The Sun Also Rises

"The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway is a story set in Europe after World War I that follows a group of American and British people living abroad who feel lost and without purpose. Jake Barnes, the main character, tells the story of his love for Lady Brett Ashley, which she doesn't return, and the tangled relationships he has with his friends. The book begins by showing us Robert Cohn, a Jewish man who feels like an outsider and how his divorce leads him to travel to Europe where he pursues Brett Ashley. The beginning shows Cohn struggling with who he is, foreshadowing the larger ideas of love, loss, and trying to find meaning that run all the way through the novel. The feeling of the story is both thoughtful and judgmental, capturing the feeling of the "Lost Generation".