What strikes me the most after reading book one of The Sun Also Rises is strong sense of meaninglessness in human interactions. This can be seen in the relationships of many different characters. Jake and Brett are in love, but this is rendered meaningless by Brett's plans to go on and marry Micheal anyway. Robert promised to marry Frances, but this is rendered meaningless by his desire to go and live a more adventurous life.

I believe that this sense of meaninglessness in interpersional relations could be the direct result of the first World War on the characters. The first World War saw countless individuals slaughtered in the name of conflicts they had no personal stake in due to Europe's outdated system of alliances. Living in the aftermath of a war which saw so many people rapidly dying, it strikes me as no surprise that these characters should place little to no value in their relationships. After all, how do they know that these people will even be there tomorrow?