Flashcards for The Sun Also Rises

Bill Gorton

Bill Gorton is Jake Barnes's closest American friend in Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, providing much of the comic relief and emotional warmth throughout the story.

character

Count Mippipopolous

Count Mippipopolous is a minor yet thematically rich character in Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises.

character

Frances Clyne

Frances Clyne is Robert Cohn's long-term girlfriend at the start of the novel.

character

Harvey Stone

Harvey Stone is a minor yet thematically significant character in Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, whom Jake Barnes encounters in Paris before the group heads to Pamplona.

character

Jake Barnes

Jake Barnes serves as both the first-person narrator and the moral center of Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises (1926), which is a key novel representing the Lost Generation.

character

Lady Brett Ashley

Lady Brett Ashley is the captivating and emotionally intricate heart of Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises (1926).

character

Mike Campbell

Mike Campbell is Brett Ashley's fiancé and one of the hard-drinking expatriates at the heart of Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises.

character

Montoya

Montoya runs the Hotel Montoya in Pamplona and is one of the novel's subtly important characters.

character

Pedro Romero

Pedro Romero is a nineteen-year-old Spanish bullfighter whose natural talent in the ring symbolizes true grace under pressure in the novel.

character

Robert Cohn

Robert Cohn is a Jewish-American writer and former boxing champion who graduated from Princeton.

character

“The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places.”

This celebrated line is actually from Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms (1929), not The Sun Also Rises (1926), although both novels explore themes of the Lost Generation.

Frederic Henry (narrator) · Book Three, Chapter 34

“Oh, Jake, we could have had such a damned good time together.”

This line is spoken by Lady Brett Ashley to Jake Barnes near the end of Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises (1926), as they share a taxi in Madrid after Jake has rescued Brett from her ill-fated affair with the young bullfighter Pedro Romero.

Lady Brett Ashley · Book III, Chapter 19

“That was morality; things that made you disgusted afterward. No, that must be immorality.”

This line is delivered by Jake Barnes, the narrator and main character, during a reflective moment in Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises (1926).

Jake Barnes (narrator) · Chapter 14

“Nobody ever lives their life all the way up except bull-fighters.”

This line is spoken by Jake Barnes, who narrates and drives the story in The Sun Also Rises (1926) by Ernest Hemingway, during a conversation with his friend Bill Gorton in the early chapters.

Jake Barnes · 2

“How did you go bankrupt? Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.”

This exchange takes place in Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises (1926) when Mike Campbell, the hard-drinking Scottish fiancé of Brett Ashley, is asked how he ended up bankrupt.

Mike Campbell · Book II, Chapter XIII

“I did not care what it was all about. All I wanted to know was how to live in it.”

This line is spoken by Jake Barnes, the narrator and main character, in Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises (1926).

Jake Barnes · Book I, Chapter 2

“You are all a lost generation.”

This epigraph from Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises (1926) is linked to Gertrude Stein, who reportedly picked it up from a French garage owner reprimanding his young mechanics.

Gertrude Stein (epigraph attribution) · Epigraph

“One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh; but the earth abideth forever.”

This quote doesn't come from a character in the novel; instead, it serves as the epigraph to Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises (1926), taken directly from the Book of Ecclesiastes (1:4) in the Bible.

Ecclesiastes 1:4 (Biblical epigraph, not a character) · Epigraph

“Isn't it pretty to think so?”

This closing line is delivered by Jake Barnes, the narrator and main character of the novel, in reply to Lady Brett Ashley's nostalgic comment that she and Jake "could have had such a damned good time together."

Jake Barnes · Book III, Chapter XIX (final chapter)

“I mistrust all frank and simple people, especially when their stories hold together.”

This line comes from Jake Barnes, who narrates and stars in Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises (1926).

Jake Barnes · Chapter 3

“You can't get away from yourself by moving from one place to another.”

This line is delivered by Jake Barnes, who serves as both the narrator and main character in an early chapter of Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises (1926).

Jake Barnes · Chapter 2

“It is awfully easy to be hard-boiled about everything in the daytime, but at night it is another thing.”

This line is delivered by Jake Barnes, who serves as both the narrator and the protagonist in Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises (1926).

Jake Barnes · Chapter 4

Alcohol

In Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, alcohol symbolizes how the Lost Generation copes with moral disillusionment and emotional avoidance.

Fishing in Burguete

In The Sun Also Rises, the fishing scene at Burguete serves as a brief escape from the bleak moral and emotional landscape of post-war expatriate life.

Jake's War Wound

In Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, Jake Barnes's war injury — a genital wound that leaves him unable to have sex — is the central symbol of the Lost Generation's psychological and spiritual disempowerment.

The Bullfight

In Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, the bullfight symbolizes true masculinity, composure in tough situations, and the honor code that the Lost Generation tries to uphold.

The Fiesta of San Fermín

In Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, the Fiesta of San Fermín in Pamplona represents the alluring yet ultimately shallow escape that the Lost Generation seeks from their postwar disillusionment.

The Sun

In Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises (1926), the sun represents the unchanging, indifferent flow of nature, contrasting sharply with the emotional and moral stagnation experienced by the Lost Generation.

Understatement

Hemingway's writing style in The Sun Also Rises relies heavily on understatement, conveying less than the emotional stakes call for, which creates a sense of pressure around what isn't said.

Irony

Irony runs deep throughout the novel.

Imagery

Hemingway's imagery is minimal yet carefully selected, conveying emotions that his narrators often sidestep.

Symbolism

Bullfighting is the novel's key symbol, representing the values of courage, grace under pressure, and mastery of death that the expatriate characters clearly lack.

Motif

Drinking is the most prominent motif in the novel, showing up in nearly every scene and serving a purpose beyond mere background detail.

Parataxis

Hemingway's signature sentence structure in The Sun Also Rises is notably paratactic: independent clauses linked by 'and' or laid out in a straightforward sequence, avoiding any subordination that might suggest cause, effect, or emotional hierarchy.

Allusion

The novel features two epigraphs: Gertrude Stein's "You are all a lost generation" and a passage from Ecclesiastes that starts with "One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh."

Dramatic Monologue

While it may not be a dramatic monologue in the strict Browning sense, the entire novel is experienced through Jake Barnes's first-person narration, functioning like an extended dramatic monologue.

Juxtaposition

Hemingway structures the novel by continuously contrasting different worlds and values.

Pathetic Fallacy

Hemingway skillfully uses landscape to reflect and enhance emotional states without falling into sentimentality.

Conceit

The central idea of the novel links Jake's physical injury to the spiritual wounds of an entire generation.

Free Verse

Though The Sun Also Rises is a work of prose, Hemingway's sentences often have a rhythmic quality that some critics liken to free verse.

middleweight

A weight class in boxing for fighters who are heavier than welterweights but lighter than light heavyweights, generally between 154 and 160 pounds. Here it describes the level at which Cohn competed.

noun · Chapter 1

guide-book

A book meant to give practical instructions for navigating life or a subject; here used mockingly to mean treating a romantic novel as a literal manual for how to live.

noun · Chapter 1

sinister

Quietly dangerous or corrupting in its influence, not obviously evil but capable of leading a person badly astray. Here it describes a book whose romantic ideas are harmful when read at the wrong stage of life.

adjective · Chapter 2

moulded

Shaped or formed someone's character and personality over time, the way a sculptor shapes clay. The British spelling signals the influence of the women in Cohn's life.

verb · Chapter 2

rotten

Thoroughly bad, unpleasant, or unfair — used here as a casual but heartfelt expression of how unjust or wretched something feels, not referring to physical decay.

adjective · Chapter 3

hard-boiled

Emotionally tough and unsentimental on the surface, refusing to show pain or vulnerability. The phrase describes a defensive attitude people adopt to get through difficult feelings.

adjective · Chapter 4

arrested development

A condition in which a person's emotional or psychological growth has stopped at an immature stage, leaving them behaving in ways younger than their actual age.

phrase · Chapter 5

moron

In early twentieth-century usage, a clinical term for a person of limited intellectual capacity; here used as a blunt insult meaning a stupid or foolish person.

noun · Chapter 5

slipover

Describing a garment, especially a sweater, that has no buttons or zipper and is pulled on over the head. It was a fashionable, sporty style for women in the 1920s.

adjective · Chapter 5

tweed

Made of tweed, a rough, thick woollen fabric woven in a mixed pattern of colours, traditionally associated with the British countryside and upper-class casual dress.

adjective · Chapter 5

aficionado

A person who is deeply and knowledgeably passionate about a particular pursuit — here, bullfighting. The word carries a sense of serious, almost sacred devotion rather than mere enthusiasm.

noun · Chapter 8

bull-fighters

Men who perform in a bullfight, facing and killing bulls in a formal ritual spectacle that is central to Spanish culture and the novel's themes of grace under pressure.

noun · Chapter 8

egg-nog

A rich, sweet drink made from eggs, milk or cream, sugar, and usually alcohol; here it appears as part of a dreamlike, sensory memory rather than a literal scene.

noun · Chapter 9

Basques

The indigenous people of the region straddling the border between northern Spain and southwestern France, known for a distinct language and culture. Jake admires them as straightforward and genuine.

noun · Chapter 10

bota

A traditional Spanish leather wine bag with a nozzle, designed so the drinker can squirt a stream of wine directly into the mouth without touching the spout.

noun · Chapter 11

fiesta

A Spanish religious and civic festival involving days of street celebrations, processions, music, and bullfights. Here it refers specifically to the week-long Festival of San Fermín in Pamplona.

noun · Chapter 13

unreal

Having a dreamlike, suspended quality in which normal rules and consequences seem not to apply. Jake uses it to describe how the fiesta creates a temporary world cut off from ordinary life.

adjective · Chapter 13

consequences

The results or effects that follow from one's actions, especially harmful or lasting ones. The word signals that the fiesta creates a dangerous illusion of freedom from accountability.

noun · Chapter 13

convent

A community of nuns living under religious rules, completely sheltered from the outside world. Here it is used as a metaphor for extreme inexperience and naivety about real life.

noun · Chapter 1

cheerfulness

A bright, easy-going happiness that is natural and unforced. Jake notes that Cohn's cheerfulness was never disciplined or knocked out of him, suggesting it is boyish and unrealistic.

noun · Chapter 1

miserable

Deeply unhappy and emotionally distressed, not merely uncomfortable. Brett uses it to describe her inner state of suffering, which runs beneath her outwardly free-spirited behaviour.

adjective · Chapter 4

tension

A strained, uneasy atmosphere between people who are in conflict or hiding strong feelings, felt by everyone present but not openly spoken about.

noun · Chapter 8