Hemingway Says...

Reynolds, Michael S. “False Dawn: The Sun Also Rises Manuscript.” Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. 117-132. Print.

The significance of this article does not lie in an explanation of Jake’s narration as it applies to the title of the work. But rather how Jake’s narration would apply to a multitude of titles. Reynolds lets the reader in on a few pieces of little known trivia about the alternate titles to Hemingway’s first published work of literature. The alternate titles that Hemingway contemplated are taken from Ecclesiastes and Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians:
1. Rivers to the Sea- Eccles. 1:7: “All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full.”
2. Two Lie together- Eccles. 4:11: “Again, if two lie together, then they have heat; but how can one be warm alone.”
3. The Old Leaven- 1 Cor. 5:1-7: “it is reported commonly that there is fornication among you. Know yet not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may make a new lump, as ye are unleavened.”

Each of these titles would shed light on Jake’s narration in variously different ways. Had the title been Rivers to the Sea, the reader might understand more clearly the lack of fulfillment that Jake feels even though he is being fulfilled sufficiently according to Hemingway. Perhaps that would explain why Jake is such a minimalist? To be more clear, Jake gives us what readers need to know without elaborating or giving anything mroe than necessary. The second title would present Jake as a lone ranger of sorts. Someone who is capable of producing nothing more than warmth, yet it destined to lie alone due to his impotence. This would make perfect sense in relation to the narration, because the narritive often gives the tone of being cold and alone. That is, there is never a feeling of a third party perspective. Only Jake. The third Title, and possibly the most obscure of the three would lead a reader to believe that Jake and his narration were in some way dead. Jake’s narration is often referred to as “flat” (unleavened) yet there are undeniable bright spots in the text when the pace of the book speeds up and comes alive. When Jake talks about Brett or of Bullfighting, his life seems to be alive again or leavened. It seems to be that Brett and bullfighting are the last few molecules of yeast in Jake’s life that have not yet died. They give hope for Jake’s life and his narration to rise at least somewhat. Two other titles that Hemingway considered were “The Lost Generation, A Novel” and “Fiesta”. Ultimately Hemingway decided not to use “Fiesta” as the title because he did not want a word that was not English as the title. “The Lost Generation, A novel” was instead used as a famous quotation from Gertrude Stein as an opening to the Ecclesiastes 1:5epigraph. Reynolds also included a paraphrase of a letter that Hemingway wrote to a friend. The letter’s purpose was essentially to explain why he chose the title The Sun Also Rises. Hemingway explains “That, he felt, [he] would make his point clearer, which was that the earth abideth forever. He told Perkins [his friend] he had not meant the book to be hollow or a bitter satire, but a tragedy with the earth abiding as the hero.” Hemingway stating that he meant for the earth to be the hero is allows the reader to acknowledge that the earth is triumphant over the sun. If this fact is considered in relation to Jake’s narration, the reader might question whether Hemingway thought of the earth triumphing over the sun in a literal sense, or as the earth as a representation for one of the characters? This acceptance of the earth as a hero seems a bit too easy though as Reynolds points out. The reader should keep in mind that a writer very seldom explains their work completely.