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In Hemingway s The Sun Also Rises, each character is caught up in an elaborate social dynamic in which their manner of acting, or their style, dictates how they view and value one another. This proscribed right way of doing things shapes how Jake describes his friends, and in turn shapes the reader s view of the characters. Each character has specific attributes that either fall into the right or wrong category that help shape the reader s conception of the character. When Jake reflects on his past philosophies on life, musing, Perhaps as you went along you did learn something. I did not care what it was all about. All I wanted to know was how to live in it.
Maybe if you found out how to live in it you learned from that what it was all about, he can be speaking about style. One s style is how one lives in the world, and Jake is struggling to find out his own style. Jake is also always observing his friends and their behavior. By looking at these observations, the reader can be clued into what Jake considers style is both the right and wrong way of doing things. The character that perhaps exemplifies what Jake considers to be the right way of doing things is Pedro Romero, the bullfighter. Jake describes Romero in the best possible light, admiring his purity of line and straightforward attitude.
I had her watch how Romero took the bull away from the fallen horse with his cape, and how he held him with the cape and turned him, smoothly and suavely, never wasting the bull. She saw how Romero avoided every brusque movement and saved his bulls for the last when he wanted them, not winded and discomposed but smoothly worn down. She saw how close Romero always worked to the bull, and I pointed out to her the tricks the other bullfighters used to make it look as though they were working closely. She saw why she liked Romero s cape work and why she did not like the others.
Romero never made any contortions, always it was straight and pure and natural in line Romero s bullfighting gave real emotion, because he kept the absolute purity of line in his movements and always quietly and calmly let the horns pass him close each time. For Jake (and to Hemingway, as well), Romero exemplifies the right way of doing things. Romero s style is defined by his machismo, his bullheadedness, and his somber, restrained attitude. Romero is also very concerned with keeping up appearances that he is a true, classically influenced bullfighter. He is quite concerned about keeping the fact that he speaks English a secret, for an authentic bullfighter speaks only Spanish. The purity of line that Hemingway describes can be paralleled to Romero s dignified, reserved manner characteristic of Hemingway s ideal male heroes.
Jake admires Romero s style greatly, as does Brett. Romero may be seen as a sort of role model or style idol that Jake esteems. In all, Romero embodies the noble aspects of the male sportsman that Hemingway so treasured. Another character that is an example of right style is Bill.
The relationship Hemingway creates between Jake and Bill, although a platonic friendship, may be the most cohesive and lasting relationship in the novel. Out of the five expatriates, Jake and Bill seem to be the ones most in control of their lives. Compared to Brett, who floats from one boyfriend to the next, and Mike, who leeches off of his friends, Jake and Bill have their careers and lives relatively in shape. They also have a very good relationship based on their mutual knowledge of each other s style.
The pair understand each other completely, and this is why they get along so well. Their quips and barbs at each other are merely ways of showing their affection and knowledge of each other they know exactly which buttons to push. When Bill shares with Jake one of his secrets to success, he is actually communicating an important aspect of both of their styles, Never be daunted. Secret of my success. Never be daunted. Never been daunted in public.
By daunted, I take it that Bill means not loosing control while intoxicated, something Mike has problems with For Jake, Mike, among others, exemplifies the wrong way of doing things. Jake refers to Mike as a bad drunk, or a person who is often daunted. When Mike looses control with Robert Cohn several times while drunk, Jake and the others feel quite uncomfortable, even if they do take a perverse pleasure in seeing Robert destroyed. Mike s entire way of life, in fact, would be considered bad style: his drunkenness, his bankruptcy, and his consistent sponging from former friends and creditors definitely do not endear him to either Jake or the reader. Worst of all, even though he is engaged to Lady Ashley he is unable to keep her faithful to him. Obviously a result of his own shortcomings as a suitor, Brett s cheating at times seems to not bother Mike at all, but during his drunken tirades he blows up at her lover Robert.
Overall, Mike represents some of the worst qualities in a man and Jake recognizes this fact. In this manner Mike may symbolize the wrong way of doing things. In the case of Brett, who managed to captivate and seduce nearly everybody in the group of expatriates, Jake s conception of her style is mixed. Although Jake, Mike, and Cohn all expressed their love for her, Brett has many negative aspects to her personality which could be considered bad style. She, like Mike, is practically penniless yet she lives quite lavishly.
She is also somewhat profligate; traipsing off to San Sebastian with Robert Cohn while engaged to Mike, seducing Romero, and teasing Jake with amorous suggestions. However, Jake is not blind to Brett s shortcomings: Oh, Jake, Brett said, we could have had such a damned good time together. Yes, I said. Isn t it pretty to think so. Jake realizes that, although he is in love with her, Brett is too capricious for a long-lasting relationship to survive. Brett may embody the elusiveness of happiness in relationships the mixed bag that is love.
Perhaps the most negatively portrayed and least likable character in The Sun Also Rises, Robert Cohn personifies the wrong way of doing things. The first strike against Robert is the fact that he is Jewish something the other members of the group would not forgive or let him forget. Bill and Mike are constantly throwing slurs at Robert, both in his presence and behind his back. In this sense, Robert is the true pariah of the novel. While Jake seems like a loner at times, Robert is the one character who is truly alone by the end of the novel. An expatriate in two senses living in Europe and an outcast in his own group of friends, Robert is abandoned by each of the members of the group.
Mike and Bill resented his heritage, Jake despised his attitude and lust for Brett, and Brett simply grew bored with his pathetic attempts to win her heart. Robert s constant following of Brett and feigned boredom at even the most exciting events create a pathetic, contemptible character for the readers. It is interesting, however, that Hemingway chose to make the most pathetic and unpopular character an excellent boxer. Even though Jake s style may be more manly, Robert was still able to knock him out easily. Perhaps Hemingway is attempting to convey the strength gained from being an outcast the hardened outer shell that protects the bruised and battered psyche of Robert. In all, Jake defines his friends through their respective styles, good or bad.
When Jake reflects on style, thinking, Perhaps as you went along you do learn something, perhaps Jake is commenting on how he learns from his friends virtues and shortcomings.
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