The Sun Also Rises: A Study in Narrative Technique
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Department of English
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.