"This is the way the world ends. This is the way the world ends. This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper." (T.S. Eliot, The Hollow Men)

"…but a whimper.", Eliot was writing of the Lost Generation. The period after World War I were people were disillusioned, wandering through their life lost, not sure what their goal was. In Ernest Hemmingway's novel, The Sun Also Rises, the Lost Generation and their inability to cope with the change around them is the focus of the novel. The Sun Also Rises is a beautifully written account of a generation lost in an unknown cause that leaves them abandoned in the end.

Hemmingway wrote this story in a unique fashion. The book is written with no apparent plot, that is, there are not twists, intrigue, or goals for the characters. The plot is simply the story itself. That is what Hemmingway wanted, he wanted the reader to read this story and recognize the loses and struggles the characters encounter through experiences they had.

The Sun Also Rises takes place in France following the First World War. The main character and narrator is Jake Barnes a newspaper reporter and war veteran. His life corresponds directly to that of the Lost Generation, for he is the Lost Generation. Jake lives a very simple life, he gets up and eats, goes to work, goes out with someone for lunch, goes back to work, than goes out with friends to eat supper and drink the night away. Jake's life is very similar to all others of that time; he is not an exception. To prove this Hemmingway shows the bars and restaurants packed at night with people just like Jake and his friends. Jake's long time friend and once lover, Brent Ashley is a very beautiful and unruly woman. She makes her first appearance in the novel as she walks into a bar to meet Jake, she is followed by a group of gay men. This point is very crucial to the novel because it strikes a major point of conflict between Jake and Brett. Jake had suffered an injury in the war and was impotent because of it. Jake is self-conscious of this fact and was very upset when Brett walked in with men that were not impotent and yet failed to take advantage of it. This conflict between Brett and Jake has left them to become close friends, knowing that nothing more could ever happen.

The main moiety of this story occurs in Spain. Jake and his friends travel to Pamplona for the running of the bulls and than the bull-fighting events. Jake brings along his friends, Brett, Bill, Michael, and Robert. These people are identical to Jake in the since that they lost their purpose in life. Each has a queer way of expressing it though, Mike would usually become drunk and slur mean comments to people, Bill would become drunk and reside within himself, and Brett would fill the void by acting promiscuous with men. Robert was the only one that stood out from the rest. He actually had dreams and aspirations unlike the others. Because of this, the others usually resented Robert. Hemmingway used Robert as a model of example for the others; he seemed to be the only true gentlemen left. Hemmingway marked Robert as different also, by not having him drink, this showed his strong will and hopes for a better life, "…Mike was a mean drunk, and Robert was never drunk."

Hemmingway uses the bullfights as a motif within the story. The bull and the bullfighter are constantly talked about during the seven-day fiesta. Hemmingway uses these symbols as an outlook on life. He uses a young bullfighter named Pedro Romero to demonstrate his point, "Romero never made any contortions, always it was straight and pure and natural in line. The others twisted themselves like corkscrews, their elbows raised, and leaned against the flanks of the bull after his horns has passed, to give a faked look of danger. Afterward, all that was faked turned bad and gave an unpleasant feeling. Romero's bull-fighting gave real emotion, because he kept the absolute purity of line in his movements and always quietly and calmly let the horns pass him close each time. He did not have to emphasize their closeness." Hemmingway uses this to show that if one is to do something it should be all out, not just the motions, and not just a "faked look of danger". Hemmingway wants the reader to see that to come out of this lifelessness one needs to participate in it, for that is the only escape from the dullness and disillusions.

Ernest Hemmingway's novel gave a solution to the people of the Lost Generation but showed that it was a lost cause in reality, ' "Oh, Jake," Brett said, "we could have had such a damned good time together."…"Yes," I said. "Isn't it pretty to think so?" '

Hemmingway enlightened an age that had turned its backs on the world and shot its eyes to the light of the sun, for it had set on them at the end of the war. However, Hemmingway showed them that the sun also rises.