The Sun Also Rises Group

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dvanbramer88
dvanbramer88
Student
High School - 10th Grade

How does the title, "The Sun Also Rises", relate to the theme of the book?

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Posted by dvanbramer88 on Wednesday September 3, 2008 at 11:58 AM and tagged with the sun also rises, themes, title.

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  1. ms-mcgregor Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    The title of the book is taken from the Book of Ecclesiastes, which begins, "Vanity, Vanity, all is vanity. " Ecclesiastes is traditionally thought to have been written by wise King Soloman who, although he had great wealth and accomplishements, found his life meaningless at the end. The actual verse from which the title is taken is Ecclesiastes 1:15: " The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose." In other words, nothing really changes so therefore life can be meaningless. This is also one of the themes of the novel. The characters in the novel are part of Hemingway's "lost generation". They have lost their purpose in life. Robert Cohn missed his chance at "the big time", Jake and Brent lose a chance at love, and Romero, the bullfighter who is supposed to be a hero, finds his time is almost gone. But even if the characters don't find the meaning of the life they sought, "the sun will still rise" and things will go on without them.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/sunalsorises

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    Posted by ms-mcgregor on Wednesday September 3, 2008 at 2:00 PM