Yes, That Is a Roll of Bills in My Pocket: The Economy of Masculinity in The Sun Also Rises

This essay considers the idea of masculinity in The Sun Also Rises with regard to economic changes at the beginning of the twentieth century. Reading the novel against the shift, in the 1920s, from a U.S. economy based on production to one based on consumption, we reach the notion of modern American masculinity advanced by Sun. Jake Barnes, whom critics have shown to perform the functions of a Hemingway hero, articulates a form of sexual agency via his economic practices. The way Jake earns and spends his money affords him an empowering American consumerism.