The Effects of War On Soldiers

Does a soldier have wounds that a doctor cannot see? Sometimes the most harmful effects of war are emotional wounds. Hemingway displays the theme that war causes emotional damage in his novel The Sun Also Rises. Some veterans suffer from emotional pain as a result of war, whereas others are able to grow from the experience.

Hemingway’s characters exemplify the effects of combat because World War I had a negative impact on them; the veterans lead meaningless lives filled with masculine uncertainty. Jake and his friends (all veterans) wander aimlessly throughout the entire novel. Their only goal seems to be finding an exciting restaurant or club where they will spend their time. Every night consists of drinking and dancing, which serves as a distraction from their very empty lives. The alcohol helps the characters escape from their memories from the war, but in the end, it just causes more commotion and even evokes anger in the characters. Their years at war not only made their lives unfulfilling but also caused the men to have anxiety about their masculinity, especially the narrator Jake, who “gave more than his life” in the war (Hemingway). Jake feels that the war took away his manhood because he is unable to sleep with Brett as a result of an injury. Although he wants to have a relationship with Brett, and spends most of his time trying to pursue her, she rejects him because he cannot have a physical relationship with her. At several points in the novel, Brett and Jake imagine what their lives could have been like together, had he not been injured during the war. Thus, his physical injury gives him emotional distress because he cannot have a relationship with the woman he always wanted. The traditional American perception of...

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...ositive combat experience if they have a positive attitude. Although Hemingway accurately illustrates the negative impact war has on soldiers emotionally, but he fails to address any positive learning experiences a soldier may have.

Works Cited

Spiller, Roger J. "Shell shock; time after time in this troubled century, our whole society has made itself forget about the terrible, invisible battle wounds once known as shell shock, later as combat fatigue, and now PTSD - posttraumatic stress disorder." American Heritage May-June 1990: 74+. Gale U.S. History In Context. Web. 1 Feb. 2011

Zoroya, Gregg. "Combat's Positive Effects Examined ." USA Today. 18 Oct.-Nov. 2009. 3. 01 Feb. 2011. .

Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.