The Sun Also Rises

Jake Barnes moves through expatriate Paris and Pamplona with love, jealousy, and postwar damage always under the surface.

Spoilers includedLast reviewed: 2026-06-21

Verified facts

Author: Ernest Hemingway
Published: 1926
Language: English

PlotGeeks explainer signals

PlotLayeredThe travel path is clear, while the emotional damage stays quiet and indirect.EndingDifficult endingThe final line needs context because it closes on an impossible imagined life.RecapUseful recapThe Paris-to-Pamplona path can be refreshed without losing the emotional line.SourcesImportant contextThe expatriates' postwar damage continues beneath their travel, drinking, and romantic rivalries.

What do these labels mean?

Why read this explainer

Travel and parties give the group ways to avoid speaking directly about damage. Jealousy makes those unspoken conflicts increasingly public.

PlotGeeks note

Jake and Brett's imagined life remains separate from the one they can inhabit. The final exchange preserves affection alongside that acknowledged limit.

Timeline

Major events

Jake and Brett meet in Paris
They acknowledge their love within a relationship that Jake's war injury has made difficult.
The travelers gather in Pamplona
Jake's fishing trip with Bill gives way to the fiesta, where Brett, Mike and Cohn join them.
Brett becomes involved with Romero
Jake introduces her to the bullfighter, and Cohn's jealousy erupts into violence.
Jake answers Brett's telegram
In Madrid, he finds that she has sent Romero away and plans to return to Mike.

Story in 60 Seconds

The short version

American journalist Jake Barnes lives in Paris among expatriates whose drinking and conversation often conceal jealousy and disappointment. He loves Lady Brett Ashley, but his war injury prevents the sexual relationship she wants. Brett is engaged to Mike Campbell and has had an affair with Robert Cohn, who continues to pursue her. A journey to Spain brings the group together at the Pamplona fiesta. Jake introduces Brett to the young bullfighter Pedro Romero, and their affair intensifies conflicts already present among the travelers. The trip ends without resolving Jake's attachment to Brett.

Spoiler sectionEnding ExplainedShow ending detailsHide ending details

After the fiesta, Jake leaves Pamplona, but Brett sends a telegram asking him to come to Madrid. She has sent Romero away and intends to return to Mike. Jake helps her again. Their closing taxi conversation imagines how good a life together might have been, while his response acknowledges the distance between that imagined possibility and the choices available to them.

Original context

Why it matters

What the conflict reveals

Travel and the fiesta give the group occasions for pleasure without resolving jealousy or postwar damage. Jake's loyalty to Brett persists alongside the relationship they cannot have.

Key turning points

The turning point

Jake introduces Brett to Romero, helping arrange an affair that wounds him and inflames Cohn's jealousy. His loyalty now participates directly in the group's worsening conflict.

Character links

Who connects to whom

JakeHis love persists despite the limits on their relationship and the demands her other attachments place on him.Brett

BrettTheir affair intensifies the group's conflicts before she sends the young bullfighter away.Romero

CohnHe treats their earlier affair as an attachment she does not share.Brett

Character motivations

What drives the characters

Jake wants closeness with Brett and continues to answer her requests. His help preserves their connection while repeatedly confronting him with the relationship they cannot sustain.