In the novel The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway describes .

             a couple who share a very strange and distant kind of love .

             for each other. This story takes place immediately after .

             World War I, a time of great hardship. This hardship results .

             in a digression of values both morally and socially. The .

             love that Brett and Jake share is symbolic of the general .

             decline in values in that they tolerate behaviors in one .

             another that would have been previously considered .

             unacceptable.

             It is clear that Lady Brett Ashley is anything but a .

             lady. She is kind and sweet but extremely vulnerable to the .

             charm that various men in her life seem to smother her with. .

             Brett is not happy with her life or her surroundings and .

             seeks escape and refuge in the arms of these men. But her .

             actions seem always to end up hurting her, and she runs back .

             to Jake. Jake knows that he will never be able to have her .

             for his own, and he accepts this as fact. This is clear when .

             the Count asks them ³why don¹t you get married, you two? .

             (68)² To this question, they give a lame half hearted .

             awnser which implies that it will never happen. He is .

             tolerant of her behavior because he loves her .

             unconditionally and is willing to overlook everything she .

             does. Jake¹s willingness to endure and forgive Brett¹s .

             promiscuity and infidelity is an indication of the skewed .

             values of the age. It was an ³anything goes² era right after .

             the first war, and Jake¹s message to Brett seems to be the .

             same: anything goes as long as you eventually come back to .

             me.

             Jake is forced to accept living in this seemingly .

             terrible way for more than one reason. He a weak person .

             socially, but he is also physically disabled because of an .

             injury that he suffered during the war. He suffered an .

             injury that caused him to be castrated. The first .

             hint of this is when he says to Georgeette ³I was hurt in .

             the war (24) in refrence to why they can not have physical .