You Can’t Always Get What You Want

Your Destiny Has Already Been Decided

In the book, The Sun Also Rises, the main character Jake struggles with the fact that he cannot be with the women he loves, Brett. No matter how hard Jake tries to keep Brett to himself, she ends up betraying him for the physical love of other men. While trying to court Brett, in an attempt for her to be his own, Jake often endures much sadness and pain that is detrimental to his health. This pain is so severe that it sometimes causes Jake to cry at night because of the depressed state Brett’s presence puts him in. Though, during the end of the book, Jake has an epiphany, while swimming in the sea, that allows him to escape the pain loving Brett causes him. Later, when the two meet up in a cab, Brett tells Jake that it would be great if the two could be together. Jake replies with stating, “Isn’t it pretty to think so?” (Hemingway 251), which is a celebratory moment for Jake, as well as the readers, because it shows us that Jake has finally escaped the grasp of Brett’s beauty, and ultimately is able to be happy.

Hemingway delivers a message to the readers explaining that, “You can’t always get what you want…”, but “you just might find you get what you need…”. These sayings also are, coincidentally, the lyrics to a famous song written by The Rolling Stones called You Can’t Always Get What You Want. In this song the musical sound begins as depressed and sad, just like Jake’s journey for love, with Brett, but then as the song continues its overall sound turns into a celebratory beat. This also relates to Jake’s journey because it represents the moment when he finally realized that he can be happy without Brett. Basically Jake, “[couldn’t] get what [he wanted]”, but “[he found that he got what he needed]”. Jake realized that it was healthier for him to separate himself from this unrealistic love he had for Brett.

Through comparing the two works of art, The Sun Also Rises and the song You Can’t Always Get What You Want, you can conclude that both main characters, whether in the song or the book, are hung up upon the fact that the girl they love is seeing another man. While reading, The Sun Also Rises, we see how this affects Jake in a negative way that causes him pain. This pain is best shown through the song, You Can’t Always Get What You Want, when the sad musical tone is first played, and the main character in the song, is reminiscing about how much he loves the girl. We can tell that both characters are in pain, but as the music speeds up and becomes more joyful it represents an epiphany celebrated by both characters because they have finally realized that, all along, they were better off and happier without the girl they supposedly loved.

Jake, and the main character from the song, are celebrated in the fact that they were able to escape the unrealistic world they were living in, where only their feelings for the woman they loved controlled them. Ultimately, the epiphany that self-happiness and self-sustainability is a real thing, saved the two characters from themselves and brought them back to the reality where they are able to live and thrive along their true path of life. This relates to reality in that our destinies are already written, it just depends on how long it takes you to figure out your life story, and true calling.

Works Cited:

1. “AZLyrics.” AZLyrics, 2000, www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/rollingstones/youcantalwaysgetwhatyouwant.html. Accessed 29 Mar. 2017.
2. Hemingway, Ernest, “The Sun Also Rises, 1926