This is not the first time reading The Sun Also Rises but I definitely had a stronger reaction to the text this time through because I was reading it through the scope of the War. Something that struck me was the ambivilent nature of the characters despite living in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. They obviously have motivations for becoming expatriates, but it seems that they are constantly saying that Paris is just okay. Jake goes into a lot of detail describing where they go and what they do and has a strong grasp of the geography of the city but echoes the other characters' desire to leave the city and go find something else.

I was also struck this time around by the complete unfairness of Jake's injury. He and Brett seem to want desperately to be together but they are held back by the limitations of Jake's body. It's very difficult for me to imagine the turmoil of feeling sexual feelings but having a body that cannot respond to these desires. Jake does not acknowledge his impotency very often and seems less enraged about it than Brett, probably because it is hard to him to verbalize the immense pain he feels. I think his impotency reflects the chaos and unfairness of the War. While he got to survive the fighting, he is left with very damaging effects that cause him to live life in a very different way. This reflect the idea that no one really made it out of WWI alive, which we see in the way that most of the characters in the novel seem to be empty shells of once-active and passionate people.