The, The Sun Also Rises, By Pablo Neruda - 1619 Words

The definition of love is truly unknown. The many emotions and forms associated with love make it a complicated thing to define. Many describe it as fleeting and all consuming, but the darker face of love lies just below the surface of simplicity. This seemingly innocent word brings out feelings of obsession, questioning of one’s self-worth, and jealousy. Can the light exist without the dark? In Pablo Neruda’s â€Å"Sonnet XVI†, his expressive language highlights the vital reliance of these two opposing forces in saying that it keeps the physical and emotional space between two people just wide enough to prevent the two forces from ever touching. On the same token, Ernest Hemingway’s, The Sun Also Rises, highlights the destructive consequences of trying to close this gap. The opposing contrasts coupled with the inability to close the widening gap between two individuals call attention to the dilemma spread out over time of the cyclical nature of why two pe ople can never fully know and understand each other. Pablo Neruda’s â€Å"Sonnet XVI† is a descriptive representation of how crucial each piece of love is, light or dark, for a functioning system. The light, or awareness, is evident in his description of his subject, assuming it is a woman, and her role in his life is juxtaposed to how humanity relies on pieces of the universe for survival. Neruda begins his sonnet by proclaiming he â€Å"love[s] the handful of the earth† she is (1). Of the entire earth, which can contain trillions of