The Sun Also Rises: Book III
By: Grace Scowden

During the final pages of The Sun Also Rises, the desolate reality of Jake's life is made evident. At the beginning of chapter XIX, I noticed a few examples of imagery that symbolizes Jake's process of cleansing and purifying his past experiences with his friends and Brett during the fiesta. Jake travels alone to San Sebastian after saying goodbye to Mike and Bill, and he swims out into the ocean and spends hours wading and riding the waves. It is interesting that Jake decides to visit San Sebastian because it is the pivotal location that was the source of the cataclysmic drama in regards to Brett and Cohn. At the beginning of the chapter, there is an evident theme of loneliness and emptiness that manifests within Jake. Upon returning home from the fiesta, Jake goes out for dinner and remarks that he "drank a bottle of wine for company". Later in the chapter, Jake decides to swim out in the ocean and float on his back to look up at the sky. This image encapsulates the barren and empty internal emotions Jake grapples with, represented through this image of isolation. It is also made clear that Jake leads his life prioritizing and catering to Brett whenever she is in need, and he is entirely at her beck-and-call. Jake receives a telegram from her, urging him to promptly meet her at her hotel in Madrid. Without question, Jake travels to her and learns that she has sent Pedro Romero away and has decided to return to Mike. In the last couple of lines, Brett suggests that they would have had a happy life as a couple. This statement further insinuates the fact that they will never be together, even though Jake's obvious love for Brett is unceasing.

The Sun Also Rises Through Chapter 18

The main component of this reading that surprised me is very related to one we discussed in the past. In this reading, a man, Vicente Girones is killed by a bull. Later on, this bull is killed by Pedro Romero, the matador with whom Brett is currently infatuated at this point in the story. When I first read this, I knew there was symbolism present, but I had yet to gain a complete understanding. As I continued to read, the plot progresses to the point where Cohn finds out about Brett and Romero, and he angrily storms to the room where the two were and beat Romero severely. When Vicente was killed at the beginning of this plot point, many kept saying he died doing something "for fun". Similarly, all of Brett's suitors pursue her, often even after finding out that she is involved with other men at the same time. She continues this cycle without hesitating, just as the bull does when he tramples someone; they both move on from a tragedy and carry on with their lives.  However, these two parallels differ. While Romero sweeps in and stops the bull from being able to continue on, Brett is still able to move on with her romantic ventures. When Cohn realizes that he is being played, even he still wants to be with Brett. He does not leave on his own volition, as we are initially led to believe. We later learn that Cohn went to the room, attacked Romero, and continued to plead with Brett and profess his feelings for her. Specifically, “Cohn was crying and telling her how much he loved her, and she was telling him not to be a ruddy ass.” (205) Brett holds all of the power, just as bulls often do in the fiestas. When Cohn leaves, Brett is able to keep going on with her life entertaining herself with her suitors, seen when the characters go to the bull fight the next day without Cohn as though nothing had happened.

The Sun Also Rises through chp. 16

First, I noticed how in chapter 14, Jake describes the town as "fresh", "cool", and "healthy", right before the fiesta day, which foreshadows the fiesta in a negative light. Next, during the religious part of the ceremony, I noted the continuance of the church motif throughout the book. As jake enters the church, he sees that Brett can't bring herself to enter the doorways because she "didn't have the right hat". Throughout the book, there have been multiple scenes involving churches that reflect the sins inside the characters, and this scene mirrors that reflection of sin inside Brett. After the bull-fight, Jake describes a "disgusting" feeling he leaves the fights, and he subsequently treats this feeling with absinthe (symbolically different than just drinking wine). He uses the absinthe to numb the gore he just witnessed. Because the bull fights are linked to the wars he and the lost generation has been in, and the war the chaps are involved in for Brett, this "feeling" and drinking become strong motifs throughout the book. Finally, I didn't quite understand the significance of Pedro Romero- especially when Jake is showing Brett all of his techniques in the ring when he says "I got her watching... so that she saw what it was all about, so that it became more something that was going on with a definite end, and less of a spectacle with unexplained horrors" (172).

The Sun Also Rises Book I

One thing from Book I that really interested me was the relationship between Jake and Robert Cohn. The book begins with a long description of Cohn, which I wondered the significance of to the story. I'm curious to see how their friendship will play out in the rest of the book, seeing as Cohn seems to be more invested in it than Jake is. Jake tears Cohn down a lot, which is seen through his thoughts and dialogue with Cohn, especially when Jake refuses to go to South America with Cohn. I'm interesting to see the role Jake will play in the rest of the book, and the trajectory of their friendship as the story progresses.