Context of "The Sun Also Rises" in the post-WWI "lost generation" has led to my examinations toward a historical context. Perhaps that is why I view the novel in regards to what Bell writes about Modernism and history. One case that stuck to me is when Bill tries to explain history as all leading back to sex (Hemingway 121). This assertion can be seen as "an affirmation of values[...] a form of historical motivation" (Bell 15). Bill's own desire to wash away pains in his life with his fast Jazz-age lifestyle informs his view of history which, in turn, justifies his actions.
The very acts of escape that the characters take, their struggles in subtext, all adhere to the modernist idea of "recognition of the self-grounding character of the human world is the truest meaning of the modernist use of myth. Myth could be many things, including nostalgia for a lost unity, a fascistic regression [...]" (Bell 14). The novel explores the characters as all hiding in a new lifestyle separate from the pain of their former selves. It is an inward look at the characters underneath the subtext of their disguises. Not only do they create their own facades though, they live within the shadow of other disguises. The very novel opens with Jake Barnes describing Robert Cohen as a boxer. While he is quick to add "Do not think that I am very much impressed with that title" (Hemingway 11)it still creates an impression of Robert Cohen long before we even learn who the narrator is. This is, in part, by describing Cohen's own beginnings in the first few pages and building a narrative of him. While Jake does thoroughly describe what he knows, we are given a subjective look at Robert from Jake's eyes and are thus initiated from the start into the tangle of myth and subjective gossip amongst the wealthy expatriates.
I think I an relate to what Eric is saying here about the characters having their own subtext and being defined by certain historical contexts of that time period. In a sense, each character represents a different symbol for each historical feature. Bill numbing himself from pain by indulging in jazz, which is heavily saturated in sadness, depression and "feeling blue". The group as a whole enjoying massive amounts of booze to drain their sorrowful memories of the war and at the same time they take pleasure in watching bullfighting, admiring the matador as a hero even though the act itself is brutal and violent. These characters have subtext and are themselves "ice bergs".
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