12. Comparison

Like The Sun Also Rises, Bowker finds himself lost after the war just like Jake and his friends. Jake and his group wander from bar to bar while Bowker aimlessly drives around the lake. Each set finds their life revolving in a circle, with no resting point to find their place. O’Brien states that he found relief through writing and is an evident character in this story. Hemingway was also a war veteran and presents some of himself through Jake in his novel. Yet, like Bowker, Hemingway eventually committed suicide (wikipedia). So what is the difference? O’Brien was able to accept change, adapt to his post war world, and find relief in his writing. Was alcohol the effect on Hemingway? His novel does not end with his characters finding a purpose, so maybe he never found his purpose either. It just simply amazes me how two situations, from two different time frames can be so similar, but one finds his catharsis, and the other, not so much. What is the adage? Something about time is surely to repeat itself…