Examples Of Masculinity In Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises
A New Masculine and Feminine Identity
Understanding cliched ideas of masculinity is fairly simple, but the process of challenging these stereotypes by defining new ideas of what it means to be masculine is exceptionally difficult. Fishing, bullfighting, and war all emphasise masculine qualities. Men are expected to delight in these things, idealizing manly events in order to increase their own sense of masculinity. Even more importantly is a man’s sense of sexual mastery. Stereotypically, a man is, above all else, sexually driven; always attempting to persuade a beautiful woman to accompany him behind closed doors. In Ernest Hemingway 's novel The Sun Also Rises, the idea of what it means to be masculine and feminine, amidst the post World …show more content…
"I couldn 't look away, though" (Hemingway 182). Jake’s unsuccessful experiment with the prostitute Georgette, rejection by Brett, and inability to connect with any other men in a meaningful way, leaves him with no choice but to turn inward in order to find a different source of masculinity. He begins to realize that his impotence is not the central reason he is unable to connect with Brett. Through his fishing trip with Bill, and his interactions with both Montoya and Romero, Jake begins to identify very potent masculinity of aficion within himself. Aficion is described on page 147:
Aficion means passion. An aficionado is one who is passionate about the bull-fights. All the good bull-fighters stayed at Montoya 's hotel; that is, those with aficion stayed there . . . The photographs of bull-fighters Montoya had really believed in were framed. Photographs of bull-fighters who had been without aficion . . . did not mean anything. One day Montoya took them all out and dropped them in the waste-basket (Hemingway 147).
To have aficion is a powerful representation of masculinity. Montoya only cares for those that possess it, and Jake begins to become a master of it. He uses passion and honor to grasp aficion, which he holds onto as a new form of masculine
Understanding cliched ideas of masculinity is fairly simple, but the process of challenging these stereotypes by defining new ideas of what it means to be masculine is exceptionally difficult. Fishing, bullfighting, and war all emphasise masculine qualities. Men are expected to delight in these things, idealizing manly events in order to increase their own sense of masculinity. Even more importantly is a man’s sense of sexual mastery. Stereotypically, a man is, above all else, sexually driven; always attempting to persuade a beautiful woman to accompany him behind closed doors. In Ernest Hemingway 's novel The Sun Also Rises, the idea of what it means to be masculine and feminine, amidst the post World …show more content…
"I couldn 't look away, though" (Hemingway 182). Jake’s unsuccessful experiment with the prostitute Georgette, rejection by Brett, and inability to connect with any other men in a meaningful way, leaves him with no choice but to turn inward in order to find a different source of masculinity. He begins to realize that his impotence is not the central reason he is unable to connect with Brett. Through his fishing trip with Bill, and his interactions with both Montoya and Romero, Jake begins to identify very potent masculinity of aficion within himself. Aficion is described on page 147:
Aficion means passion. An aficionado is one who is passionate about the bull-fights. All the good bull-fighters stayed at Montoya 's hotel; that is, those with aficion stayed there . . . The photographs of bull-fighters Montoya had really believed in were framed. Photographs of bull-fighters who had been without aficion . . . did not mean anything. One day Montoya took them all out and dropped them in the waste-basket (Hemingway 147).
To have aficion is a powerful representation of masculinity. Montoya only cares for those that possess it, and Jake begins to become a master of it. He uses passion and honor to grasp aficion, which he holds onto as a new form of masculine