5 Universal Themes in the novel

• Prejudice: "No money, Jake. All we could get was nigger's clothes,"(Hemingway 77). Hemingway in his novel uses a blunt vocabulary when describing the prejudice issues occurring during this time period around the world. Hemingway utilizes words such as "nigger" to directly receive an emotion out of his readers. With using these negative and cruel words, Hemingway creates an emotion from the reader that better aides the reader in discovering the prejudice in his novel. This theme relates to Spain in that not just America has been faced with racial or sexism prejudices. It describes the realism of Spain and that the country and its people also have problems.
• Religion:"I was a little ashamed, and regretted that I was such a rotten Catholic, but realized there was nothing I could do about it, at least for a while, and maybe never, but that anyways it was a grand religion,and I only wished I felt religious and maybe I would the next time,"(Hemingway). Another common Universal theme in "The Sun Also Rises" novel is religion. A manifold of times, Hemingway uses his characters as representatives of a particular religion. The most discussed and practiced religions in the novel are mainly Catholicism, some references to Judaism, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. With how Hemingway utilizes religions(mainly the Catholic religion) it identifies the geography and historical significance of Spain. During the Dark Ages, between 1200 BC and 800 BC the Byzantine Empire that took over a majority of Western Europe spread the Catholicism religion. They were active converts and as a result a majority of the population in Western Europe converted to Catholicism. Historically, the monarchy of Spain were also Catholic. The monarchy's influence over its citizens highly encouraged them to be Catholic. Ultimately, the impact of Catholicism on Spain helped the world identify Spain as a religious entity. By Hemingway making a majority of his characters Catholic this helps the reader identify the region of Spain and its historical and religious background.
• Friendship: "I rather liked him..."(Hemingway 15).Throughout Hemingway's novel all of his characters have created friendly bonds with each other. These bonds of friendship a reader can easily identify with when reading "The Sun Also Rises." This easily recognizable universal theme can been seen all around the globe, as well as here in the novel set in Spain. Friendship is a theme of life everyone can relate to. Hemingway creates friendships through his characters in how they relate and act towards each other. The theme of friendship in the novel I think helps the reader relate better to the characters, the characters' struggles, and where the characters are coming from.
• Insecurity:"Listen, Robert. going to another country doesn't make any difference. I've tried all that. You can't get away from yourself by moving from one place to another. There's nothing to that,"(Hemingway 19). The familiar feeling of insecurity is common amongst everyone. In this novel, several times you can see through a character's actions or appeal that they have a sense of self doubt and insecurity. Hemingway, in this quote portrays the notion that running away from your problems(in this case by traveling to a totally new country) will solve everything. However, the feeling of being insecure is still left imprinted on your heart. This universal theme i believe is expressed throughout the book with the women problems that continuously arise.
• Jealousy:"I was blind, unforgivingly jealous of what had happened to him. The fact that I took it as a matter of course did not alter that any. I certainly did hate him,"(Hemingway 105). Jealousy, another regular theme in this novel is used for the reader to be able to relate to the characters and their emotions. Hemingway doesn't not necessarily use this theme to particularly describe Spain, but it just assists him in having the audience make connections with the characters and what they are experiencing in Spain.