Friday, August 13, 2010

last one!

Finally! My summer reading is over! This book dragged on for me. For my last blog, I want to tie in my title to the book, just as I did for The Things They Carried.
Peace- Throughout the novel, the characters endure pain and circumstances that require peace to settle them. However, Robert does not use peace when he hurts Romero.
Hope-Robert has hope that one day Brett will realize that he is the one for her. He loves her and wants to be with her. But, as we all know, Brett does not have those feeling for Robert. Also, they all have hope to make it happy in life and travel together.
Love-Well, I'm pretty sure we are all aware of all the "loves" in Brett's life. She loves basically all the guy characters in the book. Eventhough she is engaged, she still goes off with Romero and still loves Jake.

Bill's Song

"Irony and Pity. When you're feeling...Oh, Give them Irony and Give them Pity. Oh, give them Irony. When they're feeling...Just a little irony. Just a little pity..." Bill Gorton is singing this to Jake. I was confused as to why he was telling him this. He is trying to make Jake be a writer and use techniques to help him. When he asks him to say something "ironical" Jake fails. When he asks him to say something pitiful, he says RObert Cohn. Bill says, "you ought to be ironical the minute you get out of bed. You ought to wake up with your mouth full of pity." These quotations occur on page 118-119.

Epigraph

"You are all a lost generation." -Gertrude Stein

I saw this quote at the beginning and wondered how it would play out in the novel. After I finished, it became very clear to me. Every character does not truly know what they want out of life. They just travel in a circle it seems, never moving forward, or never reach a high point in their life. This quotation is universal. Every generation is lost at some points in their life. People everywhere are confused and in a stand still at some points of their life. Brett, Jake, Robert, and the others are all experiencing this throughout the book. From the beginning to the end, they seem to make a circle. Yes they travel, but they dont progress in their lives.

Foreigners?

"Hurray for Wine! Hurray for the Foreigners!" was painted on the banner".
"Who are the foreignors?" -RObert
"We're the foreignors."-Bill

During the fiesta, dancers and band members lined the streets. Robert is confused about who the foreignors are. It is weird to think about, but when they went to spain they became the unusual ones. We often don't think of ourselves as foreignors when we enter into another country. I have been in Robert's position before. When I went to Mexico, my family and I were the foreignors, eventhough we always say the mexicans are foreignors in the US. They still fit in and had fun at the fiesta. Of course it helped that they had seven days to party in Spain.

Robert Cohn

"He went in and found Brett and the bull-fighter chap in the bull-fighter's room, and then he massacred the poor, bloody bull-fighter.....he nearly killed the poor, bloody bull-fighter." (page 205) Romero and Brett started to have a thing going on and Cohn could not handle that. His jealousy got the best of him and he wanted to punish Romero. Jealousy was his motivation. When people get angry and upset sometimes it gets the best of them. Cohn really did not want to hurt Romero, but he could not take it because he loves Brett. They shared a special time together, yet Brett does not feel the same way about Robert. Robert now feels there is nothing left to live for. He left Jake and the rest of his friends. Noone really knew where he went but Jake has the idea he went back to Paris.

Point of View

The Sun Also Rises is written in first person. One of the main characters, Jake, is the one who tells the story. We come to know the characters by how he describes them. When it comes time for him to describe the bull-fight, I felt as if we were reading his journal. Jake gave us many details to make it seem as if we were there. One of the reasons I enjoy reading novels in first person is because it gives the audience a chance to truly connect to the feelings and lives of the characters. Hemingway uses I and me to speak of Jake in the book. This book was hard for me to read, but it did help that it was in first person. The audience gets a chance to connect with Jake more than any other characters. I think Hemingway chose Jake to be the narrator because he is involved with almost every other character in the novel.

Money Buys Everything?

The typical expression is "money can't by happiness." However, Jake seems to think so. "I tipped every one a little too much at the hotel to make more friends." (page 237) Jake paid them more so that they would like him. He wants to have a few friends when he comes back to visit. Noone should have to buy their friends though. He also stated that "if they remembered me, their friendship would be loyal." I don't know if this is the case for anyone today, but my friends that are loyal to me did not happen because I paid them. Jake is a complex character. Always doing things and keeping busy. When he endures something, he just moves right along. Money never seems to be an issue in the novel. The only one we learn that is bankrupt is Mike.

Brett in love again?

Well, there is no shock here! Brett feels as though she is in love with Pedro Romero. "I'm a goner. I'm mad about the Romero boy. I'm in love with him, I think." (page 187) Can Brett ever meet a guy and just be friends? I do not think it is possible. Romero is nineteen years old! Brett is in her thirties! She can not have all these love feelings for all of these guys. When she was engaged with Mike, she stayed with Robert, other guys, and now she wants Romero. On top of that, she still has Jake in her head. Brett is just a little to carried away with the idea of love. She talks to Jake about her feelings and he tells her she should stop. But, just as Frances is strong-willed, so is Brett. Romero and Brett have a fun time together, but it ends as quickly as it began.

Together forever

Jake and Brett are clearly in love with eachother. They have their precious moments together but never become more than "just friends" in the novel. Jake has stood by her in all her men. However, close towards the end of the novel, she sends Jake a note saying she needs him. Brett tells him of how Romero left her and Jake is there to comfort her. They both agree that they could have had a good time together. The biggest thing I want to know is what happens now? The book just ended. Granted, I was thankful it was over, but are Jake and Brett ever going to be more than friends? THey seem to know eachother the best and understand eachothers feelings. Brett seems to truly be herself when she is with Jake. He accepts her for who she is.

Wome take charge

Throughout the novel, the women seem to have the upper hand. Frances thinks she can tell Robert what he is going to give her so she can leave. Robert lets her do this to him. "He's going to give me two hundred pounds and then I'm going to visit friends. Won't it be lovely? The friends don't know about it, yet...." "You were only going to give me a hundred pounds, weren't you Robert? But I made him...." (page 55-56) From this dialogue the audience can tell that Frances is controlling. Robert should stand up for himself, yet, alls he does is ask how she can say such things. She keeps badgering him in front of his friend to make him feel bad and be embarrassed. This shows how women control the actions in the novel.

Allusion

Throughout the novel, religious references are made directly and indirectly. First off, Cohn is Jewish and Jake is Catholic. We come to find how Cohn has been treated since he is a Jew. Later on, on page 93, a man was talking to Jake and Bill about Catholics. " It's a pity you boys ain't Catholics. You could get a meal, then, all right." Then a boy asks, "when do us Protestants get a chance to eat, father?" Lastly, Bill states, "It's enough to make a man join the Klan." The Klan Bill is alluding to is the Ku Klux Klan. Catholics were strongly hated by the Klan. The religious tension seems like a timeless notion. No matter where someone is in the world, or what year, people will never agree and accept religions without conflict.

Conflict

On page 34, we come to know there is some sort of conflict between Jake and Brett. "Don't you love me?" "Love you? I simply turn all to jelly when you touch me." "I don't want to go throught that hell again." We know they have a past, but we are not sure of what happened. Throughout the novel, people will ask Jake why him and Brett are not together. Jake always says its better if they are friends. Jake is a smart character. In every relationship Brett is in, the relationship never works out. Jake wants to keep her as a friend. Brett always says Jake is her only friend. They always have their moments together but nothing ever comes of it. He is always there for her whenever she needs him. IIt is almost as if they are together, but there is something that keeps them a part.

Epistrophe

Yet again we come to know how drinking influences the novel. On page 85, Mike starts to speak of his love for Brett. He is holding a conversation with with Jake and Bill. However, all he can keep saying is "lovely piece." At the end of every sentence he states some way he works in "lovely piece." This shows the audience what Mikes feeling for Brett. Everyone thinks she is lovely;furthermore, she is the love interest in the entire novel. It is also funny to find, noone answers him when he asks them if they agree. Brett introduced Mike as a drunkard. (motif) I am doing these blogs after I finished the book so I know how Brett and Mike end up. Eventhough they were engaged to be married, Mike's "lovely piece" and him never make it to the wedding day.

Juxtaposition

On page 221, Hemingway has a strange way of depicting the bull-fight. "It was as though he were rocking the bull to sleep." How can you go to a bull-fight and think of the word sleep? Bull-fights are all about excitement and energy and danger! The author portrays a picture of Romero doing his job so perfectly that the bull actually becomes tired. Bulls are aggressive animals and want to kill. The statement adds humor to the novel. Readers who have ever attended a bull-fight will soon realize that it is contrasting. Bull-fighting and sleeping would never go together!

Paradox

On page 226, I came across a paradox. Bill and Jake are talking about the fiesta and Bill calls it a "wonderful nightmare". How can something be wonderful, but be a nightmare? Nightmares are scary dreams that impact a person in a negative way. However, something wonderful makes a person feel good and allows to have good memories. In a sense, I can see why Bill would call the fiesta a "wonderful nightmare". It is wonderful because it is a fiesta! Parties are always fun and memorable. But, it resembles a nightmare because of the troubles that arose. Cohn got angry and hit Jake and Romero. They ended up hurting their friends. Even though at first we would never put wonderful and nightmare together, in the end, we can kind of see the truth in the statement.

Situational Irony

On page 12, an ironic situation occurs. "As he had been thinking for months about leaving his wife and had not done it because it would be too curel to deprive her of himself, her departure was a very healthful shock." Cohn wanted to leave his wife, but in turn, he did not know she wanted to leave him as well. It truly is funny how life plays out, especially when a person least expects it. Cohn was a good person. He always tried to do what was best;however, he is never fully aware of what is best. In the very beginning, the audience can tell Cohn is going to have some pretty tough situations to endure. He is just built up to be that character.

Metaphor

On page 171, I came across a metaphor. " The others twisted themselves like cork-screws."During this part of the novel, the bull-fights were going on. "Others" refers to the other matadors beside Romero. Romero was the best matador. He did not make any contortions to stray away from the bull. He was just that good. However, the others were afraid of being hit. So, they moved there bodies in different ways to keep away from the oncoming bull. Cork screws are very winding. They move in all directions. The author compared them to these by means of how they could not stand still. Reading further on, we come to know that they did these movements to give a "fake look of danger".

Vernacular

Since the characters in this novel travel alot, we get a feel for some of the language used in different parts of the world. Brett, Jake, and Cohn are all English. However, they travel to Spain and are surrounded by spanish speaking people. They go to Spain to watch the bull-fights. Moreover, a huge seven day fiesta takes place during this time as well. Words such as: "arriba", "fiesta", "pelota," "tolero", "suerte", "muy bueno", and many others are used in chapter XV. Not only do the spanish people speak these words, but so do Jake and his group. By adding in words that particularly come from a specific place, allows the reader to become part of that culture. Hemingway could have used he english translation for those words;however, by using the vernacular the reader gets more out of the novel. It adds depth to the readers understanding.

Motif

I'm pretty sure everyone is using this in their blogs, but this literary term stuck out the most to me. The number one thing that is repeated over and over throughout this novel is drinking. The subject appears on almost every page. I commented on Kelsi's blog about how I could not go a page without seeing some form of this taking place, or seeing key words that define what was happening. On page 78, Hemingway uses the phrase "pie-eyed." This took me awhile to understand what was being said. Being "pie-eyed" is another phrase for being drunk. "Cock-eyed", page 166, is another phrase used as well as "tight". The word tight is used throughout the novel on many pages. All these characters drink whenever they are around eachother. Their actions are solely based on them drinking and getting to carried away.

The Sun Also Rises-climax?

This book was hard for me to finish. I could not get into to what was happening. Actually, it seems to me that nothing ever really happened. The characters just kept moving and the same occurances just kept happening. There never seemed to be a climax to the story. Maybe that was just my own interpretation of the novel, but it never seemed to reach a dramatic high point. Throughout the novel, Hemingway portrays many different characters. A few characters consist of: Cohn, the Jew, Jake who is the Catholic, Brett who is the love interest, Mike the drunk who is Brett's fiance, and Bill. Bill is an interesting character who i will blog about later. By combining all these characters and more, the novel took its form. However, I found it to be very boring.