Sun Also Rises free essay sample

Bulls, being the proud strong beasts that they are, can represent many things such as strength, health and even recklessness. In the novel The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, bull fighting functions as a metaphor for human relations in many different ways. The story is told from the perspective of Jake Barnes, a somewhat disillusioned American with an unfortunate war injury that has rendered him impotent. Jake is in love with Brett who is a rich, rather promiscuous woman. The interesting thing about Jake and Bretts relationship is that it is completely frustrating to both of them, and they seem unable to break themselves from one another. The bull lives ambiguously both as strength and weakness to the Spaniards. The matador, in turn, represents the leader who leads the bull to his demise. The cape is the forbidden fruit that is used to entice the bull. Everything has a beginning and so is an end to the characters relationship with one another. We will write a custom essay sample on Sun Also Rises or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The protagonist is the narrator, Jake Barnes, an expatriate journalist living in Paris. He was injured in the WWI and unable to consummate with the passion of the flesh. He portrays himself to like all things macho, such as fishing, bullfighting, drinking and women. Jake observes everyone and everything around him, sometimes reacting, sometimes giving out advice and sometimes intervening into their lives. Jake is seen as the outcast. Bull fighting is a huge part of Jake’s life. In bull-fighting they speak of the terrain of the bull and the terrain of the bull-fighter. As long as a bull-fighter stays in his own terrain he is comparatively safe. Each time he enters into the terrain of the bull he is in great danger. Belmonte, in his best days, worked always in the terrain of the bull. This way he gave the sensation of coming tragedy. Because he did not look up to ask if it pleased he did it all for himself inside, and it strengthened him, and yet he did it for her, too. But he did not do it for her at any loss to himself. - Chapter 18, The Sun Also Rises. This quote is about Jake trying to explain to Brett about bullfight. He is trying to teach her the layout of it. Brett has an interest in this only because Jake does. She is trying to like the same thing he does so she can have more of a connection with him. The fight also manages to represent economy throughout life. Jake may enjoy being economical, but betraying his love of the bullfights, for his love for Brett is far from economical. Truly the economy of life is unimportant in the trite world that Jake and his companions wake up to each day. The bullfight can tie the many concepts Hemingway dreams up into one central event. In The Sun Also Rises, the bullfights show not only individualism and economy of motion but also the futility of life in general. When an event that incorporates life, death and serious emotions occurs, it is bound to parallel several other facets of life. One of the few events in life that can thoroughly present life and death in a graphic and public manner is the bullfight. Ernest Hemingway seems rather attached to the bullfight as it becomes a central symbol. Hemingway’s rugged individualism is shown throughout the novel and can be seen represented in the bullfight. While betrayal is not directly related to a bullfight, the fight allows for the characters to betray love. Weather in a ring with a bull or in a struggle with a love there is always a great struggle to be had. That is life in its truest form, man deals with both the world around him and the world inside his head at the same time. Love is one of the most powerful emotions on the planet, but love is not always happy. Love can cause an overwhelming feeling of isolation and loneliness especially when dealing with death and how it affects us, and those we love. The album â€Å"Revolver† by The Beatles voices these emotions and puts them in a context that we don’t often see. Through the words of the album we here many references to love and how it relates to death and isolation. Eleanor Rigby, and She Said, She Said Bring these feeling to the forefront of one’s mind. The most epic love ballad The Beatles have ever written is Eleanor Rigby. This woman spends her remaining days in a depressed stupor over a loved one that she will never see again. â€Å"Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door, Who is it for? †¦ Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name, Nobody came†. This woman had isolated herself from everyone, and after the depression of the isolation hit her there was nothing more to live for. Her love of whomever she was waiting for had been too much for her. Then at her funeral there was nobody there but a priest to say the last rights. Her name was lost to the rest of the world with no legacy. The very words of this song bleed with love, self isolation and death. With the spirit of a Greek epic, The Beatles have masterfully sown a very deep and meaningful story in only a few short words. Though not as classic a tale as Eleanor Rigby, She Said, She Said has the exact same feel of woe in perhaps a more modern scene, at least modern for the 1960s. The conversational style of the song in some ways makes it more personal for the listener who can relate in some ways to conversations had with past men. The most obvious theme in the song is isolation. This is noted with the repeating of the words â€Å"†¦ making me feel like I’ve never been born†. This is a simple statement that carries with it a meaning to deep for so few words. The other lyrics of the song are a conversation between one woman who already feels isolated and one man who is feeling the same because she no longer wants to be with him. â€Å"She said I know what its like to be dead. I know what it is to be sad And shes making me feel like Ive never been born. †¦ I said Who put all those things in your head? Things that make me feel that Im mad And youre making me feel like Ive never been born. †. One says that she wants to leave because she feels that this man is causing her isolation. The man feels she is being influenced and is lost to her ideas that his making her feel depressed. The very thought of this is madness to him. Breaking up is never easy; the heartache that people feel may not be as epic or as sad as Eleanor Rigby, but the feelings of isolation are still true to life. From the classic romance to the simple act of breaking up these songs have brought on the feeling of isolation and showed how they relate to death and love. The Beatles were truly the greatest poets of their generation and it is a shame the same talent is not put in the spotlight today.