Symbols in the Sun Also Rises

The Sun Also Rises started off in Paris with the characters Jake, Bill, Cohn, Brett and Mike. Everyone was bored and tired of the city, willing to admit it or not. Jake and Bill spent their days attempting to drown the scars of World War I in alcohol. As the plot moved along, the group of friends takes a trip to Pamplona, Spain, for several weeks. During one of the weeks, Jake and Bill head up to the country side to fish for trout in a little village. Hemingway put enormous emphasis on the colorful details and descriptions of country side; much different than how he described Paris as being dull and gray. During this fishing trip, I got a sense that this was a very therapeutic time for both of the veterans. The river represented a sense of purity and the men were almost being washed of the terrors of war. Since alcohol is involved in almost every scene, there was no shortage of wine during the fishing trip; however, it seemed to take a different effect. The men kept the wine in the river to chill it before drinking. Hemingway described the river purifying the wine and when the men drank the wine it brought out their creativity and rejuvenated them; the opposite of the rowdiness experienced in France. I think that the way Hemingway changes his writing style to be more descriptive and focused on the scenery and the emotions Jake feels shows that Hemingway is using this part of the novel to symbolize the reawakening of Jake and Bill’s senses.