The Sun Also rises

While it is true that Jake Barnes physical injury prevents him from fulfilling his desires, the fact is that it also serves as a metaphor for the lost generation. The injury that Jake Barnes receives in the war insinuates to the problems that this generation had. Many of them were scared by the war and it was impossible for them to reintegrate themselves back into society. Jake Barnes attempts to reinsert himself into society throughout the novel, and repeatedly has trouble doing so. At first with Georgette, she tries to move on him, but Jake says that he is sick, while Georgette says that she is sick as will. Jake knows that she is sick in a different way and while she can still hold life she is still better than Barnes as her sickness does not have as long an effect as Barnes’ injury. His injury will last forever, and will continue on through all of his future generations as he will not have any future generations. All of the relations that Jake Barnes had were very dysfunctional. He was in love with Brett but because of his injury he could not indulge in what he really wanted, and was never able to truly “love” her. His injury also symbolized the isolation of the lost generation. Because of the injury he is not able to be with anyone which connected to many war veterans from WWI. Also, the injury symbolized the insecurity that Jake had with emasculation of man. His inability to love correlates to the difficult transitions that the lost generation had. Jake Barnes’ injury isn’t solely for preventing him from fulfilling what he wants. It directly alludes to the disabilities of the lost generation. The lost generations inability to cope with the drastic change that includes removing themselves from war, dealing with the loss and pain that came along with it, and attempting to return to society to become just another normal citizen. The great many problems such as isolation an many others are just a few of the many issues that the lost generation had.