The Sun Also Rises: A Study in Narrative Technique

Abstract

InThe Sun Also Risesthe very principle of the narrative implies in all strictness that the focalizer is never described or even referred to from the outside, and that his thoughts or perceptions are never analyzed objectively by the narrator. The central character is limited to his focal position alone. The focalization based on Jake’s narration presents the focalized persons and events as selfless and helpful. Hemingway deploys his focalizer as a loving friend, a frustrated and disillusioned man, a drunkard and an expatriate. The use of focalization and varieties of other narrative devices adequately portray the post war mood of disillusionment and despair as experienced by the expatriate Americans in the cities of Europe during the inter-war period.