rett refuses because she knows she will always need passion and sex from other men, which would only hurt Jake more. This makes Jake’s life painful. His inner struggle represents the wounded heart of the “lost generation.”

Love and Emotional Conflicts: The novel is full of broken love and emotional tension. Jake and Brett love each other, but cannot be together because of Jake’s wound. Brett moves from one man to another—from Mike to Cohn to Romero—but finds no real happiness. Every relationship ends in pain and confusion. Jake’s love is silent and pure, but he suffers quietly. The characters cannot run away from their inner pain. We understand this when Jake tells Cohn:

“You can’t get away from yourself by moving from one place to another.”

Conflict Between Old and New Values: After the war, old values like bravery, honor, and religion lost meaning. People started to live freely, without rules. Brett drinks, travels alone, and has relationships with many men. She breaks the traditional role of women. Jake and his friends also drink all day and wander from city to city. Yet, they still feel empty. Jake admits,

“Under the wine, I lost the disgusted feeling and was happy.”

This shows that drinking gives them short relief but no real peace. The conflict between old moral values and new freedom makes their lives unstable.

Social and Cultural Conflicts: The characters also face cultural conflicts. They live far from their home countries and do not belong anywhere. Robert Cohn, who is Jewish and did not fight in the war, feels isolated from others. The rest mock him for being soft and romantic. They travel and party, but cannot escape from their own inner emptiness. The clash between different people, beliefs, and emotions creates tension throughout the novel.

Conflict Between Hope and Reality: The title The Sun Also Rises suggests hope and renewal, but the story shows the opposite. The characters dream of happiness, but reality always defeats them. At the end, when Brett says she wishes she and Jake could be together, Jake answers,

“Yes, isn’t it pretty to think so?”

This line captures the final conflict—between dreams and truth. It shows how the lost generation keeps hoping even when they know their hopes will never come true.

In The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway shows many layers of conflict. Jake’s pain, Brett’s restlessness, Cohn’s rejection, and everyone’s search for peace reveal a generation broken by war. Their conflicts are not just about love or society; they are about finding meaning in a world that has lost it. Hemingway’s novel beautifully captures the sadness, confusion, and quiet courage of people who try to live even when life feels empty.