The character Jake serves the symbol for the man who has been feminized by the war. His wound has rendered him impotent. He is no longer a man since he cannot perform the male sexual function. But Jake is not the only one, every man who came out of the war was changed, not in the same way necessarily, but in an equally demeaning manner. Their wound would be considered mental. The experiences of the war left them unable to fit the previous definition of "male." The horrific conditions of World War I warfare shattered the prewar notion of the brave soldier. The men became helpless and weak, and this did not conform the ideal of a tough and stoic soldier, who fights with courage to perform his duty for his country. Humility and fear forced them to re-evaluate themselves. Unfortunately, after the war, the world still expected the same from them, and this is where a struggle started. Jake's struggle is physical; he is expected to be able to provide sexual love for a woman. This disability challenges his relationships, particularly with the character Lady Brett. Brett refuses to establish a commitment to him because he cannot make love to her. Brett's definition of romance requires the act of penetration, and she is unwilling to settle for alternate forms of sexual pleasure. For Jake, it is impossible for him to be the same man he was before the war, and Brett's presence constantly reminds him of his impotence. Other characters also reinforce his anxiety. One scene sets them in a night club, where Brett confronts Jake, and mentions she can get "safely drunk" with the crowd she is with. "'It's a fine crowd you're with, Brett,' I said."..."'Yes. Aren't I? And when one's with the crowd I'm with, one can drink in such safety, too.'" (Hemingway, 30) From the reading, one can deduce that the crowd Brett is with is homosexual. Jake shows an intolerance, "I was very angry. Somehow they always made me angry." (Hemingway, 28) His anger is irrational, and thus demonstrates the stress over his masculinity; these men still have the sexual ability Jake hasn't, but they do not take advantage of it. Jake's anxiety shows that he has been unsuccessful in regards to redefining himself as a male. Although his struggle is the result of a physical wound, it is symbolic for all men who made a similar struggle mentally, with the loss of masculinity.
Hemingway refers to an anxiety over homosexuality, and masculinity in general, later in the book as well. This is when Jake and his friend Bill take a fishing trip together. Although Bill was not physically altered by the war like Jake, he retains the mental affects the war had on him. Bill constantly feels he must prove his masculinity to Jake. Although he loves Jake very much, he practically underlines the fact that he does not love him sexually. "Listen. You're a hell of a good guy, and I'm fonder of you than anybody on earth. I couldn't tell you that in New York. It'd mean I was a faggot." (Hemingway, 121) Bill's trouble over close male relationships probably stems from his war experiences; the feminizing influence on male bonds. The war defined homosexual relationships as devious, and even though two soldiers could share an intense emotional relationship, this could never extend to sex. Even after the war, Bill finds it important to affirm the nonsexual nature of his relationships. Bill's joke about being called a faggot can be read as one such affirmation. Although he considers Jake his best friend, he finds it necessary to make it clear he does not love him sexually. To Jake, this is probably obvious, and Bill's joke seems unnecessary. He even extends the joke to say that the Civil War was all about homosexuality. "That was what the Civil War was all about. Abraham Lincoln was a faggot. He was in love with General Grant. So was Jefferson Davis. Lincoln just freed the slaves on a bet." (Hemingway, 121) Bill jokingly explains that the Civil War was a result of repressed homosexual tension, and reveals his own hidden anxiety towards it. Perhaps Bill unconsciously meant to refer to World War I, replacing it with the Civil War. Regardless, this brief conversation manifests the notion that World War I created; that homosexuality is deviant. This belief created an anxiety in it's soldiers that resulted in a false need to prove their heterosexuality.
While Bill feels like he must prove himself, Jake must try even harder. These are just two men who's masculinity was affected by World War I. In some ways, these men feel like they must try very hard to live up to the image that has been sprung against them. In other ways, they feel like they have been changed forever, and it is now impossible to live up to this image. The result was a redefinition of manhood. A coming to terms with certain unchanging aspects of oneself, such as Jake's impotence (the symbol of feminineness) had to be made. However, certain notions, such as the deviant nature of homosexuality, still made the men question themselves. The culture around them reinforced these sensitivities, and however far the men had come, still made them feel abandoned and inadequate. After these men had faced themselves, they still had to face society at large. A damaged masculinity was just one of the characteristics of the Lost Generation that caused a separation between them, and the rest of the world.
