Unlike many of the books published before the 1920s, in Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises there is a distinct lack of the stereotypical nineteenth-century hero figure. In looking for such a hero, the reader expects one character to stand out as the champion of a moral truth or of a standard above mere human existence. Though all of the main characters exhibit the characteristics of a classic noble protagonist at one time or another throughout the narrative, limitations prevent each from exhibiting the consistency innate in the classic hero figure. There isn't one character that stands out enough, or for any significant period of time, to merit the label of "a hero."
             Hemingway gives each character a chance at being the champion of the story, but never allows that dream to be realized. By examining each of the four main characters individually, it will become apparent how Hemingway structured the novel so that the hope for a single hero is ever-present, but the reality of such an individual actually existing is an unfortunate impossibility given the personality flaws present in each.
             When one speaks of unfortunate impossibilities in this novel, it is Jake's war injury that most often comes to mind first. It is appropriate, though, that this is the case, because in Jake, we find the character most often given the chance at being the hero. Hemingway evokes immediate compassion for Jake at the suggestion of Jake's sexually incapacitating war wound. By appealing to the male reader's sense of machismo (and subsequent fear of sexual inadequacy) and the female reader's sense of sympathy, Jake's plight is given a tragic, but character enhancing, perspective. He can be immediately seen as brave and strong for living a "normal life" despite his serious misfortune. His association with Brett further reinforces this image. Despite his injury, he is able maintain a relationship with a woman who, as Hemingway goes to great lengths to show, loves hi...