An Expatriate Theme in Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises

Abstract

Hemingway's writing with "theory of omission" in The Sun Also Rises truly reflects the crux of the story below the surface. He maintained his status of modernist writer and discussed the issues of existentialism. All of his characters are away from the normal social norms and values. They tend to move from one place to another, one form of relationship to other games. The issue of expatriation can be seen in the characters which show the trauma, anguish and anxiety within the characters. It can be seen in Jake, Brett, Romero etc. They indulge in alcoholism, sex abnormal appetite and so on. They have made their own norms and value of life. Hemingway lays emphasis on individual freedom and choices of his own. Jake finds a complete existence. A close look into the novel makes us aware that it is a quest for identity. Jake is a self-reliant individual who stands as a subjective being. He is transformed. In this stage he has no trauma and no pain, he is completely free ultimately. His anguish for his existence in the disillusioned society is fulfilled through the existential leap. Expatriation is cause for the existential leap. The characters are not within their native country. The characters have intoxicated themselves inorder to forget their anguish. They are involved in alcoholism, sex, deadly games and aimless wanderings. Hemingway has portrayed the core value of these expatriates, their existential leap and anguish with fresh, simple and natural sounding dialogue. Thus The Sun Also Rises deals with an expatriate theme.