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Ernest Hemingway - "The Lost Generation"
Ernest Hemingway is a renowned American author of the Twentieth century who
centers his novels around personal experiences and affections. He is one
of the authors named "The Lost Generation." He could not cope with post-war
America, and therefore he introduced a new type of character in writing
called the "code hero". Hemingway is known to focus his novels around code
heroes who struggle with the mixture of their tragic faults and the
surrounding environment. Traits of a typical Hemingway Code Hero are a
love of good times, stimulating surroundings, and strict moral rules,
including honesty. The Code Hero always exhibits some form of a physical
wound that serves as his tragic flaw and the weakness of his character. In
Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises Jake Barnes is the character who
maintains the typical Code Hero qualities; while Robert Cohn provides the
antithesis of a Code Hero.
Jake Barnes, the narrator and main character of The Sun Also Rises, is left
impotent by an ambiguous accident during World War I. Jake's wound is the
first of many code hero traits that he features. This physical wound,
however, transcends into an emotional one by preventing Jake from ever
consummating his love with Lady Brett Ashley. Emotional suffering can take
its toll on the Code Hero as it did with Jake Barnes. Despite the deep
love between Jake and Lady Brett, Jake is forced to keep the relationship
strictly platonic and stand watch as different men float in and out of Lady
Ashley's life and bed. No one other than Jake and Brett themselves ever
learn the complexity of their relationship because Jake's hopeless love for
Brett and the agony it entails are restricted to scenes known to themselves
alone. Therefore, Jake suffers in silence because he has learned to trust
and rely only upon himself, which is conducive to the Hemingway Code as
well.
Jake is an American who travels to Europe to satiate his appetite for
exotic landscapes and to escape his pain. Jake tries to live his life to
the fullest with drinking, partying, and sporting with friends. With these
pastimes, Jake hopes to hide from his fault and get on with the life he has
been made to suffer. Watching and participating in sports help accentuate
the Code Hero's masculinity and provide the sense of pride Jake has lost.
This gain of pride is essential in the Hemingway Code. Jake attends
fishing trips with friends, he visits Pamplona, Spain to witness the
running of the bulls, and he acts as a mediator between arguing friends.
These characteristics reveal his strong character built of courage and
grace. Jake, as with any Code Hero, is a man of action who spends more time
achieving goals than talking about them.
Jake's friend, Robert Cohn violates everything a Hemingway Code Hero
represents. He is rich, gifted, and skillful and is ready to discuss his
emotions in detail. Robert refuses to admit defeat when Brett rejects him
repeatedly. Unlike Jake, when Cohn is hurt, he insists on complaining to
everyone instead of suffering in silence. Cohn does nothing to assert his
masculinity, either. He allows people, especially women to ridicule him
and knock down his self esteem. Cohn obviously can not stand up for
himself and does not take action when he should. Consequently, Robert has
no self control. When a matador sleeps with Brett, whom Cohn is in love
with, he takes out his jealousy by beating him repeatedly. Although a man
of action, Jake, the quintessential Hemingway Hero, knows when to control
himself, Robert Cohn does not.
On the whole, Jake Barnes strictly adheres to the qualities of the typical
Hemingway Code Hero. He relies solely on himself, utilizes his assets,
enjoys bullfights and other honorable activities. He is an individual of
action and speaks not of what he believes; rather he just does what he
believes to be right subtlety without any fanfare. Jake has lived with
disappointment and frustration all his life, yet he overcomes it and uses
the lesson to his advantage. On the other hand, Robert Cohn, who has had
the easy life is the perpetual loser. He allows people to walk all over
him and continually feels sorry for himself. Robert Cohn is the false
knight, who, in theory should be the victorious protagonist but will always
turn out to be a shallow person who lives on the fringes of life. In the
end, the person who does not possess the Code Hero qualities can never
discover himself, and therefore never truly be happy.
ADDITIONAL FEATURED ESSAYS
Hemingway's A Farewell To Arms
The book A Farewell to Arms, written by Ernest Hemingway, is a classic about the love story of a nurse and a war ridden
Ernest Hemingway 2
A good writer’s objective is to say as much as possible as briefly as possible. This enables the thinking about th
A Moveable Feast
In Ernest Hemingway’s he tells the tale of his early career and life in Paris. He tells of his meetings with famous writ
A Moveable Feast
In Ernest Hemingway’s he tells the tale of his early career and life in Paris. He tells of his meetings with famou
The Sun Also Rises By Ernest H
The Sun Also Rises The remarkable thing about the book was its liberal use of dialogue and how Hemingway used it to carr
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