Brett's someone who's expressive about her feelings. When she's miserable or needs help, she lets Jake know. Jake on the other hand, as we've said in class, controls his feelings and presents a sorta "stoic" image. Even when we're seeing everything from Jake's perspective, he doesn't really let us in on his feelings. There's not a whole lot of introspection or internal dialogue, and that makes it difficult to tell what he's actually thinking or feeling. I suppose that's a part of Hemingway's iceberg theory, and thus partly a stylistic choice. Still, it makes me wonder if Brett and Jake are compatible if they keep living like this.
What exactly is this? We talked a lot in class about Brett and Jake's relationship, and how it always seems like Jake is the one giving, and that Brett doesn't really seem to give anything back. Because of Jake's injury, they can't have a fulfilling sexual relationship, and thus Brett needs to be with other men (at least for that aspect of a relationship). What can you do in a relationship without sex? Communicate and provide each other with companionship, right? But if Jake's so closed off about his emotions, and Brett relies on him so much for hers, is this relationship really going to be sustainable? If they can't communicate with each other properly--take the example of Brett not telling Jake about Cohn--then how can they work in an already difficult (ie. sexless) situation? How can you continue to love someone you can't share things with and don't know well?
As one panel presentation group proposed, many of the characters in The Sun Also Rises seem to drink in order to escape their problems and the reality of things. At the end of the novel, Brett keeps telling Jake that he doesn't have to drink. But he doesn't listen, providing another example of when he drinks away his sorrows (if I can put it like that). It's especially destructive, since he doesn't seem to be willing to tell Brett how he actually feels. Alcohol seems to be one of his only solaces. Even with Brett, who's presented as "tight" all so very often, has someone (Jake) she can confide in (for most things at least). Is this end the beginning of Jake realizing that he's not getting (or can't get) what he wants (or needs) out of this relationship?
From your blog post, I couldn't help but to imagine what they would be like together if they were actually married. I would imagine Jake to be really closed-off about his personal emotions (as you mentioned). Also, I feel like he would be obsessive over every single thing that Brett does in her life. Jake would probably live in constant fear of losing Brett to someone else that can satisfy her sexual needs. In terms of Brett, she would probably feel trapped. She's been living such a free lifestyle, but suddenly she is trapped in the "bondage" of marriage. She probably craves sex and the only reason she continues their marriage because she feels very comfortable around Jake. In my opinion, this marriage would be a disaster waiting to happen. Thus, I agree with your point that this relationship will not provide Jake with what he needs and also will not be fulfilling to Brett. From the beginning, it really wasn't meant to be.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting interpretation, and I would like to argue with it slightly. If Brett is emotionally dependent on Jake, which she seems to be, and Jake is good at keeping his deep emotions out of the air-space, then I would think that they would work well together, with Brett feeding Jake all her problems, and Jake helping her to deal with them, while Jake is capable of dealing with his own problems. In terms of drinking, as much as Jake depends on it, for all the drinking he does, at least he can hold his booze better than Mike.
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point about Brett's relative expressiveness, in contrast to Jake's generally taciturn demeanor. She seems much more eager than him to "talk about it," and as the novel progresses, we can glean a kind of ethos of tight-lipped, stoical silence in Jake. He is in pain, but he keeps that pain tamped down during the "daytime"--he mostly listens and observes when he's out with friends, and doesn't talk about himself or his feelings at all.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the novel, we might see Brett as moving a bit closer to the Jake approach to these emotional conflicts: she too says she "doesn't want to talk about it" and "talking's all bilge" (although she does then proceed to "talk about it" in a lot more detail than Jake ever does). Hemingway seems to present the very unfashionable idea that talking about feelings gets us nowhere, and that it's better to deal with them in solitude, with stoical strength and acceptance. Do we admire this quality in Jake, or does he seem emotionally repressed and uptight? Do we *want* him to "talk about it" more?