Hemingway Code Hero Essay Example

Ernest Hemingway, author of The Sun Also Rises, brands his main character Jake Barnes, a Hemingway code hero. The Hemingway code hero is defined as one who faces several problems yet faces them with undeniable dignity; when under pressure he deals with it with so much poise, it is hard to detect he is faced with a challenge. Also according to Hemingway, this man must accept that the world can bring misery upon anyone and while realizing this must learn to enjoy life (Melvin C. Miles). This man will also fear the dark because it represents the “nothingness” of life after death. Hemingway provides his main character Jake, with the problem of impotence which causes a hindrance between Jake and Brett – the love of his life. Brett is the one thing that Jake wishes to have in his possession, however, it is impossible. Although Jake suffers because of these obstacles, he follows the standards of a Hemingway code hero. Jake Barnes, the protagonist of the sun also rises is classified as the Hemingway code hero in The Sun Also Rises because he enjoys life to the fullest and although he has problems, he gracefully faces them with dignity.
Hemingway like Jake served in WWI and his injury was derived from serving in this war. Soldiers in the war did not have faith in God anymore because they constantly prayed day and night hoping not to pass away, but it seemed as if these prayers could not save men. It should not be forgotten that new modes of warfare were introduced which included trenches, grenades and poisonous gas. Numerous soldiers died day in day out and the soldiers who witnessed these deaths pleaded with God hoping to stay alive. Clearly, faith would be questioned if prayer requests were being delivered without answers. Hemingway addresses the absence of God or religion and morals in the lost generation. This is a trait of a Hemingway hero called the concept of nada. According to Miles, ““nada”focuses on man’s confrontation with the absence of God, the indifference