In the first scene in which Brett Ashley appears, she enters a bar with a group of gay men. She is described as “lovely,” but Jake is angry, and he even says he is inclined “to swing on one, any one” of the men.
The Sun Also Rises – 1
The Sun Also Rises – 2
Shortly after the scene in which Brett Ashley appears with the gay men, she is described as attractive, even though her clothes and hair are boyish. Jake notes, “her hair was brushed back like a boy’s. She started all that.” These aspects of her personal fashion associate Brett with androgyny.
The Sun Also Rises – 3
The unspecified injury that stops Jake and Brett from being in relationship–to which Jake refers with the words “Besides, what happened to me is supposed to be funny. I never think about it”–has presumably resulted in his impotence. This impotence could be regarded figuratively. Jake and Brett, who symbolize modern culture, are incapable of generating anything new.
The Sun Also Rises – 4
A black character who is described, in passing, as “the nigger drummer” says “Hahre you” for “How are you?” and “Thaats good.” This deliberate effort on Hemingway’s part to depict the character’s mangling of English is an example of the mnemonic minstrel mask described by Houston Baker (Modernism and the Harlem Renaissance). In other words, even though it’s possible to extract meaning from the way the character’s speech is written, black language is sometimes depicted as mnemonic, nonsense that only has meaning as a representation of the people to which it refers; meaninglessness that represents “blackness.”
The Sun Also Rises – 5
Jake and Bill wait for quite a while for a seat at a restaurant that’s become popular with Americans. As they leave, Jake says “Too many compatriots,” immediately prior to his observation that a neighborhood is being razed to accommodate those “compatriots,” American tourists and expatriates. Jake and others like him are disrupting life in the old world, spurring progress that’s destroying the past.
The Sun Also Rises – 6
Jake sees a cathedral he describes with the words “The first time I ever saw it I thought the facade was ugly, but I liked it now. I went inside.” Does this new interest in the church represent a nostalgic desire for former meaning-making institutions, for the authority and grandeur of old establishments that have become less accessible, with the dawn of modernism? Whether it does or not, Jake has trouble praying once he enters it.
The Sun Also Rises – 7
Bill says, “You’re an expatriate. You’ve lost touch with the soil. You get precious. Fake European standards have ruined you.” This commentary is interesting not just as it applies to Jake, but also, as a description of the entire generation Hemingway is describing.
The Sun Also Rises – 8
Montoya admires the bullfighters who have “aficion” or passion for the sport, and they all stay at his hotel. He differentiates them from the mediocre or “commercial” bullfighters. The aficionados are incredulous about the idea that an American can have aficion, but they always appreciate Jake after he proves he is passionate by passing what he describes as “a sort of oral spiritual examination.”
The Sun Also Rises – 9
As Jake reflects on the behavior of his friends, he thinks “That was morality; things that made you disgusted afterward. No, that must be immorality. That was a large statement.”
The Sun Also Rises – 10
When Jake sees the young bullfighter, Pedro Romero, he thinks, “He was the best-looking boy I have ever seen.” This description could make Romero a representative of the natural world that is being threatened by the encroachment of Jake and other American expatriates. Romero represents something from the Old World that is beautiful, strong and natural, but Jake and his friends seem to represent something that is overly-civilized and decadent, in keeping with Bill’s description of expatriates.
The Sun Also Rises – 11
As he talks to Brett, Romero indicates that there is something disgraceful about the fact that he speaks English. He says, “It would be very bad, a torero who speaks English.” This reference to public perception about English corresponds with the idea that American culture, or the culture of other English-speakers, clashes with Spanish tradition. Romero goes on to indicate that Spanish people don’t like English “yet,” and he suggests that for the time being, bullfighters are expected to be more traditional.
The Sun Also Rises – 12
Pedro Romero presents the ear of a bull to Brett Ashley in front of the crowd, after he kills it, but her lack of regard for this totem seems apparent when she leaves the ear “shoved far back in the drawer of the bed-table that stood beside her bed in the Hotel Montoya, in Pamplona.” This could represent her lack of regard for tradition; her indifference to the customs that are important to Romero.
The Sun Also Rises – 13
After their affair has ended, Brett indicates that Romero was ashamed of her because of her style, saying “He wanted me to grow my hair out. Me, with long hair. I’d look so like hell.” Apparently, Romero feels like Brett isn’t sufficiently feminine because she has a short haircut. He symbolizes the traditional male and her modern style defies traditional gender roles.