The Sun Also Rises Summary: Plot, Characters and Ending
The Sun Also Rises follows Jake Barnes, an American journalist in Paris, and a group of restless expatriate friends after the First World War. Jake loves Lady Brett Ashley, but a war wound keeps them apart, and a trip to the bullfights in Pamplona brings their jealousies to the surface.
Hemingway based the trip on his own visit to the Pamplona fiesta.
| Character | Who they are |
|---|---|
| Jake Barnes | American journalist and narrator |
| Lady Brett Ashley | Charming, restless Englishwoman Jake loves |
| Robert Cohn | Former boxer and writer, infatuated with Brett |
| Bill Gorton | Jake's witty friend |
| Mike Campbell | Brett's bankrupt Scottish fiancé |
| Pedro Romero | Young, gifted bullfighter |
What happens in Paris?
Jake drifts through cafes and nightclubs with fellow Americans and Britons. He and Brett love each other, but an injury from the war has left him unable to have a physical relationship, and Brett will not live without one. She is waiting to marry Mike Campbell. Robert Cohn, a former college boxing champion, has a brief affair with Brett and then follows her around, refusing to accept it is over.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens on the fishing trip?
Jake and Bill go fishing in the hills near Burguete, a few calm, happy days of drinking wine by cold streams. Then they join Brett, Mike and Cohn in Pamplona for the fiesta of San Fermín.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens in Pamplona?
The week is a blur of drinking, dancing and bullfights. Mike mocks Cohn for chasing Brett. Brett falls for the nineteen-year-old bullfighter Pedro Romero, and Jake, who loves the bullfights and is respected by the hotel owner for it, introduces them, betraying his own code. Furious, Cohn knocks out Jake and Mike and then beats Romero badly. Romero fights brilliantly in the ring the next day anyway. Brett leaves with him.
↑ Back to the topHow does The Sun Also Rises end?
After the fiesta the group scatters. Jake rests at San Sebastián until a telegram arrives from Brett in Madrid: she needs help. He finds her alone in a hotel. She has sent Romero away because she felt she would ruin him, and she says she will go back to Mike. In a taxi she says they could have been so happy together, and Jake answers gently that it is a nice thing to imagine, accepting it can never be.
↑ Back to the topMore about The Sun Also Rises
This summary reveals the whole plot, including the ending.