Martin's Blog

Right from the start of The Sun also Rises, we are introduced to Jake's "alpha male" attitude. He makes fun of Cohn for being a loser and is extremely upset at the sight of Brett hanging out with a group of gay guys. However, we also come to learn about his vulnerability, losing probably one of the most defining members of his masculinity. We see him cry at night, while also informing us that it's not a rare sight to see. We see him downing drink after drink trying to refrain from thinking about being with Brett. So what can we make out of all of this? For me, Jake is going through a very common human instinct of attacking others because of one's own insecurities. After losing such a large factor in what identifies him as a man, he feels the need to compensate by being an asshole. The only reason why Jake doesn't look that terrible is because a good portion of the other characters in this novel could be considered assholes too based on personal opinion. I fe...

We dedicated a lot of time in class on the topic of Septimus's relationship with Evans and whether or not it's homosexual. I don't completely discard the possibility of Septimus being homosexual as we have already seen an example in Clarissa and Sally, in addition to the similarities Woolf draws between Clarissa and Septimus's suicide near the end of the book. However, I don't think that the stressful situations in the trenches during the war should be used as a primary piece of evidence for this argument of Septimus being gay, perhaps a little side note if used at all. For me, I just can't see it any other way. During rough times like a war, emotions are most likely running rampant, people don't know what to do, people start to panic. It seems clear as day to me that Septimus was in this position and was looking for someone to guide him. It's only natural, we all do it as well. When we have no clue what's going on or don't know what to do, ...