The Theme Of Alcoholism In Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises

Ernest Hemingway’s very first published novel isn’t some book you can critique as any ordinary ameteur literature, digging deeping we find that our friend Ernest here had a purpose more convoluted, yet clear, more abstract, yet concrete, and more public, yet personal, the story Ernest creates is his experiences, his characters, motifs, and themes all circulated around himself.

Characters; one of the many structures for any novel, and a structure that Ernest Hemingway incorporates far too well. Ernest introduces one of our main protagonists, Jake Barnes, the novel’s narrator, who can also regarded as Hemingway himself. Jake provides relatable and believability to a perspective that could be interpreted as the author, Ernest, as Jake expresses

Alcoholism is a recurring motif expressed throughout The Sun Also Rises as Jake and his consistently indulge in the consumption of alcohol, and regard themselves abnormal without its assistance, Jake goes on to say, “Under the wine I lost the disgusted feeling and was happy” (Hemingway 146). Alcoholism isn’t the only common motif shown throughout this novel, the idealism of Masculinity, and the crippling insecurity around it. Needless to say, back in the 1920s, the idea of a man being anything but was an idea that would never be accepted, under any social circumstance. It’s alluded throughout the entire novel that a demand to be manly and masculine must be fulfilled. Jake gives out a bold statement, referencing a later moment in the book, by telling Robert, “nobody ever lives life all the way up except bull-fighters" (Hemingway 18). Ernest Hemingway actually has some oddities when it comes to his stance on masculinity in society, around the time. It’s very secretive and overlooked, but “the greatest scrutiny are Grace Hemingway’s treating her son as the female twin of his older sister and dressing him in girls’ clothes, apparently for longer than was conventional for the time” (Moddelmog 187). Hemingway, on the other hand, has been acknowledged for “his attraction, both sexual and non-sexual, for lesbians; his fascination with the ménage à trois; and his engagement

The id, the character acting upon wants and desires, gross human selfish and decisiveness of their nature, could be acknowledged as Robert Cohn, a character who is relentless on getting what he wants out of his life, without any thought of others around him, entirely. The superego, Jake Barnes, the moralistic narrator, although without his flaws, can be regarded as the superego character of the story. His awareness and willing ability to abide by society’s wants fits him into the bill of a superego, not to mention his hesitance towards taboos that his friends are influenced by. Last but not least, we have Lady Brett Ashley acting out for the ego character for the novel, with her balance between id-ish essence and the superego complexion. Brett can be interpreted as a character with no sense of right or wrong, as she pursues goals and achievements throughout the novel in which he attempts to not harm herself, or her