Throughout Ernest Hemingway's novel The Sun Also Rises, the reader can see the aimlessness of the characters involved. This is supposed to represent the unpredictable and lost nature of what was known as the "Lost Generation". The "lost generation" is known as the generation of individuals who came of age during World War I. Many relationships take place in the novel with a certain woman named Lady Brett Ashley and many male characters. Because of this many problems arise, which clearly shows the destructiveness of sex in this novel. Sex has a very profound effect on the decisions of men in this novel which leads to the destruction of relationships. The main relationship that takes place in this novel is between Brett and a man named Jake Barnes. Jake is a wounded soldier from World War I. His injury has left him impotent and is the potential reason for all of his relationship problems with Brett. They are deeply in love with each other but are unable to bond on an intimate level due to Jake's impotence. Because of this, Jake knows that Brett will never commit to him due to his desire for sex. Jake's helplessness is a barrier between him and the love of his life. This situation causes Jake to increase his drinking habits and question his own masculinity as he drinks away his pain. Because of Jake's impotence, Brett also engages in meaningless relationships with other men. While she won't commit to Jake, she won't give up her relationship with him either. However, she often brings other men around Jake and tells him about her relationships and before Jake can actually say anything about it or how he feels about it, she will digress from the topic. Brett knows she will never have a relationship with Jake while he... middle of paper... one together, but he also has the ability to turn them against each other and tear them apart. Her carefree attitude towards sex perplexes the male characters and causes pain to everyone in one way or another. For Jake, his helplessness and her desire for sex will always prevent them from consummating their relationship. For Cohn, what was meaningless sex for her has turned into feelings that will never be mutual. And as for Mike, he will never be completely happy with his wife due to the spontaneous and constant affairs she has with random men. Ultimately sex actually led to the destruction of relationships throughout the novel. Works Cited Hemingway, Ernest. The sun also rises. New York: Scribner, 1996. Print.Gandal, Keith. The Gun and the Pen: Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Faulkner and the Fiction of Mobilization. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008. Print.