World War I turned people's perspective of the world upside down. Many war veterans were very young. Understandably, all of these people that had just come of age were left disoriented. They became known as the "lost generation". The term became popularized by Ernest Hemingway, who uses a quote from Gertrude Stein in the epigraph of his first novel The Sun Also Rises. The quote reads "You are all a lost generation", recognizing the sense confusion and pointlessness the war-survivors experienced. Hemingway himself was part of the lost generation, having fought in the war and being returned home wounded.
As we discussed in class, Hemingway is known for being the pinnacle of masculinity. His interests included big game hunting, bull-fighting, marlin fishing, picking fights in bars, and the works. In Hemingway's point of view, being a man includes putting up a tough shell, a quality that he passes on to the narrator of The Sun Also Rises, Jacob Barnes. Jake is a very frank person. Like Hemingway, he also likes to drink and seems to have thorough knowledge of all things masculine, like boxing. He acts unimpressed by the feats of others to appear superior. Because he is a man. Or maybe, as has been revealed to us in recent reading, Jake is trying to cover up for his insecurities about his war injury.
It appears that many veterans during this time period could not live up to the ideals of masculinity. In Virginia Woolf's novel Mrs. Dalloway, Septimus Warren Smith, a shell-shocked member of the lost generation, plays a prominent role. Septimus is completely traumatized by the events of the way after having his friend die right before his eyes. He is enormously transformed by the war. He began as a young poet and lover of Shakespeare, two things that are not stereotypically masculine. Even his employer, Mr. Brewer, thinks something is wrong with him and prescribes football as a cure. Impassioned by his love of literature, Septimus signs up to fight for his country and in the trenches Mr. Brewer's wish comes true -- he learns not to feel. He panics and this sends him spiraling down a path to suicide.
Masculinity in the army was defined as having this ability to separate yourself from all emotions. Those who "failed' and were affected by shell-shock were regarded as cowards. It was in the culture of the early 20th century to expect too much of this "lost generation". However, not all were affected equally, boosting the ideals of perfect masculinity. While modern psychiatrists might regard Jake Barnes as someone in need of therapy, Mr. Brewer in the early 1920's would praise him for coming out of the war unscathed, like a real man.
I really like the connection you made between Woolf and Hemingway in their depiction of masculinity. In Mrs. Dalloway, Septimus is criticized by doctors for his PTSD, since the perception of the time was that mental illness from war is simply a result of cowardice. This presents a challenge to Septimus' masculinity. Likewise, in The Sun Also Rises, Jake has suffered a physical injury (as opposed to Septimus' mental injury) that is strongly implied to have rendered him impotent or at least in some way interfered with his sexual ability. This is obviously a huge challenge to his masculinity, since he now lacks one of the physical capabilities that defines manhood.
ReplyDeleteKnowledge of the exact nature of Jake's wound certainly does cast his assertions of masculinity in a particular light--it helps us understand his antagonism toward Cohn, or the gay men in the bar, in a more specific light. It's not only that he avoids the topic in his narration; he avoids thinking about it himself (which, apparently, is pretty much impossible).
ReplyDeleteIn my view, this complicates the stereotype of Hemingway's work as "masculine" to a considerable extent--and for me, it makes it much more interesting. The "Hemingway hero" in this first novel is a man who is wounded in a physical and symbolic way that emasculates him, and thus we can see his performance of masculinity *as* a performance (one that's "easier" in the daytime than at night). It's a front, and one that Jake has to work to maintain. Which is why we must keep turning our attention to all that he *doesn't* say in his narration.
At the same time, there is maybe something admirable or positive in the stoicism with which he approaches his cosmic-joke of a life. We can smirk about the "manly man who won't talk about his feelings," but I don't know that I'd like Jake more if he were wallowing in self-pity. There's something heroic about the way he keeps his mouth shut and gets down to work.
I really enjoyed your post! The issue of masculinity is something that really stood out for me in these two novels as well. The social limitations of the decade really must have been suffocating for soldiers returning from war. It's saddening to see how much Septimus and Jake have to swallow their mental and physical suffering to not be criticized.
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