They are always drunk and if they’re not, they’re waiting
for a beer.
That definess the whole sadness of the story.
All the characters have the same problems at the end
of the book. They drown their sorrows in alcohol.
What do you think? If we put our minds together,
maybe we can both pull an A out of this one!
“No man embraces her (LAdy Brett Ashley) without being, in some sense, castrated…and when she leaves the 19 year old bull fighter, one suspects she is really running away because she thinks he might make her a woman”
think, however, one of the most defining traits of a modern woman is the willingness to be “one of the guys.” Still, maybe Brett is only a woman with some modern traits – not fully a “modern woman.”
Hemingway ends his novel by describing a scene where Brett tells Jake “Don’t get drunk . . . You don’t have to.” After getting drunk throughout the whole novel, Brett accepts their lives and doesn’t feel the need to escape by drinking anymore. There was no perfect ending where the circumstances of their lives magically changed to a new life; they just learned to accept late and deal with things as they are. This subtly ends the novel with a different attitude, but with no real changes taking place in their situations.
Lady Brett is a 34-year-old Englishwoman who is beautiful and emotionally scarred. She had an innocent love affair when she was a volunteer nurse in the war, but ever since her young soldier died, she has drifted from one worthless man to another. Her husband, a British Lord from whom she is separated, gave her her title, but also made her sleep on the floor and more than once threatened her with a gun. Now she runs around Paris with a group of homosexuals. She is engaged to Michael Campbell, a drunk and bankrupt Scot, but she has numerous affairs. She also loves Jake Barnes, but because of his wound, they can’t make love; their relationship only frustrates them both. Like Jake, she is a hardboiled realist. Lady Brett represents everything that offends the prevalent sensibilities of her time. She smokes and drinks too much. She is in the process of a divorce, and is promiscuous. She has no religion and no strong moral beliefs. In short, she is irresponsible and neurotic. Brett is considered a goddess by the dancers at the Spanish fiesta. She is said to collect men, and indeed at one point all the principal men in the book–Jake, Robert Cohn, Mike, Bill, and Pedro Romero–are in love with her. One character calls her Circe, after the mythical woman who turns men to swine, and many readers see Brett as having an evil magic that emasculates men. Brett herself is mannish and tries to act like the men she associates with. She has very short hair and often refers to herself as “one of the chaps.” Sexual roles are confused in The Sun Also Rises–the hero is impotent and the heroine behaves like a man. This confusion represents the perversion and failure of love Hemingway saw in the postwar world. Brett is an example of an individual trying to cope in a world that has lost the unquestioned moral order of organized religion.
Name: Lady Brett Ashley
Gender: Female
Description:
Brett was “damned good looking.” She wore a slipover jersey sweater and a tweed skirt, and her hair was brushed back like a boy’s. She started all that. She was built with curves like the hull of a racing yacht, and you missed none of it with that wool jersey. (Hemingway 22)
Role: Idle socialite
Characteristics:
Motivation: Temptation;
Methodology: Probability;
Evaluation: Theory; Cause;
Purpose: Desire; Self Aware;
The objective characters fail to find meaning and fulfillment in their lives. This failure is particularly well depicted in the character of Lady Brett Ashley. She changes her amoral ways and begins to acquire a conscience, but her potential for peace and contentment will always remain unfulfilled:
It is unclear whether or not Jake’s insights and Brett’s final moral act give meaning to the lives of these exiles.
The catalyst of “instinct” is embodied in the character of Lady Brett Ashley. It is her acting on her sexual impulses, in particular with Robert Cohn and Pedro Romero, that accelerates the objective story.
Brett Ashley is a consummate manipulator of everyone–both men and women. Although she loves Jake, (as much as she is able to love anybody), she clearly manipulates him and uses him throughout the story. She plays upon his great love for her (which he allows) to gain sympathy, unconditional love, and emotional support.
Brett’s self image is very close to her state of being, whereas Jake’s perception of himself is different from his essential nature. This thematic counterpoint underscores the improbability of their relationship:
Hemingway shows war wounds as the destroyer of love: Jake pursues love without sex and Brett pursues sex without love. The author states:
So I ] tried to find out what his problems would be when he was in love with someone who was in love with him and there was nothing that they could do about it
(Meyers 190).
Thematic Conflict as it relates to Sense of Self vs. State of Being:
As an example of how the conflict between “sense of self” and “state of being” is explored in the subjective story, Jake’s self image is that of a flawed individual. Brett’s self image is one of a man destroyer. Jake’s state of being is that of a good, kind man who is always looking out for his friends. Brett’s state of being is actually quite close to her sense of self. Brett knows that Jake is a good and kind individual. She also knows that his physical flaw will always stand in the way of their potential happiness. Jake perceives Brett as one who is searching for something in her meaningless affairs, and he feels that if she would only settle down with him, she would find meaning. She, on the other hand, knowing herself so well, refuses to do so because she doesn’t want to hurt him.
Problem as it relates to Projection:
It is a problem for Jake and Brett that a future for their relationship is improbable:
“Don’t you [Brett] love me?”
“Love you? I simply turn all to jelly when you touch me.”
“Isn’t there anything we can do about it?”
She was sitting up now. My arm was around her and she was leaning back against me, and we were quite calm. . . .
“And there’s not a damn thing we could do,” I [Jake] said.
Solution as it relates to Speculation:
The love affair between Jake and Brett is a doomed one, however, they are able to diminish their conflict using “speculation:”
Could they have been happy? Jake says that it’s “pretty to think so,” knowing full well that sex would only have eased them into a beginning of God-knows-what. Brett suggests that sex would have been terribly good between them and would have served them well but Jake does not accept this conjecture. It’s only a game, this speculating, and it is, in a sense, comforting, but it has nothing to do with reality. (Carey 60)
Lady Brett Ashley’s THROUGHLINE:
Role:
Idle socialite
Description:
Brett was “damned good looking.” She wore a slipover jersey sweater and a tweed skirt, and her hair was brushed back like a boy’s. She started all that. She was built with curves like the hull of a racing yacht, and you missed none of it with that wool jersey. (Hemingway 22)
Throughline Synopsis:
Brett Ashley is an alcoholic nymphomaniac. She is admired and pursued by all kinds of men. She ruthlessly and systematically pursues those in whom she has a prurient and financial interest. She keeps retreating to Jake, who offers solace and non-judgmental support. She is bored and world weary and will do anything to distract herself from her senseless world: “I’ve always done just what I wanted” (Hemingway 184). She has a clarity of vision when it comes to her relationship with Jake–something he has yet to see. He is the only man she can’t and will not knowingly destroy, which actually lends her a certain kind of redemptive grace.
Don’t we pay for all the things we do, though?. . . When I think of the hell I put chaps through. I’m paying for it all now.
(Hemingway 26).
Backstory:
Brett Ashley’s “own true love” had died of dysentery during the war and she had then married the aristocratic Ashley. Mike Campbell gives Jake some insight into Brett’s marriage to Ashley:
“Ashley, chap she got the title from . . . ninth baronet . . . always made Brett sleep on the floor . . . when he got really bad, he used to tell her he’d kill her. Always slept with a loaded service revolver . . . She hasn’t had an absolutely happy life . . .”
(Hemingway 203)
While serving as a hospital volunteer during the war, Brett had met Jake, who was there recovering from war wounds. He has been irrevocably in love with her ever since. Brett is currently engaged to Mike Campbell while awaiting the finalization of her divorce from Ashley.
Domain as it relates to Mind:
Brett Ashley is unwavering in her determination to keep Jake at physical and emotional arm’s length. She will not ever change her mind about the state of their relationship, not even when Jake continually pleads with her. Although it seems to be very difficult for her, she stands fast against his emotional entreaties, knowing in her heart that she would surely destroy him if they did get together.
Concern as it relates to Memory:
Brett’s impact on men is such that they cannot forget her.
Range as it relates to Evidence:
Brett’s range illustrates the thematic impact of evidence, in that Brett’s reputation as a man-eater is substantiated throughout the story.
Counterpoint as it relates to Suspicion:
If a man is attracted to Brett, he puts aside any suspicions that she may destroy him.
Thematic Conflict as it relates to Evidence vs. Suspicion:
“What do you know about Lady Brett Ashley, Jake?”
“She’s a drunk,” I said. “She’s in love with Mike Campbell, and she’s going to marry him. He’s going to be rich as hell some day.”
“I [Robert Cohn] don’t believe she would marry anybody she didn’t love.”
“Well, I said.” “She’s done it twice.”
“I don’t believe it.”
“Well, I said, don’t ask me a lot of fool questions if you don’t like the answers.”
(Hemingway 38-39)
Problem as it relates to Projection:
Despite Brett’s love for Jake, and her numerous affairs, it is probable that she will marry Mike Campbell:
“You are a rotten dancer, Jake. Michael’s the best dancer I know”. . . . “I’m going to marry him,” Brett said. “Funny. I haven’t thought about him for a week.”
(Hemingway 62)
“I’m going back to Mike . . . he’s so damned nice and he’s so awful. He’s my sort of thing”
(Hemingway 243)
Solution as it relates to Speculation:
Brett does not employ “speculation” to satisfy her personal drive:
Pedro is not destroyed because Brett sends him away before she can do any damage. More than simple altruism is involved in her decision. Life with Pedro held the possibility of wholeness for her–as it held the possibility of dissipation for him. By sending him away rather than risk damaging him, she relinquishes her last chance for health and happiness.
Focus as it relates to Equity:
Brett’s focus on being fair to Jake by refusing to lead him on, creates problems for Jake, as he desperately wants a relationship with her.
Direction as it relates to Inequity:
The direction Brett takes, to remedy the difficulties created by her attempts at being fair to Jake, is to throw him off balance in hopes he will finally understand they cannot be together. One way she accomplishes this is by pressuring him to arrange an introduction with a man he knows she would like to take as a lover:
“I say, Jake,” Brett called from the next table. “You have deserted us.”
“Just temporarily,” I said. “We’re talking bulls.”
. . . “You might introduce your friends,” Brett said. She had not stopped looking at Pedro Romero.
(Hemingway 175)
Stipulation as it relates to The Conscious:
The more Jake sidesteps the unpleasant truth Brett is trying to show him, the closer Brett draws to the inevitable conclusion that they cannot be together.
Unique Ability as it relates to Truth:
Brett is truthful about herself and honest about her relationships with other men. Her honesty should compel Jake to face the fact that they will never be together, but he continues to ignore this.
Critical Flaw as it relates to Situation:
The situation of being financially dependent upon others, alcoholic, and promiscuous, undermines Brett’s efforts to lead a meaningful existence.
Brett Ashley recalls the way she has been treating men: “When I think of the hell I’ve put chaps through” (26). Referring to Jake’s war wound, she comments: “I laughed about it too, myself, once . . . It seemed like a hell of a joke” (26-7). Commenting on their previous frustrating attempt at a physical relationship, she tells Jake: “I don’t want to go through that hell again” (26). Brett says of the count: “He remembers everything that happened,” and adds: “Who’d want to?” (54)
Although Brett recalls with distaste the way she has been treating men, she continues to behave in the same manner towards them, following her basic overwhelming sexual drive.
Brett keeps dropping hints to Jake about San Sebastian. She wants him to ask with whom she went. She tells him that she was a fool to go away and that she didn’t have a “frightfully amusing” time. She says that she hardly saw anybody. “I never went out” (75).
Brett’s strong drives keep her impulsive nature going. Her immediate response to Pedro Romero is one of overwhelming desire over which she has no control. “I’m mad about the Romero boy. I can’t help it. I’ve never been able to help anything . . . I can’t stop things” (183).
Brett’s impulsive and instinctive response to Pedro Romero is: “Oh, isn’t he lovely, and those green trousers. . . . And God, what looks” (165,168). Her immediate response to the horses being gored by the bull is: “I couldn’t help looking at them . . .I couldn’t look away, though . . .I didn’t feel badly at all” (165).
Obstacle Character Journey 3 from The Preconscious to The Conscious:
Brett makes a conscious decision to change her impulsive, thoughtless ways. She demonstrates her newfound sensibility by physically leaving Romero, and emotionally leaving Jake: “I made him [Romero] go. He shouldn’t be living with anyone” (241). Although she always has treated Jake with consideration, her parting gift of “We could have had such a damned good time together” (241) is clearly meant to try and make him feel better.
Obstacle Character Signpost 4 as it relates to The Conscious:
Brett is fully aware of how she has treated men in the past. She is conscious of the fact that she might have ruined Romero, had she stayed. She knows she was really too old for him and that his compatriots heartily disapproved of her. Brett is aware that she would be less destructive by staying with Mike, since they are two of a kind. She also knows that Jake is drinking too much because of her, and assures him that he will be all right and survive.
Yet, he can still envision of future with Brett. Brett, who will always remain in her conquests’ memories, is trying to forget herself in drink and meaningless sex. In spite of this, she can clearly and accurately visualize the improbability of any future with Jake.
Jake Barnes is hopelessly in love with Lady Brett Ashley, but although she loves him as much as she’s able to, she makes it clear to him from the start that they can’t ever live together. She knows that with his permanent impotence and her boundless sexual needs she would only cuckold him continuously, which she knows would destroy him in the end. Jake is her trusted, non-judgmental confidant to whom she turns for comforting and validation after each brief fling. At one point, he even acts as a procurer when he introduces her to the bullfighter Romero, then adds to the complicity by pointedly leaving them alone. In the end, Brett concludes that she must stop hurting men with her thoughtless actions, and Jake finally, albeit reluctantly, acquiesces to the unhappy truth that they cannot ever live together.
The portrayal of Lady Brett Ashley as a drunk, flirtatious, desexed woman, who can be called an equivalent to a male philanderer signifies the lost values of that time. Her rudeness is ironical to her title of “Lady,” which gives her an air of honor and respect. The other main character is Robert Cohn, a Princeton graduate. From the beginning, Robert places his manhood on boxing or upon a woman’s love, never upon internal strength (Spilka 264). As a result of this adolescent behavior, he becomes attracted to Brett. Hemingway uses a satirical style to portray Robert as the last chivalric hero (Kotas 4). Robert holds a romantic view of life but is unable to defend the outworn faith love. His absurd willingness to endure public humiliation for Brett’s “unforthcoming affection,” reinforces the Lost Generation’s belief that love died in WWI (Kwan 3). Hemingway used the characters of Micheal Campbell and Bill Gorton to portray the group of exiles who had resigned their lives to expensive wine, apathy and cynical humor (Ramirez 3). Michael is Brett’s undisciplined, bankrupt fianc who becomes violent and boisterous upon drinking. The other representative of this group is Bill Gorton, an American writer who seeks refuge in drinking, while maintaining his self-discipline. The whole group meets in Pamplona to celebrate the fiesta. There is nothing but more partying at the bullfights and the seven day fiesta. While at Pamplona, the reader is introduced to Romero Pedro. Romero, the other code hero, is the young, handsome, energetic bullfighter, who is na ve and easily seduced by Brett. He realizes that it is nothing more than an affair and moves on, personifying the good life, which survives failure (Anderson 2). As the fiesta ends, Brett realizes she cannot achieve Jake’s companionship and thus is unable to retrieve her true identity of a woman. Similarities begin to appear in Jake’s and Robert’s characters as Jake fails to control his growing passion for Brett (Symons). Hemingway’s characters become heroes in the secondary world of his novels, inspiring the readers.