Life Unworthy of Life?: Masculinity, Disability, and Guilt in The Sun Also Rises

This essay re-evaluates the character of Jake Barnes from a disability studies perspective. Previous interpretations that treat Barnes's trauma realistically still tend to reinforce traditional stereotypes about disabled men, including the notion that Jake may "turn" gay because of his injury. However, the text suggests Hemingway's awareness that cultural narratives make disability more than a personal problem; one of the biggest obstacles to Jake's rehabilitation is a "medical model" of disability that pathologizes any impairment and compels disabled people to continually "prove" they are "normal."