2007. In many works of literature, past events can affect, positively or negatively, the present activities, attitudes, or values of a character. Choose a novel or play in which a character must contend with some aspect of the past, either personal or societal. Then write an essay in which you show how the character's relationship to the past contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.

Soldiers come back to the United States every day from Afghanistan with scars, both mental and physical.  Jake Barnes in Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises must deal with both the physical handicap his service has left him with in addition to exceeding feelings of hopelessness, each preventing him from being with the woman he loves, Brett.  Jake lives in the past, before his time in the army, and is unable to move forward.  Hemingway argues through use of detail, language and diction that war holds us back from progress.

                Hemingway begins by creating an air of uselessness surrounding everything in his work.  He is particularly famous for his language in conveying a sense of hopelessness.  The dialogue between Hemingway’s characters, especially in this novel, is very basic, and very ambiguous.  It sometimes appears as if Jake and Brett are talking about nothing at all.  They go around in circles, talking about what appear to be the most mundane and ordinary topics.  This creates a feeling for the reader that nothing matters.  Details or, more specifically, lack of details contribute to this established feeling.  Though we know Jake cannot be with the woman he loves, we are never actually told exactly what his injury is.  This is because Hemingway never tells us.  This deliberate vagueness is essential in adding to the illusion of uselessness.  It once again makes the reader think nothing matters.  Lacking details and specific language confuse and upset the reader.   

                Once the reader is convinced nothing has meaning, Hemingway swoops in to create some, using the specific event that ruined his characters’ lives: war.  All of Jake’s problems trace back to the battles he was a part of.  After drawing a connection between the hopeless feelings and war, Hemingway can easily claim war is bad.  The reader already feels incredible pity of Jake and his friends.  Once a cause is given to the terrible situations the characters live in, the reader has no problem despising it.  Hemingway convincingly makes the reader believe that war is wrong.