In The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway attempts to grapple with changes in life and attitudes following World War I through the disjointed lens of the narrator, Jake Barnes . Told through stream of consciousness, the novel investigates the psychological aimlessness and alienation resulting from a tangible sense of trauma, as well as its problematic ways of repeating itself. The sense of loss, disconnection and wandering along with a challenge to pre-war ideas is central to Hemingway's work and ultimately classifies it as a modernist text. Jake exposes the activities of his group of "friends" within Parisian expatriate society, characterized by constant drinking and mindless traveling from place to place. Through both literal and situational means, Hemingway's masculinity (or lack thereof) is boldly asserted through Jake in both his prose and micro-aggressions toward other characters. Alongside Jake's self-loathing and feminine atrophy is Lady Brett Ashley, the central female antagonist with arguably some of the most "masculine" behavior. Specifically, Brett describes the “New Woman” in response to shell shock, or post-traumatic stress disorder, exemplifying and challenging shifting gender and sexual ideals. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Brett embodies the gray area between diverging patriarchal values ​​and rising feminism. She sleeps with men when she wants to, but hints that she will eventually want to fall in love and settle down. She is the only woman in a male group of expatriates and dominates the conversation with her bold personality and beauty. After a long night of drinking and wandering around Paris, she confides to Jake "Oh darling, I've been so miserable" (Hemingway 32). In a scene where it seems like Brett should be having fun, she admits to Jake that she's depressed, exposing her use of alcohol as a coping mechanism and giving a sense of emptiness that comes from wandering the cafes of Paris. Brett's partying and radically sexual activity serve solely as a distraction from his inner turmoil rather than as a means of having fun. This component of Brett displays patriarchal values, portraying her as if she were a "rebellious" woman, resulting from her apparent lack of values, promiscuous behavior, and drinking habits. Although Hemingway seems to condemn Brett for her behavior and the way she hurts Jake, he also admires her for her dominant presence and personality, perhaps because she contains a masculinity that is missing in him. Modernist literature seeks to investigate stereotypical male and female behavior, and Brett behaves like one of the most masculine characters in the novel. Her hair is cut short in a bob style and she often refers to herself and her friends as "boy", challenging the preset standards of femininity in the "New Woman" mold. Hemingway's most important allegory in The Sun Also Rises characterizes the bullfights in the San Sebastian bullring as paralleling the events of the characters themselves. In this way, Brett plays the character of the bullfighter, constantly manipulating and mocking the men he meets for sport. When men think that watching bullfights will be too violent for her, she surprises them by paying rapt attention and describes her passion for it: "Some pretty horrible things happen to them... I can't look away, though" ( Hemingway 170).Both fascinated by the concept of the bullfighter and the technique of Pedro Romero in particular, Brett is aware of the effect he has on people and his keen ability to manipulate men and keep them together., 2006.