The Sun Also Rises 553that he is “pretty religious,” but that hardly seems
sincere given his own difficulties with church and
prayer. After Brett’s rejection of Romero, it is her
sense that she has done the right thing for Romero
that is her consolation. It is, she says to Jake, “sort of
what we have instead of God.” In the most explicit
statement about their lack of religious and spiritual
beliefs, Jake says that “some people have God,” to
which Brett responds “He never worked very well
with me.”
The novel concludes with them drinking more
wine, eating more food, and talking around their
problems, until Brett finally voices her frustration
that “we could have had such a damned good time
together.” Jake’s answer—“Isn’t it pretty to think
so?”—is the last word in the novel. It suggests
that he knows that many of their problems would
remain, even if they were together. It shows that he
feels estranged even from the idea of their union,
that perhaps he doubts whether anything could
resolve their feelings of alienation. It seems unlikely
that any of the major characters will ever feel at
home in the world.
James Ford
Futility in The Sun Also Rises
The theme of futility is present from the first words
of The Sun Also Rises. The two epigraphs that open
the novel speak to this sense of the uselessness of
human life. Gertrude Stein’s comment that “You
are a lost generation” is directed at those who suf-
fered through World War I and its aftermath, but
the feeling of being “lost” is one that recurs in
every generation. The epigraph from Ecclesiastes
(which is the source of the book’s title) makes this
plain: “One generation passeth away, and another
generation cometh.” In Ecclesiastes, human con-
cerns are a “vanity,” a chasing after wind, and this
is true throughout the novel as well. The first line
introduces Robert Cohn as a Princeton boxing
champion, but the narrator ( Jake) explains that
such things do not impress him. This is an early
indication of the larger insignificance of human
accomplishments. This focus on Cohn is a curi-
ous beginning, for other characters (particularly
Jake and Brett Ashley) will be as important in the
novel, but early on the focus is on Cohn and Jake’s
relationship to him. Cohn is determined to travel,
in part because of a novel that he takes too seriously.
Jake is world-weary and tries to convince Cohn how
futile traveling the world actually is: “All countries
look just like the moving pictures.” In truth, what
Cohn wants is a new life. “Don’t you ever get the
feeling that all your life is going by and you’re not
taking advantage of it?” Cohn asks, and Jake replies
that he is “through worrying” about life, death, or
anything else. Jake has decided that such worrying
is futile. Cohn is searching for some larger signifi-
cance in his life, but for Jake life is the same all over;
“Why don’t you start living your life in Paris?” is his
sensible response. The major characters in the novel
are discontent whether in Paris or anywhere else.
Bill says later that Vienna “seemed better than it
was.” Brett says that “one’s an ass to leave Paris.” Yet
they all leave Paris for the fiesta in Spain.
Many of the things that might make life more
enjoyable seem tired for Jake and his friends. Drinks,
dancing, parties, and in general the night-life all get
boring. Even love seems futile, in part because of
Jake’s condition. Brett says “There isn’t any use my
telling you I love you” because “talking’s all bilge.”
Jake and Brett long to be together, but his war-
wound and her wanderings make a future together
impossible. When asked why they don’t get married,
Jake jokes that “We want to lead our own lives” and
Brett explains that “We have our careers,” echoing
and mocking common explanations for not settling
down. Mike’s comment later is typical: “This is all
awfully amusing, but it’s not too pleasant.” Jake and
his friends enjoy many things, but they rarely are
happy. Even their arguments (between Jake and
Cohn first, then Cohn and Jake’s friend Harvey)
amount to nothing. Most of all, human wisdom is
futile in the novel. Jake realizes how pointless his
own philosophy of life is, thinking that “in five
years . . . it will seem just as silly as all the other
philosophies I’ve had.” All things pass away, even as
the world endures.
This sense that human pursuits are ultimately
futile receives fullest expression during the fiesta,
where “it seemed as though nothing could have
any consequences.” There are real consequences,
though; for instance, the consequences of love
affairs—Jake’s emptiness, Mike’s loneliness, Brett’s