An In-depth Look at Prohibition and WWI: 1920's Themes in The Sun Also Rises

Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises skillfully details the pertinent 1920s issues of the "Lost Generation", expatriates, prohibition, and effects of WWI. Most significantly, it depicts the physical and psychological wounds Jake Barns suffered from the war; his failed relationship with Brett; and ultimately, his psychic awakening and coming to terms with himself. Jake Barnes, a wounded WWI veteran suffers the long-term effects of war through the physical and mental torment of being sexually impotent and being unable to have a successful relationship with Brett. Jake undergoes mental and spiritual healing once he comes into contact with an unconscious side of himself, and accepts his failed relationship with Brett and grows apart from her. Jake must face the ordeals of rejection caused by his war wound, but ultimately he learns how to confront his problems head-on and as a result of this grows stronger as a person.
Jake suffers a psychological blow when he is condemned for leaving his country to become an artist and for his inability to consummate his and Brett's relationship. In a scene in the novel, Bill criticizes Jake for being an expatriate, but also for his impotence. "You know what's the trouble with you? You're an expatriate. Nobody that ever left their country ever wrote anything worth printing."(Hemingway 120) Bill criticizes Jake for being an expatriate and not being loyal to his country by residing in and creating art in his native land, instead of Europe. But he further insinuates that because Jake has left his native country and is writing in another, he is a traitor and his art is worthless. He then calls Jake impotent and this is the most painful insult the war-wounded, sexually impotent, WWI veteran could receive. For someone who is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, as Jake is, it is emotionally devastating for him to have to hear his close friend Bill utter those atrocious words. In the 1920's, there were many other WWI veterans, who like Jake, had to continually face the deep psychological war wound that would not heal.

In a profound moment of self-introspection Jake confronts the dark aspects of his unconscious mind and comes to the realization that he won't have Brett and he has to accept his war-maimed self. "My head started to work. The old grievance. Well, it was a rotten way to be wounded and flying on a joke front like the Italian." (Hemingway 38) Jake remembers a traumatic life experience, his having been injured in the war, and the cause of his impotence. This memory is dark and painful because it was repressed in his unconscious, but now that he conjured the memory he is able to confront this painful experience and come to terms with it. Jake begins to think about Brett and he is so overcome with pain that he begins to cry, but he also notes that his relationship with Brett won't work. "I suppose she only wanted what she couldn't have." (Hemingway 39). Brett is constantly seeking another conquest, she likes to date many different guys, and can never manage to maintain a stable relationship. Jake gains insight that his relationship with Brett will fail, not only because he is sexually impotent but also because she has trouble keeping a stable and healthy relationship with anyone. This painful realization fills Jake with sorrow but is necessary since it makes him realize he is not at fault for the failed relationship, Brett is.

In The Sun Also Rises, the characters are trying to make sense of or escape their troubles brought on by the war, and despite Prohibition many fell into alcoholism in efforts of drowning their problems. "The Lost Generation" suffers from emotional, psychological instability caused by the painful remnants of WWI, even in its aftermath ex-soldiers will perpetually suffer the long-time effects of war. After experiencing the traumatic experience of war, the 1920s generation felt lost and alienated, in an existential sense, they desperately sought order and meaning in a chaotic and senseless world. Jake, Brett, Bill, and Mike have all been affected by the war and they try in some sense to numb or deal with their sufferings. Through inebriation the characters are able to temporarily escape their problems, but luckily Jake is able to break out of this heavy-drinking cycle when he finds meaning and consolation in nature, while fishing with Bill.

Jake's fishing trips with Bill offer not only a blissful respite from his stressful life, but they are also spiritual and psychological rituals, where Jake is able to confront the darker aspects of himself, come to terms with himself, and ultimately grow into a stronger and more fulfilled individual. Water is often used as a symbol for the unconscious in psychological terms, and it is near the water where Jake is able to get in touch with his unconscious side and attain a state of spiritual healing. Jake feels a sense of peace within nature and within himself while fishing, and fishing possibly symbolizes his coming to terms with buried aspects of himself. The fact that he mentions he caught six trout is positive and shows that he has found a therapeutic method of dealing with the traumatic memories that fill his unconscious mind. Instead of drinking his problems away like his friends, Jake chooses to deal with his problems in a positive way. He immerses himself in nature, which he finds spiritually uplifting, and deals with his problems as they come instead of repressing them.

In a rare moment of self-knowledge Jake once and for all realizes Brett is a negative influence and he finally frees himself from this unhappy relationship, and becomes stronger emotionally and spiritually. Brett tells Jake that she is going back to Mike, because he is awful just as she is. In this very moment Jake's attitude toward Brett changes, and he recognizes that Brett doesn't deserve him, he is too good of a guy for Brett. Jake, although never a proud Catholic, suddenly becomes strong in his beliefs when Brett mentions her secular beliefs. It's difficult to be spiritual and hold on to spiritual beliefs, when in the 1920's, society had been confronted with the tragedy of WWI and they became secular in their beliefs. "It's sort of what we have instead God." "Some people have God," I said. "Quite a lot.". Jake's tone suddenly becomes ironic, he is distancing himself from Brett and this proves successful in his breaking free from this unhappy relationship. Brett throughout the whole conversation with Jake is continually pouring herself more and more wine, she is trying to escape the moment, she urges him: "Don't get drunk Jake. You don't have to." (Hemingway 250). She doesn't want him to drink to kill the pain, because then she would be the one hurting him, and she doesn't want to deal with that emotional guilt. Although Jake has problems on his mind, and stress to deal with, he comports himself well and does not become an alcoholic like Brett. Brett urges Jake not to drink because she feels her problems are much greater than his, but it's really that Jake deals with his problems in a more positive way. Rather than picking up the wine bottle and drinking his cares away, Jake turns to nature and is psychologically and emotionally healed. Jake is stronger than Brett and won't allow her to cause him anymore pain.
The novel ends in a positive note, when Jake finally gets over Brett. "Oh Jake," Brett said, "we could have had such a damned good time together." "Yes," I said. "Isn't it pretty to think so?" Jake comes to the final realization that the reason his relationship with Brett is a failed one, is not simply because of his sexual impotence, but there are other factors as well that keep the relationship from working. Maybe if Brett wasn't a drunk, and she could keep a steady relationship with anyone, then maybe things could work. Even though Brett is too naïve to realize it and continues to hope and dream of a possibility that her and Jake's relationship could work somehow, Jake sees that "it's pretty to think so", it's so much nicer to create a fantasy in your mind, than accept the painful realities that stand right before you and stare you in the face.
At the end of the physical and psychological journey Jake is healed, his war wound physically remains, but psychologically he has freed himself from the wound that would taunt and torture his mind. Jake is a new person as a result of his confrontation with the dark, painful side of himself, and he has become a stronger, more fulfilled person as a result. Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises skillfully details the pertinent 1920s issues of the "Lost Generation", expatriates, prohibition, and effects of WWI. But most significantly, it depicts the physical and psychological wounds Jake Barns suffered from the war; his failed relationship with Brett; and ultimately his psychic awakening and coming to terms with himself.