.

9. Frances becomes jealous of Robert when Jake mentions a girl in Strasbourg.

10. At the end of Chapter 1, Robert is afraid Jake is angry with him.

Suggested Essay Topics

1. Describe Robert’s experiences with women. Why was he devastated by his divorce? How has Frances affected his life? How has their relationship changed? Why? How does this prepare the way for Robert’s relationship with Brett?

2. Explain why Hemingway begins the novel with this chapter. Why is Cohn important enough to describe in detail? What clues does Jake give the reader to his negative feelings toward Robert?

Chapter 2

Summary

Robert goes to America and gets his book accepted by an American publisher. While he is there, attention from several women raises his self-confidence. This also makes him lose interest in Frances, since he realizes he has something to offer women.

He reads The Purple Land by W. H. Hudson. This describes imaginary romantic adventures that Robert takes as gospel. These things combined make him dissatisfied with his life, so he tries to talk Jake into a trip to South America. Jake refuses because he not only likes Paris but also goes to Spain in the summer.

Jake and Robert go for a drink. Robert regrets that his life is half over. He does not like Paris and thinks South America will cure his dissatisfaction. Jake’s normal exit line to get away from Robert does not work, and he goes to the office with Jake. He sits, waits, and reads while Jake works hard for a few hours. When Jake goes to the outer office, Robert is asleep in the chair with his head in his arms.

As Robert awakens, he cries out in his sleep. He ...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Section Two: Book I
• Section Six: Bibliography
• Back Cover