The Sun Also Rises: How Not to Live a Fulfilling Life

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To live a fulfilling life, one must approach it with the right mindset. Although this may vary depending on the individual, one can assert that a few characteristics are common. These include living a life with purpose, staying strong to one's values, and being secure with one's choices and circumstance. In The Sun Also Rises, the main characters display personalities that are opposite to these traits. Cohn, Brett, and Jake seem to live comfortable lives in both France and Spain, but at the end of every day, they are left unsatisfied and empty inside because they approach life without real goals or consideration for growth. These characters also show lack of moral standards as they constantly demonstrate a lack of judgment and disregard for the consequences of their actions. Finally, they show insecurity in a variety of ways. The Sun Also Rises is an excellent example of how not to live one's life because through the personality traits of the main characters, it is apparent that they live everyday without a purpose, have deteriorating morals, and experience a great deal of insecurity.

The main characters of the novel live without any direction. They engage in activities such as drinking, watching bullfights, and attending bars trying to fill the gaps in their lives but they are always left feeling empty. Cohn complains to Jake that he is tired of living in France because there is nothing interesting to do, so he begs Jake to go with him to South America in hopes of a more interesting life. Jake refuses and claims, “going to another country doesn't make any difference. [He's] tried all that. [One] can't get away from [his or herself] by moving from one place to another. There's nothing to that" (11). It can be seen that Cohn's ...

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...re necessary in living a joyful and fulfilling life. In The Sun Also Rises, the main characters display personalities that do not have these traits and hence deprive them of such a life. Cohn, Brett, and Jake are usually left joyless after meaningless activities such as drinking, which is a reflection of how they live their lives. These characters also show lack of consistent beliefs and regard for consequences of poor decisions. They show are vulnerable to the many insecurity they face. Cohn, Brett, and Jake live meaningless lives, have a lack of steadfast morals, and experience a great deal of insecurity, and as a result, The Sun Also Rises becomes an excellent example of how to not live one's life through the study of the personalities of the main characters.

Work Cited

Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises . New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1954. Print.

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