The Sun Also Rises portrays the floundering of what Hemingway terms as the “Lost Generation,” a generation that has lost its center, that is searching for truth, meaning and beauty and has become dissatisfied. Jake, the male protagonist of the The Sun Also Rises, is a quintessential member of the Lost Generation. The term protagonist in such a Modernist novel means a flawed character with issues of morality and direction that readers would not see in typical Romantic novels, like Moby Dick.
Jake lacks the inner masculinity that he attempts to display outwardly. He says, “Then all of a sudden I started to cry,” (Hemingway 39). His character is impotent from a “war wound.” Jake is a man searching for meaning and struggling to find it anywhere. He goes to church but cannot connect to it. His character flaws include drinking, rudeness, laziness, irresponsibility and lewdness. Jake admits,
“I could picture it. I have a rotten habit of picturing the bedroom scenes of my friends (Hemingway 21).” When he does interact with females it is in a distant and detached way, “I picked her up because of a vague sentimental idea that it would be nice to eat with some one” (24).
Brett Ashley is the female protagonist in the novel who is materialistic, slutty and trying to emphasize her gender difference by blurring social clothing conventions. Brett acts confident and forward representing Hemingway's idea of the “modern woman” that was emerging in society in the wake of womens suffrage. However rash and confident Brett seems, Hemingway reveals the insecurities that drive her with observations like when Brett asks Jake, “'I say, do I look too much of a mess?' She pulled her man's felt hat down and started in for the bar,” (Hemingway 35). Jake seems to judge Brett and her actions and attentions toward him harshly--he says, “I supposed she only wanted what she couldn't have,” (Hemingway 39). Mike Campbell, Brett's supposed fiance, refers to Brett repeatedly as a “lovely piece” (79-80). This reference to Brett as an object is supported almost totally by Brett's rash behavior and only contradicted by her occasional emotional moments with Jake that do more to emasculate him than anything else in the novel.
Jake and Brett are both flawed, ruined mortals that are searching for themselves. They both represent the search for realigning of gender definitions and conventions in a time of post-war turmoil and changing political climates. Jeffrey Hart writes that in The Sun Also Rises, "power and sense of identity [were] painfully undermined," (557). The search for meaning and truth that the Lost Generation struggles with that Hemingway describes in The Sun Also Rises bridges the gulf between the genders and displays both as fragile and detached.
Works Cited
Hart, Jeffrey. The Sun Also Rises: A Revaluation. The Sewanee Review, Vol. 86, No. 4. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1978. P 557 -62.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises. Charles Scribner's Sons: New York, 1929.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Immigration and O' Pioneers!
The basis for Willa Cather's novel, O' Pioneers!, is that of Norwegian and Swedish immigration to the United States in the 19th and 20th Centuries. The main characters of the novel, the Bergson family and their community, are struggling Swedish farmers in the state of Nebraska. For the purposes of a contextual discussion, the Bergsons and their community will be grouped as "Scandinavian" because typically these communities were composed of both Swedish and Norwegian immigrants.
Immigrants came to America to escape religious persecution of the Lutheran Church and to make fortunes through land ownership---one of the typical ideas of manifesting destiny in the "American Dream." John Bergson, Alexandra's father, is an example of such an immigrant. Cather's narrator describes the typical struggle for such a man, "In eleven long years, John Bergson had made but little impression on the wild land he came to tame. It was still a wild thing that had its ugly moods; and no one knew when they were likely to come, or why" (Cather 20). The land is described as a living organism with "moods" that the people that struggle to farm it have to endure as they would that of animals or organisms.
The violence of nature that settlers had to endure on the Western frontier was extreme. One Norwegian immigrant, Jon Torstein-Rue, used his knowledge of the Old World and applied to the difficulty of his New World. Torstein-Rue made and used skis to carry the mail in the harsh climates and over the Sierra Nevada mountains when no one else could do it (“Norwegian immigrants”). In the novel, the narrator describes Bergson's costs at the violent climate, “One winter his cattle perished in a blizzard,” (Cather 20).
Despite the hardships of the new land, many immigrants sought out their fortunes. One website reported that, “Between 1820 and 1920 over 730,000 people emigrated from Norway to the United States,” (“Norwegian immigrants). Carl Wittke writes that, “The Norwegians are a strong, resolute, stubborn people. Practically all are Lutherans, and combine a Lutheran piety and sense of duty with a strong desire for material advancement. They are thrifty and eager to acquire a homestead (“Norwegian...”).” This description of the Norwegian resolve, strength and stubbornness could easily fit the description of Alexandra, the novel's protagonist and matriarch. Cather writes that when Alexandra read on Sundays, “Her mind was slow, truthful, steadfast. She had not the least spark of cleverness,” (Cather 61). While the quote could be interpreted as derogatory, Cather alludes to the resolve and steadiness that Alexandra possesses that allows her to “plow through” the difficulties of farming on the frontier.
When Alexandra's brothers want to quit farming and move, Alexandra convinces them to stay. Alexandra asks her mother to tell them of the conditions that her family endured when they first moved here, perhaps to inspire more resolve into her brothers. Alexandra asks her mother, “Was it really as bad as this, or not?” She answers, “Oh, worse! Much worse!” Mrs. Bergson goes on to say that there were “Drouth, chince-bugs, hail....people lived just like coyotes,” (Cather 60).
The struggle that Scandinavian settlers, like that of the fictional Bergsons, went through on the Western frontier was amazing and helped carve an America that more closely resembled the mythic American Dream.
Works Cited
Cather, Willa. O' Pioneers! Random House: New York, 1992.
"Norwegian immigration to the U.S."
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAEnorway.htm Accessed 1/20/10
"Swedish immigration to the U.S."
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAEsweden.htm Accessed 1/20/10
Immigrants came to America to escape religious persecution of the Lutheran Church and to make fortunes through land ownership---one of the typical ideas of manifesting destiny in the "American Dream." John Bergson, Alexandra's father, is an example of such an immigrant. Cather's narrator describes the typical struggle for such a man, "In eleven long years, John Bergson had made but little impression on the wild land he came to tame. It was still a wild thing that had its ugly moods; and no one knew when they were likely to come, or why" (Cather 20). The land is described as a living organism with "moods" that the people that struggle to farm it have to endure as they would that of animals or organisms.
The violence of nature that settlers had to endure on the Western frontier was extreme. One Norwegian immigrant, Jon Torstein-Rue, used his knowledge of the Old World and applied to the difficulty of his New World. Torstein-Rue made and used skis to carry the mail in the harsh climates and over the Sierra Nevada mountains when no one else could do it (“Norwegian immigrants”). In the novel, the narrator describes Bergson's costs at the violent climate, “One winter his cattle perished in a blizzard,” (Cather 20).
Despite the hardships of the new land, many immigrants sought out their fortunes. One website reported that, “Between 1820 and 1920 over 730,000 people emigrated from Norway to the United States,” (“Norwegian immigrants). Carl Wittke writes that, “The Norwegians are a strong, resolute, stubborn people. Practically all are Lutherans, and combine a Lutheran piety and sense of duty with a strong desire for material advancement. They are thrifty and eager to acquire a homestead (“Norwegian...”).” This description of the Norwegian resolve, strength and stubbornness could easily fit the description of Alexandra, the novel's protagonist and matriarch. Cather writes that when Alexandra read on Sundays, “Her mind was slow, truthful, steadfast. She had not the least spark of cleverness,” (Cather 61). While the quote could be interpreted as derogatory, Cather alludes to the resolve and steadiness that Alexandra possesses that allows her to “plow through” the difficulties of farming on the frontier.
When Alexandra's brothers want to quit farming and move, Alexandra convinces them to stay. Alexandra asks her mother to tell them of the conditions that her family endured when they first moved here, perhaps to inspire more resolve into her brothers. Alexandra asks her mother, “Was it really as bad as this, or not?” She answers, “Oh, worse! Much worse!” Mrs. Bergson goes on to say that there were “Drouth, chince-bugs, hail....people lived just like coyotes,” (Cather 60).
The struggle that Scandinavian settlers, like that of the fictional Bergsons, went through on the Western frontier was amazing and helped carve an America that more closely resembled the mythic American Dream.
Works Cited
Cather, Willa. O' Pioneers! Random House: New York, 1992.
"Norwegian immigration to the U.S."
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAEnorway.htm Accessed 1/20/10
"Swedish immigration to the U.S."
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAEsweden.htm Accessed 1/20/10
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
"Roman Fever" Heats Up Imperial History
The significance of the monuments mentioned in Roman Fever is a clear analogy to the main characters Mrs. Slade and Ansley---the monuments are tributes to a great society filled with wealth, status and power. The monuments are provide the setting for Roman Fever, a setting of richness appropriate for the leisure class of the United State's nouveau riche of the Gilded Age. The leisure class wanders into intricate social dramas like those Wharton described in the short story because they lack the daily struggles of the lower classes. Wharton herself was a member of the upper class that she aptly describes, in fact, the phrase “Keeping up with the Jones,” originates with Edith Jones' own family.
The ladies featured in the short story argue about their past and their shared flame; Mrs. Slade's deceased husband and Mrs. Ansley's lover. Although deceased, this man figures prominently in the story---he is both the progenitor and patriarchal head, bestowing legitimacy and status on those associated with him. In the context of the monuments mentioned in the story, Mr. Slade is akin to the Caesars who patronized these Roman architectural feats. In the same way, Mr. Slade's power is diminished like those of the Caesars', something that was once monolithic and invincible that has now crumbled and is somewhat eroded. Tourists still marvel at the power that the Caesars once held, but now their monuments are sites of historical reflection, not powers to be reckoned with.
The Colosseum is featured prominently in Roman Fever. This ancient site hosted various games, mocks battles and gladiators. The architecture of the Colosseum is that of a beautiful and well-designed amphitheater. People could be covered from rain or sun by an awning that once extended out from the structure. The Colosseum was a hub for social interaction and networking, very much like the house and boat galas that Gilded Age society members participated in.
Mrs. Slade and Ansley reflect on the passage of time and various generations. In the text Mrs. Slade remarks on, “what different things Rome stands for to each generation of travelers.” With this reflection, Wharton emphasizes a certain timelessness in the physicality of the Roman structures. The structures might slowly decay, but humans and society morph rapidly with each generation comparatively. Mrs. Slade goes on to say that their grandmothers worried about disease, that their mothers worried about moral disease and that they have no worries relatively-speaking. Mrs. Slade's haphazard assessment of material concerns reflects her social status, materialism and vapidity of thought.
Mrs. Ansley takes a more reflective paradigm of the situation. She is aware that despite her mother's concern, she suffered her own kind of “roman fever.” Her peer group thought that she suffered from a sickness by staying out in cold air, when actually she got pregnant through her late-night Colosseum rendezvous and was quickly married off. Throughout the dialogue, Mrs. Ansley shows the restraint of a person that has been thoroughly conditioned to be cautious. Even when baited by the painful attacks that Mrs. Slade levels at her because she is bored, Mrs. Ansley hesitates to truly reveal the extent and far-reaching complications of adolescent tryst.
The two ladies are pillars of their society, abroad in Europe exposing their daughters to the culture of the privileged upper class. The ladies correspond to the setting that is continually referenced; decaying, yet strong reminders of the achievements and richness of a gloried and sordid history.
Works Cited
"Colosseum" http://www.aviewoncities.com/rome/colosseo.htm Accessed 1/13/10
Wharton, Edith. "Roman Fever" http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/ewharton/bl-ewhar-roman.htm Accessed 1/13/10
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