Study Questions &
Essay Topics
Study Questions
1. How does Hemingway
show that Jake is insecure about his masculinity early in the novel?
2. Compare Jake's
relationship to Brett with Cohn's relationship to Frances.
3. How is Count
Mippipopolous like Jake and his friends? How is he different?
Suggested Essay Topics
1. Compare Jake and Cohn. How
does the fact that Jake went to war and Cohn did not make them different
from each other? What qualities do they share with the rest of their acquaintances?
Is it safe to call them both outsiders?
2. Bill tells Jake that “[s]ex
explains it all.” To what extent is Bill's statement true of the
novel The Sun Also Rises?
3. Discuss the characterization
of Lady Brett Ashley. Is she a sympathetic character? Is she a positive
female role model? Does she treat her male friends cruelly?
4. Read closely and analyze
one of the longer passages in which Hemingway describes bulls or
bullfighting. What sort of language does Hemingway use? Does the
passage have symbolic possibilities? If the bullfighting passages
do not advance the plot, how do they function to develop themes
and motifs?
5. Analyze the novel in the context
of World War I. How does the experience of war shape the characters
and their behavior? Examine the differences between the veterans,
like Jake and Bill, and the nonveterans, like Cohn and Romero.
6. Why is Cohn verbally abused
so often in the novel? Is it because he is Jewish? Why does Mike
attack Cohn but not Jake, whom Brett actually loves? Why does Cohn
accept so much abuse?
7. Discuss the problem of communication
in the novel. Why is it so difficult for the characters to speak
frankly and honestly? In what circumstances is it possible for them
to speak openly? Are there any characters who say exactly what is
on their mind? If so, how are these characters similar to each other?
