In the Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway Essay

In the Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway, alcoholism is an important theme in the novel. Alcoholism is a large part of Ernest Hemingway’s novel â€Å"The Sun Also Rises†. Drinking is the greatest escape that the characters use and the author employs it very often in the novel. All throughout the novel, the characters are drinking excessively. They use drinking to also help prove themselves. Because of Jake’s war wound made him physically unable, he feels that he must prove himself to people so he uses drinking to prove himself. Jake also uses wine to forget the things that he doesn’t like about his friends such as the fight between Mick and Cohn, when Mike was mad that Cohn is always looking at Brett and holding in to her everywhere she goes. â€Å"There was much wine and ignored tension, and a feeling of things coming that you could not prevent happening. Under the wine I lost the disgusted feeling and was happy. It seemed that they were all such nice people† (Hemingway 150). In reality, all that drinking does is to give them something in common so that they can relate to one another in some parts of their lives. They are always drinking together and talking about their life difficulties. Often, drinking provides a way of escaping reality and allows them to avoid their problems by avoid thinking about them. In conclusion, in Hemingway’s the Sun Also Rises, it is clear that alcohol dependency is a main theme.