The Sun Also Rises Chapters 15-17

Within this section of Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, I found the incidents of meeting Pedro Romero and watching the bull fighting in Chapter 15 most significant. Until this point in the novel, Jake had always described and explained the beauty of bullfighting however for the first time the audience is given the opportunity to see why Jake feels this away about the frequent motif in the novel and develop a personal opinion on the sport. Through his writing, Hemingway was able to write in a way that allowed for the reader’s interpretation rather than defining the interpretation for the reader. I believe this is the reasons why Hemingway was successful as a novelists as that room for the reader is something necessary for a successful novel. In the bullfighting scene in Chapter 15, I sensed a more upbeat yet deep tone to Jake’s descriptions of what was going on. At one point,, Jake says “Afterward, all that was faked turned bad and gave an unpleasant feeling.” Firstly this quotation provides insight on an observation made which is something rarely seen throughout the novel (the only other time Jake shows insight in addition to observation so deeply is when he is fishing). The insight Jake provided  here made me understand Jake’s obsession for bullfighting. In the lost generation where there is no definitive purpose, the world around Jake seems to be entirely superficial and fake. On the other hand he sees the legitimacy of bullfighting and aspires to be genuine as they are. He also points out that not all bullfighters are genuine and that most actually attempt to deceive the audience. Yet Jake’s ability to distinguish between the true and untrue bullfighters through their quick maneuvers, he is able to see who he wishes to be and who he does not wish to be. I believe that through bullfighting, Jake seeks to learn about himself and weed out all that is fake and keep all that is real. Therefor the character of Pedro Romero is completely idealized by Jake as Pedro represents Hemingway’s idea of a hero and who he aspires to be. Through the passage about the bullfights, it is clear that Hemingway’s idea of a hero is so perfect that it is almost impossible to exist. I got this notion from his repetitive rants over the precision of Romero in comparison to the other bullfighters and how just a few inches could make perfection and imperfection easily distinguishable. Therefore Hemingway included Romero as an idealized character amongst normal people and provides great contrast.