Skip to main content

The Sun Also Rises: Brett and Jake

    The Sun Also Rises takes us on the journey of Brett’s adventures and life- particularly her love life. Perhaps out of all the men Brett has been with, Jake is the most notable, her relationship with him is different than those of the other men. The other’s seem to be mere hookups, other than her fiance which she doesn’t even seem to have that much of an emotional attachment to. From the first scene Brett and Jake are introduced together, we can clearly tell something is up. The taxi cab scene tells us a lot about both Jake and Brett as people but also their relationship to each other. For example, we are able to pick up on the fact that Brett is one of the only people that knows about Jake’s injury because of how they met in the war. Not only this but the scene unveils that Brett and Jake had a past that didn’t work out, and it seems as though it won’t work out in the future. The two of them want to be together but know it won’t work because it didn’t in the past. 

    The taxi scene is almost entirely paralleled at the end of the book but rather than the longing and hope we feel in the beginning, we are met with acceptance and closure to an extent. The book ends with Brett stating they would’ve been great together, and Jake replying isn’t it pretty to think so. This all happens as Jake once again comes to Brett’s rescue in her time of need and she is resting comfortably on his shoulder. Again, even during this scene that is met with acceptance, it’s still clear that there is something between them. But throughout the book it is easier to tell that it doesn’t really resemble love in its healthiest form. Because of how Jake and Brett met (under the tensions of the war), they formed a bond that way, and their relationship resembles a sort of trauma bond. They will never really be able to leave each other’s lives because there is a sense of comfort, knowingness, and familiarity. Brett knows about Jake’s injury and he can let his guard down around her, and Brett finds some sort of comfort in Jake. Although we may have not gotten the ending we were wanting and there are many questions still left unanswered for us, the two care about each other and did find their version of closure in the end.  

Comments

  1. WilliamNovember 15, 2022 at 1:03 PM

    Nice job of dissecting these two fascinating scenes, Lili. To me, the first taxi ride is dramatic, a little comical, and very entertaining. It feels like it came straight out of a movie or something. The way the first rendition of the taxi ride impacts the reader makes the later rendition so much more touching and memorable.

    ReplyDelete
  2. MitchellNovember 21, 2022 at 12:56 PM

    One way to look at Jake's take on all of this is that he doesn't really blame *Brett* for their tragic circumstances: they cannot be together in any conventional sexual or romantic sense, but that's because of his injury, and the war, and life's tragic unfairness. So when he experiences this emotional (and physical) torment by being around her, he doesn't resent *her* for making him feel this way--it's another unwelcome reminder of his limitations, of his wound, of his trauma, and we know he'd rather not think or talk about it.

    We're inclined to feel like Brett is being callous or unkind to Jake, but we need to remind ourselves that she has made no vow of celibacy to him, and she doesn't owe him any sexual fidelity. They have an "understanding," and Jake is even okay with taking on the role of "wingman," as so many in class observed. His stoicism generally dictates that he must try to endure this suffering without complaint, and to meet his obligations to Brett regardless of how he feels about it. When he's alone, and even when he's alone with Brett, he isn't able to maintain this stoicism--it HURTS to be around her! But he's able to master those feelings, tamp them down, and get on with life. Maybe we see more of that stoicism and acceptance in the final scene, where he doesn't seem nearly as upset about Romero as he had earlier about Cohn.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Invisible Man: puppet on a string

Throughout Invisible Man,  Ellison hides many metaphors that relate to the narrators life. From the reoccurring theme of running to the coin bank at Marry's, but one particularly interesting one was the doll that pops up before the climax of the book. He stumbles upon Clifton (who he doesn't notice till later) advertising and selling racist puppet dolls. Like everyone else, the narrator finds himself sucked into the doll fascinated with how it moves, he doesn't even realize Clifton is the one selling the dolls nor does he get upset that they're racist dolls. The police eventually come and everyone runs away and the narrator grabs a doll off the ground later putting it into his brief case (another reoccurring metaphor). Upon picking it up he finally realizes how the doll was able to move, it had tiny black strings which Clifton were using to move it in such a way.  This scene essentially creates a puppet on a string metaphor. In many ways, the Narrator is the puppet on t...
11 comments
Read more

The Stranger: The Sun

  The Stranger takes us through the simple yet confusing life of the main character Meursault. The book begins with the death of his mother in which he reacts quite oddly- barely at all. In fact during the funeral his internal thoughts resemble that of a childs, he’s bored and annoyed at the crying people. He also complains about the heat beating down on him, which is easily overlooked compared to the way he is reacting to the whole situation. However, if we pay close attention, Meursault complaining about the heat comes up at important times. Throughout the whole book, I think we can all agree how frustrated we were with the way Meursault has absolutely no care and doesn’t seem to react or have emotional attachment to anything. He endures the death of his mom, kills a man, goes through a long and confusing trial, and is sentenced to death for it. All of these events are quite significant and are bound to invoke a reaction in the average person. However, Meursault doesn’t seem to...
9 comments
Read more

Ragtime: Ending

The ending of the novel was quite unlike the way the rest of the book flowed. There were multiple complex stories and characters coming together to form one narrative. Along the way we got to see mother and her character development, along with fathers lack of it. We saw Houdini navigate his inner struggles and even finding his worth in some way as he continues to preform. We saw Coalhouse Walker and Sarah and their impact on the family and the world. We followed Mother's Younger Brother who's narrative seems to always be driven by other people, much like his name suggests. The book was relatively slow paced for the most part until the ending. The book took a deep inside look into all the characters and showed us how each reacts differently to the same situation. Such as how each family member reacted in a different way to Walker entering the home and coming into their lives. And even how he impacted them after.  The very end of the book seemed very rushed and vague. Almost li...
10 comments
Read more