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Ernest Hemingway, the second of six children, was born July 21, 1899, in Oak Park Illinois. His parents, Grace Hall Hemingway, a failed singer, and Clarence Hemingway, a doctor, had a troubled marriage. Smart and stubborn, Grace would not conform to the typical role of wife: cooking and cleaning. She liked to fish and hunt, which were uncommon hobbies for a woman. When Clarence Hemingway killed himself in 1928, Ernest blamed his mother.
Alienated from his family, Hemingway left home and in 1917 started writing as a reporter for The Kansas City Star. He was not able to enlist in World War I due to poor sight in one eye, so he became an ambulance driver instead. On one of his first drives to the front lines, Hemingway was injured by enemy fire. After initial surgery he was removed to an Italian hospital, where he fell in love with a nurse, Agnes von Kurowsky. He asked her to marry him, but after he returned to America, she wrote him to say there was another man. The outline of this love story appears in Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms (1929).
After the war Hemingway tried to spend time with his family, but they did not get along. So he left again in 1920 to become a foreign correspondent for the Toronto Star. In 1921 he married Hadley Richardson, and they moved to Paris. Hemingway had met author Sherwood Anderson in Chicago, and Anderson gave Hemingway a letter of introduction to the literary crowd in Paris that included Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Ezra Pound. In 1923 Hemingway published Three Stories and Ten Poems, and in 1925 his story collection, In Our Time was released. Hemingway gained popular and critical success with The Sun Also Rises, published in 1926. His story of wandering and detached expatriates made him the representative for "the lost generation," which Gertrude Stein refers to in the epigraph.
Hemingway eventually married four times. Divorcing Hadley in 1927, he married Pauline Pfeiffer later that year. Another successful novel, A Farewell to Arms, was published two years later, in 1929. Hemingway traveled widely, and lived in Paris, Spain, and Key West, Florida. He split much of his later years between an Idaho ranch, and his home in Cuba, until Fidel Castro overthrewthe government there. Hemingway loved to fish and hunt, going after sailfish in Key West, and hunting big game during his trips to Africa. He continued as a foreign correspondent, covering the Spanish Civil War, which became the basis for his classic novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls (1939).
An alcoholic, Hemingway could be vicious in his opinions, and did not always treat his friends well. He took up boxing in his youth, and he liked to challenge friends to fight and then knock them down. He also used his personal and literary life as fertile ground for his stories and novels. Even his mother received poor treatment as a character in one of his stories. The entire cast of characters of The Sun Also Rises is based on people Hemingway knew. Even though he changed their names, people of the time still understood the references, and Hemingway angered many people with this practice.
Hemingway won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 for The Old Man and the Sea, his most popular work. He also won the Nobel Prize the following year. Honored for his spare, precise writing style and excellent dialogue, Hemingway greatly influenced the short story and novel forms. His genius was recognized during his life, and his work has become immortal.
Aging, alcoholic, and feeling stuck in a career slump after The Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway killed himself in 1961 at his Idaho home.
deKoster, Katie, ed. "Ernest Hemingway: A Biography" in Readings on Ernest Hemingway. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1997.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises. New York: Collier Books, 1986.
Mellow, James R. Hemingway: A Life Without Consequences. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1992.
Rovit, Earl, and Gerry Brenner. Ernest Hemingway. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1986.
Robert Cohn, shy and insecure, is plagued by feelings of inferiority because he is Jewish. He starts boxing to feel better about himself. He marries the first girl he dates after college. Though unhappy with her, it is a great blow to his ego when she leaves him. He moves out to California and meets a new woman. They travel to Europe, where he writes a novel. After he goes to America to get it published, he loses his shyness but becomes mean and egotistic. Undirected, he tries to get his friend Jake Barnes to go to South America with him. But Jake is not interested.
Jake meets a girl at a café, and he brings her with him to the Bal, a dance club. At the dance club he runs into Brett, the love of his life. During World War I Jake was injured and is now impotent; Brett loves sex, and she cannot give it up, even to be with a man she loves. Cohn is there and can barely take his eyes off Brett, but she and Jake leave the club together.
They ride around Paris and talk about why they can't be together. They kiss, but cannot go beyond that. Jake goes home alone and thinks about things and cries. He falls asleep, only to be awakened by the sound of an argument downstairs. It is Brett, drunk. She comes up, but soon leaves. She makes a date with Jake for tomorrow, but another man, a count, is waiting for her now.
The next day Cohn comes by and he and Jake go out for lunch. Cohn asks Jake about Brett, and Jake tells him she's engaged. Cohn thinks he's in love with her. Cohn gets mad when Jake, annoyed by Cohn's questions, tells him to go to hell.
Brett doesn't show up to meet Jake. Jake runs into his friend Harvey Stone, a broke gambler. When Cohn comes by he and Stone nearly have a fight. Cohn, who has writer's block, is not happy. He doesn't want to marry his girl, Frances, and she is not very happy about this. She humiliates Cohn in public, and he takes it all in silence.
Brett and the count come to Jake's that night for drinks. Brett and Jake talk more about how they love each other. For his sake, she says, she's going away to San Sebastian for awhile. The three go out to a club and Jake and Brett dance together.
Jake's friend Bill Gorton arrives, and the two get ready for their trip to Spain. When they go out they see Brett at a café. She is with Mike Campbell, her fiancé. Mike is hanging all over Brett, and he manages to invite himself and Brett onto Jake's trip to Spain.
Brett asks if Cohn will be on the trip. She was with him in San Sebastian. Jake is jealous and angry, mostly with Cohn. Despite the awkwardness, Cohn still wants to come on the trip. Bill and Jake will meet Cohn in Bayonne, then travel to Pamplona to meet the rest of the group.
Cohn arrives, and the three of them rent a car and head for Pamplona. Brett and Mike are supposed to arrive that night, but do not. They have stayed over in San Sebastian, and Cohn, uninvited, goes to see them. Jake and Bill continue on to Burguete, and spend a few days fishing. It is very pleasant, and they make a new friend. They receive a note from Mike, who will be in Pamplona that day. Bill and Jake leave for Pamplona.
Jake and Bill find Mike, Brett, and Cohn at a café. Mike and Brett seem annoyed with Cohn. Mike is especially angry with Cohn, who followed Brett all around San Sebastian. He and Cohn almost have a fight.
The fiesta starts. It is a week of drinking and partying, with bull-fights every day. The group drinks and parties all night. Jake meets Pedro Romero, one of the bull-fighters. In the ring, Romero is wonderful. Brett becomes infatuated with the attractive young bull-fighter.
One day during the festival it rains, so there are no bull-fights. Jake and his friends have a drink with Romero. Brett talks to Romero, and Mike is very obnoxious. Mike and Cohn almost have another fight. Jake and Brett go for a walk, and Brett confesses she's in love with Romero. Jake finds Romero, and arranges it so Romero and Brett can go off together.
Cohn finds Jake, and demands to know where Brett is. He calls Jake a pimp, then he beats him up. Jake goes back to the hotel, and Bill tells him to go see Cohn. Cohn is crying, and begs Jake for forgiveness. Jake reluctantly forgives him. Cohn plans to leave in the morning.
Jake learns that Cohn beat up Romero last night. Romero demanded Cohn leave in the morning. Brett now spends all her time with Romero, who was badly hurt in the fight. Romero still fights in the last bull-fight. His first bull has bad sight, but the second one is healthy and Romero shines. He is much better than the other two fighters. That night, Brett leaves with Romero. She does not say good-bye to Jake.
The festival is over and Jake heads north with Bill and Mike. They then go their separate ways, Jake travelling alone to San Sebastian, where he swims, reads, and relaxes after the stressful time in Pamplona. He is only there a few days when he receives a telegram from Brett, who is in Madrid. She needs his help. Jake, ashamed of himself, cuts his trip short and heads for Madrid.
Jake finds Brett broke in a fleabag hotel. She tells him that she made Romero go, because she didn't want to hurt him. Brett knew she wasn't good for Romero, so she sent him away.
Brett and Jake leave the hotel. Romero had paid the bill. They drink a little, then take a ride around Madrid. They talk again about their frustrated romance.
Robert Cohn : Jake Barnes friend, Robert is Jewish, and he experienced anti-Semitism at Princeton. To counteract his insecurity, Cohn took up boxing, earning Princeton's middleweight title. He is nice but shy, and angry about his shyness. He is easily led by the women in his life. He marries the first woman he dates after college, and lives reasonably well with her. He thought about leaving her, but was afraid she would not be able to handle it, when she left him. On the rebound he went to California and helped fund a review of the Arts. He liked the power and respect it gave him more than he liked the arts. While there he met Frances, whom he began dating. Wrapped around her little finger, he agreed to take them to Europe. And when Frances started to suggest they get married, Cohn seemed to go along with that too. All this changed after Cohn wrote a novel and traveled to New York. His ego was inflated, and he became mean. He especially did not like when people told him to go to hell, and he occasionally threatened violence. He also realized that Frances was probably not the best he could do. So he decided to play the field, sending Frances away and going on a trip with Lady Brett Ashley. His friend Jake, still in love with Brett, could not forgive him for this. A hopeless romantic, Cohn foolishly tries to keep Brett, who wants nothing more to do with him; he follows her around and annoys everyone. This makes Jake even more angry, and when Jake sets up Brett with bull-fighter Pedro Romero, Cohn beats up his friend. A strong boxer, Cohn also beats up Pedro Romero, who warns him to leave town. Treated as an outsider, hated and taunted, especially by Mike Campbell, Brett's fiancé, nobody is sorry to see him go. He considers Jake his best friend, but he hurts him terribly by sleeping with Brett, and is very selfish and insensitive.
Jake Barnes: The narrator of the story, Barnes served in World War I and was injured while fighting in Italy. This injury left him impotent, which becomes his curse and a major theme of the novel. He loves Brett, and she loves him, but she loves sex more. Since Jake cannot have sex, their relationship is doomed. Jake must sit back and watch her have affairs with Mike, Cohn, and Pedro. Unable to act himself, he will often help her, as when he sets her up with Pedro Romero. As a means of coping, he tries to be detached, focusing on the monetary value and the utility of things. Jake takes a trip to Spain every summer, fishing and then going to Pamplona for the festival. This year, his friends spoil his trip. Fishing with Bill is fun, but once they join everyone in Pamplona, the trip becomes a disaster. Jake loves bull-fighting, and his passion for the sport is greatly respected. But his friends' bad behavior, especially Brett's fling with Pedro, is so devastating that those who once respected him will no longer speak to him. Jake loses this comfort, and also his self-respect as he continually comes to Brett's aid.
Lady Brett Ashley: Jake's love, Mike's fiancée, Cohn's lover, and then Romero's lover. Still married, but with a pending divorce, to a member of the British aristocracy, Brett drinks a lot and is addicted to sex. She loves Jake, but she cannot be with him, because he cannot have sex. Wanting what she cannot have, Brett professes her love for Jake while her many affairs continue. She is very attractive, but it is her behavior and her unfeminine dress that make her stand out. Cohn compares her to Circe, the sorceress in the Odyssey who turned men into swine. She is selfish, expecting a lot from all her men. Her one unselfish act is when she sends Romero away in Madrid. Brett has once married a man she didn't love, and is poised to do that again. She is inconsiderate to those who love her, and turns away from the men she loves. She is afraid of love, spending more time with people she cares little for, as when she ran off with Cohn, leaving Jake alone in Paris.
Mike Campbell: Brett's fiancé, Mike is always in debt. He drinks a lot and has no job. He is on an allowance, waiting for his inheritance. He also fought in the war, but not in the serious way Jake did. Mike does not take the war seriously, giving away war medals that do not even belong to him. Though he is friendly and a lot of fun, he can also be cruel. He hates Cohn-his Jewishnes and his love-struck chase after Brett; he insults Cohn badly. Also enraptured with Brett, he stays around even after she goes off with Romero. But unlike Jake, who takes much abuse and never gets the girl, Mike expects Brett to return to him by the end of the novel.
Bill Gorton: Jake's friend, Gorton is a writer, and likes stuffed animals. He travels with Jake to Bayonne, where they fish and spend a peaceful few days. A big drinker, Bill gets along well with Mike, but detests what he calls Cohn's 'Jewish superiority.'
Pedro Romero: A great bull-fighter, he is only nineteen. His masterful and honest handling of the bulls suggest he will be one of the great ones. Focused and controlled, he hardly drinks, and has not been with many women. Brett falls in love with him, and they have a brief affair, which the bull-fighting crowd disapproves of greatly. After Pamplona they travel to Madrid. Romero asks Brett to marry him, but he wants her to grow out her boyish hair and behave in a more ladylike manner. Not ready for such a change, and fearful that their relationship will threaten what is most important to him, Brett sends him away.
Spider Kelly: Robert Cohn's boxing coach at Princeton.
Cohn's first wife: The woman Cohn married right out of college. He had three children with her, but was not very happy. He was afraid to leave her, because he didn't think she could live without him. So he was very surprised when his wife left him for a painter of miniatures.
Frances Clyne: Cohn's new girlfriend, he meets her in California while working on the Review of the Arts. She dominates him, and insists they move to Europe. Later when she fears losing him, she demands he marry her. He is inclined to, but changes his mind after he gets his novel published. Frances is jealous and can be vicious; when Robert sends her away to England, she tears into him in front of Jake.
Henry Braddocks: A friend of Cohn's.
Georgette Hobin (LeBlace): The young woman Jake picks up and takes to dinner and then dancing with his friends. She is pretty but has a terrible smile. Jake thinks she's boring, and he isn't sorry when she spends the night dancing with other men.
Mrs. Braddocks: Henry Braddock's bubbly wife.
Robert Prentiss: A young novelist from America. He is rude to Jake, who storms off angrily.
Lett and Zizi: Brett's two gay companions at the dance club. Jake hates them.
Count Mippipopolous: Brett's friend, he offers her money to go away with him. He is very wealthy from a chain of American sweet shops he owns. He has fought or participated somehow in several wars and revolutions, and he has the wounds to prove it. He takes great pleasure in fine things, and knowing he got his money's worth.
Woolsey and Krum: Two of Jake's newspaper friends. They have families, and wonder how Jake spends his nights. His life is very different from theirs.
Harvey Stone: The broke gambler who is friends with Jake and Bill. Depressed and indifferent, he insults Cohn, then tells him he wouldn't care if Cohn hit him.
Madame Duzinell: The concierge at Jake's apartment. She is a snob and will only let people up to see Jake if they are rich, well born, or sportsmen. But Brett is able to bribe her with money.
Montoya: The owner of the hotel Montoya, where Jake stays during the festival. He is an aficionado, and he respects Jake for his aficion. When Jake lets Romero keep company with Brett and the other drunks, Montoya cannot forgive him. Their friendship is over; Montoya will not even speak to him.
the Basque peasants: The men on the bus when Jake and Bill travel to Pamplona. There are many of them at the festival. They are friendly and generous with their wine.
Harris (or Wilson-Harris): An Englishman whom Jake and Bill meet at Burguete while they are fishing. He fits in well, and Bill especially likes him. He is an aficionado of fishing, and a good friend. He gives Jake and Bill a generous and personal gift when they leave for Pamplona.
Marcial Lalander: A mediocre bull-fighter.
Edna: Bill's friend. Mike flirts with her to make Brett jealous, which doesn't work.
Lord Ashley: Brett's husband who she is in the process of divorcing. He was an Admiral, and did not treat her well. After the war he became crazy and threatened to kill her.
Belmonte: An old bull-fighter who came out of retirement to reassert some honor into the sport. But his plan for a triumphant return is squashed when Romero comes along. Romero is so pure and graceful, so perfect, that the old and sick Belmonte looks awful. He used to be wonderful, and after he retired, the public built a myth around Belmonte. Now fighting again, he cannot compete with his own myth. Reality is a disappointment, and the crowd hates him.
Vicente Girones: The man killed in the running of the bulls. He had a wife and kids, and came down every year to participate in the running. The group is indifferent when they hear about his death.
Gertrude Stein : Modernist writer and American expatriate. She was a friend to Hemingway, and they spent time together in Paris. She made the comment about 'the lost generation,' which became the catch phrase used to describe the post World War I characters of The Sun Also Rises.
Ecclesiastes: An ancient preacher. Also a book of wisdom in the Old Testament.
Princeton: Ivy League school in New Jersey. Cohn attended Princeton, but he encountered anti-Semitism at the University. He learned boxing to help him cope, and he became the University' middleweight boxing champion.
Review of the Arts : An arts magazine Cohn funded and edited while he was in California. He moved there after his wife left him, and the power and respect of being in charge helped mend his wounded ego. While working on the review he met Frances Clyne, who would become his girlfriend.
Cohn's novel: Cohn wrote his first book while in Europe. It was released by a reputable publisher, and it had mediocre reviews. Having a book published inflated Cohn's ego, and he became more difficult to deal with after that.
Strasbourg: City in northeast France. Jake suggests he and Cohn go there, since he knows a girl who could show them around. When he mentions the girl, someone kicks him under the table. He assumes it is Frances who kicks him, but it is actually Cohn. Anxious to please his jealous girlfriend, he also does not want to offend her; so Strasbourg is out.
W.H. Hudson: An English naturalist and writer. Cohn reads his novel, The Purple Land, and its' ideas get him into trouble, making him nervous and dissatisfied.
'The Purple Land': Book by W.H. Hudson, which Cohn reads and believes in as though it were Gospel. The book tells the story of an Englishman's romantic adventures in a beautiful land. Reading the book at the age of thirty-four, Cohn begins to think that his life is passing him by. He wants his life to resemble the romantic one of this book. But when he attempts this with Brett, it is a disaster.
Alger books: Horatio Alger, a nineteenth century American author. His works were very different from the romantic tales of W.H. Hudson.
bull-fighters: According to Jake, they are the only people who live their lives to the fullest. Perhaps this is because they risk their lives on a daily basis, instead of moping around cafés.
aperitif: A drink often had before a meal.
Pernod: Imitation absinthe. A very strong drink.
the Bal: The dance club where Jake sees Brett again.
Kirby marriage: After seeing Brett, Jake returns to his hotel to find a wedding announcement for a girl he doesn't know. Jake, alone in his apartment, is very far removed from the happiness of a new marriage.
Le Toril: Bull-fighting paper.
Italian front: This is where Jake was injured during World War I. His injury left him impotent.
Biarritz: Town in southwest France. Count Mippipopolous offers Brett a lot of money to go to Biarritz with him, but she refuses. Jake and Bill later ride a train with a group of pilgrims who are going to Biarritz. Obviously, the town has many different attractions.
H.L. Mencken: An American editor and newspaperman who reported on the Scopes trial, which concerned evolution. He lived from 1880-1956.
Paris Times: A Paris newspaper. Jake grabs a copy and hides behind it to shield him from what Frances is about to say. It is a way to detach from what he expects will be unpleasant.
Frances' trip to England: Cohn, now unwilling to marry Frances, decides to send her off to England to visit some friends. He is forcing her to go on the trip, and while she is gone he goes to San Sebastian with Brett.
the Count's arrow wounds: He got them while on a business trip in East Africa. Like making his living off of sweet shops, having arrow wounds in the new age of trench warfare reveals how old and out of place the count is becoming.
Bayonne: City in southwest France. Jake, Cohn, and Bill stop here on their way to Burguete. When Mike and Brett do not join them, Cohn decides to go back and get them.
Pamplona: City in the north of Spain, home to the festival of San Fermin and the annual bull-fights. Jake goes here every year, but this year his friends accompany him.
the Montoya hotel: The hotel Jake and his friends stay at in Pamplona. Jake knows the owner, named Montoya, and the two often talk about bull-fighting.
Burguete: City in Spain where Bill and Jake go fishing.
Basque: The provinces of northern Spain. There are many Basque peasants on their way to Pamplona, and Jake and Bill befriend a few.
posada: Inn or tavern.
Irony and Pity and 'The Bells Are Ringing for Me and My Gal': Subject that Bill sings and jokes about with Jake. Jake doesn't get the joke, perhaps because he has too much of his own irony and pity, concerning his wound and inability to be with Brett, 'his gal.'
A.E.W. Mason: Author of the book Jake reads in Burguete. It is the kind of romantic drivel that Jake made fun of Cohn for reading. It is the story of a man who falls into a glacier. His love waits years for him, while her real love waits for her to stop waiting.
William Jennings Bryan: American lawyer and politician. In one of his most famous cases, the Scopes trial, he defended evolution. He lived from 1860-1925.
Henry's bicycle: Jake and Bill refer to the story of how a writer became impotent. The mysterious story involves a bicycle or a plane. The real identity of this Henry is the British author Henry James.
Roncesvalles monastery: A community in northern Spain near the French border. Jake, Bill, and Harris visit the monastery while at Burguete. Bill and Harris especially are not comfortable in this holy building.
gift of flies: When Jake and Bill leave for Pamplona, their new friend Harris gives them each an envelope full of flies (a kind of fishing lure), that he tied himself. It is a very thoughtful gift.
desencajonada: Letting the bulls out of their cages and into their corral. This is when the steers come in; they stay in the corral and try to calm the bull, but they are often killed.
aficionado: One who is very passionate about bull-fighting. Montoya and Jake are aficionados, as is Romero. Montoya can forgive almost anything an aficionado does, but he cannot forgive Jake for Romero's relationship with Brett. With that act Jake hurts another aficionado, and that is unforgivable.
bulls: The uncastrated male oxen. They are the animals the bull-fighter kills in the ring. The bulls are strong-willed and violent, and it is the job of the steers to calm them down.
steers: The young castrated male oxen. These friendly animals are placed in the corral to calm down the bulls. The steers are defenseless, and the bulls are often aggressive, killing them. Trapped, the steers do not have any chance if a bull decides to charge them. Mike likes to joke that Cohn is a steer, because of the way he follows Brett around.
Circe: A sorceress from Homer's Odyssey, who turns Odysseus' men into swine. Cohn calls Brett Circe, and it is true that around her, men often behave terribly.
Turgenieff: Ivan Turgenev, a nineteenth century Russian novelist. Jake reads one of his books when he's drunk in Pamplona.
festival of San Fermin: The yearly religious festival at Pamplona that includes the running of the bulls and the bull-fights.
riau-riau dancers: Some of the dancers at the festival. They crowd around Brett, giving her a necklace of garlic. They don't let her dance; they want to dance around her, as though she is an idol or goddess.
picador: Near the end of the bull-fight, the picador rides in on a horse and spears the bull with a sword, to weaken it before the bull-fighter goes in for the kill.
torero: A matador or bull-fighter. He draws the bull near him with his cape work, but the grace of his movements does not hide the danger he is in. The torero is a performer; the end of his performance is the killing of the bull.
horses: What the picador rides in on. The bull often rams them while the picador spears the bull. Their death is gruesome, and Jake worries Brett will be disgusted. But it doesn't bother her, it only bothers Cohn.
phantom suitcase: After Jake sends Brett off with Romero, the world looks strange and new to him. Cohn hit him pretty hard, and Jake remembers coming home in his youth from a football game. He'd been kicked in the head during the game, and it gave him a new perspective on everything. He has that feeling again now. Jake was carrying a suitcase after the football game, so he imagines himself carrying one again now. Except he doesn't have one, and he isn't making a trip of any great distance.
muleta: Cloth attached to a stick, which the torero uses to lure the bull. Early in the bull-fight he uses a cape, and his use of the muleta signals that the kill is near.
medals: Mike, a halfhearted soldier, needed some medals to wear to a fancy dinner. He borrowed them from his tailor, but when he did not end up needing them, he gave them away to women at a nightclub. They were not worth much to him.
San Sebastian: City in the north of Spain, by the water. It is a great stopping place for lovers-Brett and Cohn take a trip here, Brett and Mike stop here when she gets sick on the train to Pamplona, then Cohn joins them. Only Jake comes here alone, after the fiesta. He is only there a few days when he receives a note from Brett asking for help.
Lourdes: Community in southwest France. The site of several religious sightings, it is popular with pilgrims. The Catholics on the train are going here.
wine-skins: A bag made from animal skin. It holds wine, and is very popular with the Basque peasants. It takes some practice to use properly, and there are several wine-drinking lessons.
Hotel Montana: The fleabag motel in Madrid where Jake finds Brett.
Madrid: Capital of Spain, the city is in the northwest part of the country. Brett and Romero traveled here, and Brett sends for Jake to come and get her when Romero leaves. Returning to help Brett, after she left him for another man, makes Jake feel ashamed of himself.
Quote 1: "You are all a lost generation." Epigraph
Quote 2: "I rather liked him and evidently she led him quite a life." Chapter 1, pg. 7
Quote 3: "'Nobody ever lives their life all the way up except bull-fighters.'" Chapter 2, pg. 10
Quote 4: "He had a hard, Jewish, stubborn streak." Chapter 2, pg. 10
Quote 5: "'Listen, Robert, going to another country doesn't make any difference. I've tried all that. You can't get away from yourself by moving from one place to another. There's nothing to that.'" Chapter 2, pg. 11
Quote 6: "'You, a foreigner, an Englishman... have given more than your life.'" Chapter 4, pg. 31
Quote 7: "This was Brett that I had felt like crying about. Then I thought of her walking up the street and stepping into the car, as I had last seen her, and of course in a little while I felt like hell again. It is awfully easy to be hard-boiled about everything in the daytime, but at night is another thing." Chapter 4, pg. 34
Quote 8: "'I misjudged you....You're not a moron. You're only a case of arrested development.'" Chapter 6, pg. 44
Quote 9: "'Don't have scenes with your young ladies. Try not to. Because you can't have scenes without crying, and then you pity yourself so much you can't remember what the other person's said....We all ought to make sacrifices for literature. Look at me. I'm going to England without a protest. All for literature.'" Chapter 6, pg. 50
Quote 10: "[S]he took great pride in telling me which of my guests were well brought up, which were of good family, who were sportsmen, a French word pronounced with the accent on the men. The only trouble was that people who did not fall into any of those three categories were very liable to be told there was no one home, chez Barnes." Chapter 7, pg. 53
Quote 11: "'This wine is too good for toast-drinking, my dear. You don't want to mix emotions up with a wine like that. You lose the taste.'" Chapter 7, pg. 59
Quote 12: "'That is the secret. You must get to know the values.'" Chapter 7, pg. 60
Quote 13: "'Simple exchange of values. You give them money. They give you a stuffed dog.'" Chapter 8, pg. 72
Quote 14: "I was a little ashamed, and regretted that I was such a rotten Catholic, but realized there was nothing I could do about it, at least for a while, and maybe never, but that anyway it was a grand religion, and I only wished I felt religious and maybe I would the next time...." Chapter 10, pg. 97
Quote 15: "I have never seen a man in civil life as nervous as Robert Cohn--nor as eager. I was enjoying it. It was lousy to enjoy it, but I felt lousy. Cohn had a wonderful quality of bringing out the worst in anybody." Chapter 10, pg. 98
Quote 16: "I was blind, unforgivingly jealous of what had happened to him. The fact that I took it as a matter of course did not alter that any. I certainly did hate him." Chapter 10, pg. 99
Quote 17: "'You're an expatriate. You've lost touch with the soil. You get precious. Fake European standards have ruined you. You drink yourself to death. You become obsessed by sex. You spend all your time talking, not working. You are an expatriate, see. You hang around cafés.'" Chapter 12, pg. 115
Quote 18: "For one who had aficion he could forgive anything. At once he forgave me all my friends. Without his ever saying anything they were simply a little something shameful between us, like the spilling open of the horses in bull-fighting." Chapter 13, pg. 132
Quote 19: "'They're only dangerous when they're alone, or only two or three of them together....They only want to kill when they're alone. Of course, if you went in there you'd probably detach one of them from the herd, and he'd be dangerous.'" Chapter 13, pp. 140-141
Quote 20: "It was like certain dinners I remember from the war. There was much wine, an ignored tension, and a feeling of things coming that you could not prevent happening. Under the wine I lost the disgusted feeling and was happy. It seemed they were all such nice people." Chapter 13, pg. 146
Quote 21: "I thought I had paid for everything. Not like the woman pays and pays and pays. No idea of retribution or punishment. Just exchange of values. You gave something up and got something else. Or you worked for something. You paid some way for everything that was any good." Chapter 14, pg. 148
Quote 22: "Enjoying living was learning to get your money's worth and knowing when you had it." Chapter 14, pg. 148
Quote 23: "That was morality; things that made you disgusted afterward. No, that must be immorality." Chapter 14, pg. 149
Quote 24: "The things that happened could only have happened during a fiesta. Everything became quite unreal finally and it seemed as though nothing could have any consequences. It seemed out of place to think of consequences during the fiesta." Chapter 15, pg. 154
Quote 25: "'Tell him that bulls have no balls.'" Chapter 16, pg. 175
Quote 26: "'I hate him, too....I hate his damned suffering.'" Chapter 16, pg. 182
Quote 27: "'Oh, darling, please stay by me. Please stay by me and see me through this....I don't say it's right. It is right though for me, God knows, I've never felt such a bitch.'" Chapter 16, pg. 184
Quote 28: "It was not pleasant." Chapter 16, pg. 187
Quote 29: "In bull-fighting they speak of the terrain of the bull and the terrain of the bull-fighter. As long as a bull-fighter stays in his own terrain he is comparatively safe. Each time he enters into the terrain of the bull he is in great danger. Belmonte, in his best days, worked always in the terrain of the bull. This way he gave the sensation of coming tragedy." Chapter 18, pp. 213-214
Quote 30: "Because he did not look up to ask if it pleased he did it all for himself inside, and it strengthened him, and yet he did it for her, too. But he did not do it for her at any loss to himself." Chapter 18, pg. 216
Quote 31: "That seemed to handle it. That was it. Send a girl off with one man. Introduce her to another to go off with him. Now go and bring her back. And sign the wire with love. That was it all right." Chapter 19, pg. 239
Quote 32: "the end of the line. All trains finish there. They don't go on anywhere." Chapter 19, pp. 239-240
Quote 33: "'You know it makes one feel rather good deciding not to be a bitch.'" Chapter 19, pg. 245
Quote 34: "'Yes.....Isn't it pretty to think so?'" Chapter 19, pg. 247
Anti-Semitism 1: Jake comments that Cohn was more attractive after he got his nose flattened. Jake only makes a few anti-Semitic comments, but he never objects to any that his friends make either.
Anti-Semitism 2: When Cohn won't give up his idea of a trip to South America, Jake comments: "He had a hard, Jewish, stubborn streak." Chapter 2, pg. 10 Cohn is not just stubborn, he is Jewish and stubborn.
Anti-Semitism 3: Both Bill and Jake are annoyed when Cohn acts like he knows more about their friends then they do. They do not like the idea that a Jew could be higher than they in their group's pecking order. Bill wishes Cohn would stop acting "superior and Jewish."
Anti-Semitism 4: Jake does not hate the count, who asked Brett to marry him. He does not get angry at his friend Bill for flirting with Brett. He shows no hostility toward Mike, Brett's fiancé, and he even sets up Brett and Romero. It is only Cohn's love and desire for Brett that irritates Jake. Cohn, a Jew and therefore an outsider, is not entitled to a woman from their group.
Anti-Semitism 5: Bill, who hates Cohn, suggests sarcastically that Jake invite some more of his Jewish friends. They both comment on how all their Jewish friends are pains to have around.
Anti-Semitism 6: Mike admits that Brett has had affairs before. But having an affair with a Jew, who won't leave her alone, is the worst thing she's ever done. Mike feels threatened that someone from outside their group had an affair with Brett. Cohn's continued presence intensifies the threat, and Mike behaves terribly.
Anti-Semitism 7: Cohn says he's afraid the bull-fight will bore him, which makes him look very foolish. In private Bill complains again to Jake about Cohn's "Jewish superiority." His criticism of something the group enjoys brands him as more of an outsider.
Anti-Semitism 8: During the bull-fight, when Jake asks Bill if he thought Cohn was bored, Bill calls Cohn a kike, a derogatory term for Jew.
Anti-Semitism 9: Mike, angry with Brett, takes it out on Cohn. He tells him to take his "sad Jewish face" and leave.
Anti-Semitism 10: Brett complains about having Cohn, a Jew, hanging around her. She didn't mind the count, Jake, or Mike, but Cohn is different.
Anti-Semitism 11: Mike complains that there is only trouble when Brett dates bad sorts of people, like Jews and bull-fighters. It is obvious why Mike hates bull-fighters; he is terribly jealous of the young, attractive, and talented Romero. Cohn, on the other hand, is bad for Brett because of his Jewishness.
Anti-Semitism 12: Mike again refers to Cohn as a Jew.
Anti-Semitism 13: Mike complains about how much money you have to give to the Jews. He realizes that his taxes are actually paid to Scotsmen, but he doesn't really care. He just takes another opportunity to insult Jews.
Anti-Semitism 14: Brett describes her time with Cohn as something that had to be wiped away by another lover. It is as though Cohn left a residue behind him, and Brett needed to get clean.
Gender 1: So needy and afraid of losing Frances, Cohn will do whatever she asks of him. She is in control of their relationship. Cohn is happy not to be left behind again.
Gender 2: Cohn does not want to risk getting Frances mad, so he and Jake decide to go somewhere else for a trip. Cohn's fear of losing Frances allows her to control his life. Amused with his weakling friend, Jake thinks to himself: "I rather liked him and evidently she led him quite a life." Chapter 1, pg. 7
Gender 3: Jake feels that only bull-fighters live fully. They do not sit around getting drunk in cafés, mooning over women. They go out in the ring and risk their lives, creating danger and art.
Gender 4: Cohn allows himself to be abused terribly by Frances. He listens in near silence the entire time she berates him, in front of his friend.
Gender 5: Brett has a kind of power over men. They will usually do whatever she asks them to, and the count is no exception. She just has to ask him to leave for a little while, and he comes back with champagne.
Gender 6: Bill and Jake meet a very traditional family on the train to Bayonne. The couple is so orientated toward their child that the man calls his wife "mother." She voted against Prohibition because her husband asked her to, but also for her own reasons. She wants to please him, but she has not lost her own mind. She is very different from any of the other women we meet.
Gender 7: The person Bill describes, the expatriate, sounds like an emasculated male. The expatriate is weak, drunk, unmotivated--in contrast to the American male. When Cohn went to America with his novel, he returned a new man, much more confident and forceful. We know that Bill is a writer, but we do not know much about his life in America. When he is in Europe, though, much of his behavior matches the expatriate he has just described.
These two things Bill mentions, being impotent and being supported by women, make Jake a prime example of the weakened and dysfunctional expatriate.
Gender 8: A bull is an adult male uncastrated ox, and a steer is a young castrated ox. The steers are more docile than the bulls, and it is their job to calm them down in the ring. Defenseless, they are often killed by the bulls. The steers are worth less; their deaths are not as glamorous as that of the bulls.
Gender 9: Brett's boyish appearance makes her stand out from the native women. She also keeps unusual company for a woman--all her companions are men.
Brett's reactions are also surprising. Mike and Jake worry that Brett will be disturbed if it gets bloody when the bulls are unloaded. But it is Cohn who almost gets sick.
Gender 10: Jake thinks you have to be in love with a woman to be her friend. He thinks that women have very high expectations. Women have to "pay" too, for friendship, but in his opinion they get away with much more than a man.
Gender 11: The group wants to go inside the cathedral, but they cannot because of Brett. Rebelling against female conventions, she is not wearing a hat; therefore she is not allowed inside.
The dancers do not want Brett to participate. She is beautiful and strange-looking, and they want to dance around her, as though she is a goddess.
Gender 12: It is not Brett who is disturbed and sickened by the horses' deaths; rather it is Cohn. Brett can't look away, and Cohn nearly gets sick. He is surprised at the reaction of Brett, a woman, and accuses her of enjoying suffering.
Gender 13: Brett hates Cohn's visible suffering, while she admires Jake's invisible pain. In her opinion, a man should not be so open with his anguish.
Gender 14: Jake is not embarrassed to admit in detail that he was knocked unconscious in a fight, and didn't land a single punch.
Gender 15: After the fight with Romero, Cohn tries to convince Brett to leave with him. He thought if he took her away from everyone, she would become a better (more traditional) woman.
Gender 16: Surprised at herself, Brett notices that she doesn't mind the blood on the bull-fighting capes.
Gender 17: Brett tells Jake that Romero wanted her to grow her hair out, so she'd look more like a woman. He also wanted to marry her, so she could never leave him. Brett is an individual, living outside of the norm, and she is frightened by Romero's desire to change her and make her conform to her sex.
Religion 1: The Catholic Church has a tradition of prayer and stoic response to suffering. Jake, a lapsed Catholic, tries to take their advice and not think about his impotence. But he is unable to do this, especially when Brett is around.
Religion 2: Bill gets very upset that the Catholics have taken all the early lunches. Because of them, he and Jake will not be able to eat until four, far past their usual lunch hour. Bill feels cheated, and in anger he calls them Puritans. The Puritans were a Protestant sect that existed in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. They were known for their cold morality and self-righteousness. The irony is that Bill is a Protestant himself, though non-practicing. The Puritans are actually religiously related to himself, though much more concerned with morality. Bill's use of the term Puritans to insult the Catholics suggests that he thinks that those with more moral awareness are treated better.
Religion 3: Jake is Catholic, but that doesn't entitle him to eat with the pilgrims. A lapsed Catholic, he is not on a religious pilgrimage; in one way he is a part of the group, but he is not a participant. Bill, who is not religious, feels persecuted when the Catholics get to eat first. He does not belong to their group, and he thinks he and his group, Protestants, have been slighted. Bill comments to the priest that this kind of treatment makes him want to join the Ku Klux Klan, and persecute where he feels he's been persecuted.
Religion 4: Jake's prayer starts out well, as he prays for his friends, himself, the bull-fighters, and for a good fiesta. That last one is starting to stretch prayer a bit, as the fiesta is basically a week-long drunken party. Then Jake prays for money, and this makes him think first of how he'd earn it. His thoughts are really wandering now. He realizes this, and thinks:
"I was a little ashamed, and regretted that I was such a rotten Catholic, but realized there was nothing I could do about it, at least for a while, and maybe never, but that anyway it was a grand religion, and I only wished I felt religious and maybe I would the next time...." Chapter 10, pg. 97
Jake appreciates prayer, but he is no longer very religious. After the war, his hopeless wound, and his equally hopeless relationship with Brett, Jake cannot easily turn to a God who has done so little for him. He has become concerned with worldly matters, and these clutter and disturb his mind when he tries to pray.
Religion 5: Bill, with real preacher bravado, launches into a silly homily about how we should not question what God does. We should just rejoice and pray in the woods, thinking about the journey from life to death, he says. You never know whom you could be eating, as we all fall back into dust. Jake, more of a believer than Bill, doesn't say anything during this little speech that is very disrespectful, even blasphemous.
Religion 6: When Bill asks Jake if he's really a Catholic, Jake tells him he is, but only technically. Jake does not feel comfortable claiming to be a full member of a group in which he does not participate. But he still links himself with the religion, indicating his desire to belong.
Religion 7: Bill, Jake, and Harris go to see the Roncesvalles monastery. The building is impressive, but Bill and Harris agree that it's not their kind of place. Even though it creates the same kind of quiet peace, for them the monastery doesn't compare to fishing. Jake doesn't say anything.
Religion 8: Jake thinks about how he enjoyed watching Mike hurt Cohn, who once called Jake his best friend. Jake is guilty for these feelings, but also confused. He can't remember if the shame he's feeling makes him a good or bad person: "That was morality; things that made you disgusted afterward. No, that must be immorality." Chapter 14, pg. 149
Religion 9: On the first day of the fiesta, Jake attends Mass by himself. His friends are still asleep or doing other things. He doesn't ask anyone to go with him, preferring to go alone. San Fermin is a religious festival, and perhaps Jake is feeling the pull of religion too.
Religion 10: Later on this first day, the group wants to go into the cathedral with all the other people. The crowds are all going there, so they want to go too. But Brett isn't wearing a hat, so she can't go in. The group stays with her, rather than go inside the cathedral without her. Her decision to disregard gender norms keeps her from entering the house of God, and the men cannot stand being without her.
Religion 11: Brett isn't in the church long before she gets anxious and has to leave. She says she hasn't the right "face" for church, but what she's really concerned about is not being a good enough person to be in a church. She is used to getting what she wants, and she doesn't like prayer because its' results aren't as good. She thinks she can get much more from her looks and sex than she can from praying.
Religion 12: Brett doesn't have God in her life. The closest she comes to religion is the occasional good work. Her one unselfish act in the novel is her dismissal of Romero. She gave up someone she loved because she knew if he stayed with her, he would get hurt. She sacrificed her own desires for the sake of another.
She tells Jake that God didn't work well with her. Brett is used to having people bend to her desires, and God will not do that. Her skewed perspective has led her to think God doesn't work. And he doesn't, not in the way she wants him to. He is one of the few men who could not be bewitched by her.
Values 1: Jake acts detached, commenting that the bar is good because it has a lot of liquor in it. He often notices how practical something is, rather than its' beauty.
Values 2: Jake takes Georgette out to dinner because he misses having a companion. Romance, which will ruin Robert Cohn, is also important to Jake. He just controls his impulses better.
Values 3: Brett makes fun of Jake for bringing a date. Since he can't have sex with anyone, Brett doesn't think that's fair for him to date. Sex is essential for Brett. Any relationship without it is a waste.
Values 4: Jake leaves some money for Georgette, but he instructs the owner to give it to her only if she asks for him. It is a very unemotional and financial attitude he adopts.
Values 5: This Italian colonel values the ability to have sex more than life. In his praise for Jake's heroism, he acknowledges his preference for pleasure over existence.
Values 6: When her relationship with Cohn does not end in marriage, Frances feels cheated. It is not the relationship she values, but the end result of it--safety and marriage.
Values 7: Jake's concierge finds good breeding or sportsmanship more valuable than anything else.
Values 8: Brett knows the value of money. If she cannot earn respect, she can buy it from people like Jake's concierge.
Values 9: The count is very certain about what he values. You should not risk tainting good wine with emotions. He likes to keep the material world and the emotional world separate.
Values 10: Only by knowing the value of something can the count enjoy it. This allows him to live very fully and happily: "'That is the secret. You must get to know the values.'" Chapter 7, pg. 60
Values 11: Bill tries to get Jake to buy a stuffed dog. He describes the transaction as simple and unemotional: "'Simple exchange of values. You give them money. They give you a stuffed dog.'" Chapter 8, pg. 72 Both Bill and Jake like this kind of uncomplicated transaction, but Jake turns it down this time.
Values 12: At the posada Jake tries to tip the barmaid, but she does not understand. In France tipping is expected, but in Spain it is not. Spanish values differ from those in France, and Jake will have to get used to this.
Values 13: In his typically unemotional way, Jake describes a good life like this: "Enjoying living was learning to get your money's worth and knowing when you had it." Chapter 14, pg. 148 Jake feels that since he is impotent he has little to offer or exchange, so he focuses most on exchanging money for what he wants.
Values 14: The peasants who have come to the festival do not start out spending lavishly. They still remember how much each drink equals in wages. By the end of the fiesta their value system will be dismantled, and they will pay anything.
Values 15: Bill isn't bothered by the "horse part" of the bull-fight, when the picador rides the horse and tries to spear the bull. The horse is often killed, but that doesn't bother Bill because to him the horse is not important.
Values 16: What makes Romero's work so incredible is its' purity and honesty. There are no tricks, and Romero is always in control of the situation. This is more than most of the group can say for themselves or their lives.
Values 17: Brett has been having affairs with men she doesn't love, and she doesn't respect herself anymore. To get some of that respect back, she decides to do something she really wants--be with a man she loves. Jake is out of the question, so she goes to Romero.
Values 18: The ear of the bull, which Romero gives to Brett, is an important symbol and something the Girones' wife would likely have cherished. But Brett hides it in a drawer, and leaves it behind when she goes to Madrid.
Values 19: Tipping is a common practice in France. Jake likes France because if he needs or wants people to like him, it only requires a small, simple exchange--money. He complains that in Spain, you never know why someone is being nice to you. But in France, money makes everything clear.
Gertrude Stein made the comment that "You are all a lost generation." Epigraph during a conversation with Hemingway, and it is often felt to capture the experience of those who lived through World War I. The short passage from Ecclesiastes recalls the title of the book, in its' description of the many circular and continuous lives and deaths of the world.
Robert Cohn was middleweight boxing champ at Princeton. He only learned boxing to counter his feelings of inferiority, which came from being Jewish. His physical strength made him feel safe. His coach, Spider Kelly, taught him well and had great faith in him. Kelly had Cohn fight someone who was a better boxer, and Cohn got his nose flattened. A shy young man, Cohn's classmates don't remember him. The narrator, Jake Barnes, doubts Cohn was a great boxer, but his story checks out.
Topic Tracking: Anti-Semitism 1
Cohn came from a rich New York family. He was not treated differently at his pre-Princeton prep school, and played football there. He was friendly but also shy, and he hated that about himself. He disliked Princeton, and he married the first nice girl he met. He had three children with her, lost most of his money, and was generally unhappy. He wanted to leave his wife, but he did not because he feared she could not live without him. So he was very surprised when she left him for a painter of miniatures.
After the divorce Cohn went to California and helped support a Review of the Arts, eventually becoming editor. He liked the power the job gave him. From his circle of friends he met a woman, Frances Clyne, who hoped to ride along on Cohn's success and money. When the magazine folded she convinced him that they should go to Europe, where he could write. They moved to Paris, and Cohn spent time with his friends, Jake, the narrator, and Henry Braddocks. It is 1925, post World War I.
Topic Tracking: Gender 1
After two years together, Frances started to fear she was getting old and unattractive. She tried to ensure Cohn would stay with her by insisting they get married. Devoted to her, happy enough with his hobbies and writing (he had written a novel), Cohn did not seem to mind the proposal. Lacking self-confidence, he was easily led and manipulated by the woman in his life.
Jake realized Frances' hold on Cohn one day during dinner. Jake suggested he and Cohn take a trip to Strasbourg, because there is girl there whom he knows could show them around. Someone kicks him under the table when he mentions the girl, and he assumed it was Frances. But it was actually Robert, who told Jake in private not to talk about any girls, because Frances was very jealous. Jake didn't understand what was wrong with having a friend of his show them around. But Frances had Cohn on a short leash, and so the men agreed to travel elsewhere.
Topic Tracking: Gender 2
Cohn took his novel to America that winter, and it was published. Frances was very angry at his leaving, and when he came back he was not so in love with her. Other women had treated him well in New York, and the man who had been devoted to just two women in his whole life, neither of whom he loved, suddenly realized what a great catch he was. He and his bloated ego returned from New York, and he was no longer the same nice, simple person. He'd taken W.H. Hudson's novel "The Purple Land" as gospel, and his head was full of romantic ideas. He decides that a trip to South America would fix everything, and he asks Jake to come with him. Jake, a newspaper reporter, is trying to finish up his work before deadline. He is not interested in going to South America. Cohn is depressed, afraid that soon he'll be too old for such adventures. He could go without Jake, but he feels unmotivated. Jake jokes with him, but also feels pity. Cohn tells Jake he's afraid his life is passing him by. Jake tells him:
"'Nobody ever lives their life all the way up except bull-fighters.'" Chapter 2, pg. 10
Topic Tracking: Gender 3
But Cohn isn't interested. He just wants to go to South America. Jake suggests going to Africa to hunt, but Cohn says no. Jake jokes that if Cohn just read a book about hunting in Africa, he'd want to go. But Cohn disagrees. Jake thinks Cohn gets all his ideas out of books.
Topic Tracking: Anti-Semitism 2
The two go downstairs for a drink. Jake hopes this will get rid of Cohn, so he can go back upstairs and work. Cohn talks some more about how half their life is over, and Jake tells him:
"'Listen, Robert, going to another country doesn't make any difference. I've tried all that. You can't get away from yourself by moving from one place to another. There's nothing to that.'" Chapter 2, pg. 11
Topic Tracking: Values 1
But Cohn isn't listening. He doesn't like Paris, and he wants to get away. Jake is frustrated, and tells Cohn he has to go upstairs to work. Instead of leaving, Cohn follows him up to the office. Jake works for a couple hours, and Cohn sleeps on the couch. He has a bad dream, and talks in his sleep. After waking, he tells Jake he didn't sleep at all last night; he was up talking to Frances. Jake cannot help but picture this. The two go out for a drink.
Robert leaves and Jake remains at the café. He watches the crowd go by, the pigeons and the pretty girls. He catches the eye of one girl, and she comes and sits down at his table. She orders a Pernod, and so does Jake. He tells her that Pernod isn't good for her, and she scoffs at him. They talk a little about how she doesn't like Paris; the girl is not very pleasant. She asks Jake to buy her dinner, so he gets a cab and they ride to a restaurant. The girl is pretty, but her smile is terrible. During the ride she cuddles up to Jake, but he holds her back. He tells her he's sick, and she says she's sick too. They both seem aimless and detached.
They introduce themselves, finally. The girl's name is Georgette. When they get to the restaurant, Georgette doesn't approve of it. This free meal isn't at a chic enough restaurant, but she agrees to stay. Jake thought it would be nice to have a dinner companion, but this romantic idea is quickly dashed when he realizes how poor the conversation is. Georgette asks what's wrong with Jake, and he tells her he was hurt in the war. They are about to have a discussion of how terrible the war was, a topic which Jake has had enough of, when someone calls to him across the restaurant. It is Henry Braddocks, Cohn, Frances, Mrs. Braddocks, and a few others. They invite Jake and Georgette to a dance that night.
Topic Tracking: Values 2
Jake and Georgette meet the group for coffee first. For fun, Jake introduces Georgette as his fiancée, Georgette LeBlanc. Mrs. Braddocks asks if she is related to the singer with the same name, and Georgette says no. It takes Mrs. Braddocks a few moments to get the joke when Georgette tells her that her real last name is Hobin. Frances asks Georgette if she likes Paris, and she tells her no, she thinks it's dirty. They go back and forth about Paris, and Georgette sarcastically tells Jake that he has nice friends.
They go to the Bal, a small empty dance club. The owner plays some music, and everyone starts to dance. Someone asks Georgette to dance, so Jake goes alone to get a drink at the bar. A group of clean, well-dressed young men come in, and Brett is with them. One of them sees Georgette, and tells the other he's going to dance with a prostitute. They laugh and he goes off to dance. Jake is very angry. He doesn't like Brett's gay friends, and he thinks about hitting one to get the smile off his face. Instead he leaves and has a drink at a nearby bar.
When he comes back, Georgette is dancing with one of the men. Jake expects they will all dance with her, so he sits down with Cohn. Mrs. Braddocks introduces Robert Prentiss to Jake. The two have a short conversation, but Jake gets very irritated and storms off. Mrs. Braddocks apologizes for Prentiss, and comments on how well Georgette is doing with the young men. She doesn't know that Jake was kidding about her being his fiancée. Cohn comes over to Jake, and the two go to the bar. After a few moments, Brett steps up to the bar. She says hello and orders a drink. Cohn gawks at her. Brett is very beautiful. She has lots of curves under her sweater, and her hair is back from her face like a boy's. Jake criticizes the group Brett came in with. Brett in turn asks Jake where he found "it," meaning Georgette. They tease each other about their company. The music starts and Cohn, love-struck, asks Lady Brett to dance. She brushes him off, and she and Jake go out on the dancefloor.
Topic Tracking: Values 3
Jake tells Brett she has a new admirer in Cohn. Brett has many admirers. She asks Jake if he wants to leave. He does. Before going, he leaves some money in an envelope at the bar. He tells the owner if Georgette asks for him, to give her the envelope. If she leaves with someone else, he wants it held for him. They say goodnight to everyone and look for a taxi. Jake is happy to be out of the club and away from everyone. They get a cab and sit down. As it starts moving, Brett closes her eyes and tells him how miserable she's been.
Topic Tracking: Values 4
The taxi travels through Paris and its nightlife. The cab is jostled and they are pressed together. Jake watches the light travel across Brett's face, one moment illuminated, the next concealed. He kisses her, and when they come apart Brett moves away. She tells Jake not to touch her; it is too much. He asks her if she loves him, and she tells him how his touch makes her go to pieces. Jake asks her if they could find a way to be together. Brett doesn't answer. She looks deep into his eyes, and Jake remarks how hopeless their situation is, answering his own question. Brett suggests they stay away from each other, but Jake doesn't want that.
Brett wonders if this is some kind of punishment, and Jake tries to joke. His condition is something that seems very funny if it isn't happening to you. Love, Jake says, is the real fun. But Brett thinks love is awful. They know they shouldn't see each other, that it will only hurt them, but they have to.
They have the driver take them to a café. On the way, Brett asks Jake to kiss her again, and he does. Brett's friends from before are there, and one of them, Zizi, has someone to introduce to Brett. He presents Count Mippipopolous, who starts chatting with Brett. Braddocks is there, and he tells Jake that Georgette had a big fight at the Bal with the owner's daughter. She went home with someone, so Jake figures she's fine. Braddocks wants him to stay and have a drink, but Jake decides to head home. He says good-bye to Brett, and they arrange to meet tomorrow afternoon.
Jake walks home alone. There are still many people on the streets and in the cafés. When he arrives at home, Jake gets his mail from the concierge and goes upstairs to his apartment. He has two letters. One is a bank statement, and Jake makes some amendments to his account. The other is a wedding announcement, for the marriage of Katherine Kirby, whom Jake does not know. Jake starts to get depressed about Brett, and frustrated.
He undresses for bed, and thinks how funny it is for him to be wounded the way he is. He gets into bed and reads "Le Toril", a Spanish bull-fight paper. He is afraid he won't be able to sleep. His mind wanders, and he thinks about when he was wounded. It was on the Italian front. He stayed in an Italian hospital, and while there an Italian colonel came to visit him, saying in praise: "'You, a foreigner, an Englishman... have given more than your life.'" Chapter 4, pg. 31, and he was serious. Jake's injury in the war made him impotent, and he can't have sex.
Topic Tracking: Values 5
He tried not to think about it, or make a big deal out of it. But all that changed when he met Brett. Jake figures it's because Brett can't have him that makes her want him so badly. Jake keeps thinking about Brett until he starts crying. After a while he falls asleep.
Topic Tracking: Religion 1
He wakes up to an argument out on the street. He puts on his robe and goes downstairs. His concierge, Madame Duzinell, who had also been woken up, is very angry. She tells Jake that there is some awful woman here to see him. Jake hears Brett's voice, and asks the concierge to send her up. It's quarter past four in the morning, but Brett does not apologize for coming over, and asks for a drink. She's just left the count. She likes the count; he has lots of money from a chain of sweet shops he runs. She tells Jake the count offered her ten thousand dollars to go to Biarritz with him. She told him she knew too many people at Biarritz to go there with him, and she turned down his offer of several other places too. She tells Jake not to worry; the count knows she's in love with Jake. She told him so.
Brett changes the subject, and tells him the count offered to drive them to dinner tomorrow night. Jake agrees to go. Brett gets up to leave, and tells Jake that the count is waiting in his car up the street. She asks Jake to come along, but he has to work in the morning, and it nearly is morning. They kiss, and Jake tells her not to go, but Brett says she has to. They kiss again, and Jake looks out the window and watches Brett get into the car. Then he looks at the two lonely glasses on his table. He thinks disgustedly to himself:
"This was Brett that I had felt like crying about. Then I thought of her walking up the street and stepping into the car, as I had last seen her, and of course in a little while I felt like hell again. It is awfully easy to be hard-boiled about everything in the daytime, but at night is another thing." Chapter 4, pg. 34
Even when she treats him poorly, Jake cannot help but love her.
The next morning Jake goes out for breakfast. The streets are busy with people and merchants. He walks to the office, happy to be going to work. He writes for a few hours, then goes to listen to a speech by a diplomat. He rides back to the office with two other newspapermen, Woolsey and Krum. They have families, and wonder where Jake spends his nights. Jake leaves their company and goes back to the office, and Robert Cohn is there. They go out for hors d'oeuvres. Cohn is still having trouble with his book. Jake asks him if he's still thinking about going to South America. Cohn wants to, but feels he can't because of Frances. Frances wouldn't like the trip, and he can't leave her because of his obligations toward her. He thinks she is holding him back, but really it's himself.
Cohn asks Jake what he knows about Brett. Jake tells him she's nice, and she's going to marry Mike Campbell, who's in Scotland now. Cohn lists Brett's admirable qualities, then tells Jake he thinks he's in love with her. Jake, jealous and annoyed, changes his tone. He tells Cohn that Brett is a drunk, and she's going to marry a soon-to-be wealthy man. Cohn, the romantic, doesn't think she'll marry Mike. She married her first husband, Lord Ashley, after her true love died. Cohn says he can't believe Brett would marry someone she didn't love. But Jake tells him she's done it twice. Brett Ashley is not the right person to have romantic notions about, but Cohn doesn't care. Like a knight standing up for his lady, Cohn gets mad at Jake for insulting Brett. Jake insists he was just telling the truth. But Cohn won't let up and Jake tells him to go to hell. Cohn, looking ridiculous, stands up and angrily demands Jake take it back. Not what he said about Brett, surprisingly, but about him going to hell. Jake, somewhat amused, takes it back, and Cohn sits down again. Cohn tells Jake he shouldn't be so insulting, and Jake tells him he doesn't mean things like that. Then Cohn tells Jake he's his best friend. Jake pities him for this. After lunch, they go and get coffee, and then Jake returns to the office.
In the evening Jake goes to meet Brett, as they agreed to last night. She never shows up, so Jake heads to the café to look for her. The taxi drives down a street Jake does not like, and he wonders why he doesn't like it. He thinks maybe he read something bad about the street, the way he thinks Cohn read something bad about Paris. Maybe something of Mencken's, he thinks.
The taxi arrives, and outside the café is Harvey Stone, a friend of Jake's. Harvey is a big gambler, and he looks unkempt. Jake sits down, and Harvey says he was looking for him, probably hoping for a loan. Harvey won't say why he was looking for Jake. Instead, he tells Jake that he hasn't eaten for five days. Jake remembers that Harvey won two hundred francs from him three days ago. Harvey says he's depressed. Jake offers him a hundred francs, which Harvey quickly accepts. Jake asks him if he wants to get dinner, but Harvey says he's too upset to eat. He has a few drinks instead. Jake, his dislike of the street still on his mind, asks Harvey if he knows Mencken, the newspaperman. Harvey does, and says he's quite funny.
They see Cohn coming towards them. Harvey tells Jake that Cohn is a moron, and then he says it to Cohn's face. Cohn, who especially dislikes being insulted, takes this very seriously. Harvey asks Cohn to answer a question immediately; the question is, what would he rather do if he could do anything? Cohn can't react that quickly; he starts to think, and Harvey gets annoyed. Cohn finally answers that he'd like to play football again, and Harvey, amused with such a simple answer to such a marvelous question, says: "'I misjudged you....You're not a moron. You're only a case of arrested development.'" Chapter 6, pg. 44 They argue some more, and Cohn tells Stone that maybe a punch would do him good, but Harvey doesn't care. He takes everything about this lightly, playing with Cohn. Jake asks Harvey to stay for drinks, but Harvey leaves to dine elsewhere.
Cohn complains about Harvey to Jake. Jake says that he likes Harvey, and Cohn should lighten up. Still unable to write, Cohn's confidence is slipping. Jake begins to think that maybe his depiction of Cohn has been unclear. He tells us that it was not until Cohn fell in love with Brett that he became so detached and troubled. He also says how cheerful Cohn is, and how much he likes tennis. Cohn is supposed to be Jake's friend, and he seems to feel bad for only bringing out his negative qualities.
Cohn has a date with Frances, and she arrives at their table. Frances wants to talk to Jake alone. She is acting funny, mentioning broken appointments and then Brett. She and Jake cross the street and sit down. Jake buys a copy of "The Paris Times" and hides behind it, before he asks Frances what is wrong. Cohn is going to leave her, she says. He promised to marry her, and she told everyone she was getting married, and now he doesn't want to. He feels like he hasn't really lived yet. Frances, who swears she doesn't want to marry a man who doesn't want to marry her, can't understand why this is happening now, after they've been together for three years. She's just gotten her divorce, and now she's afraid she's missed her chance to marry anyone else. Because she doesn't love Cohn, she feels like her time with him was a waste. She wanted children, but now, who knows? Cohn has everything, including children, and Frances rushed the divorce proceedings so much that she doesn't even get alimony. Jake is not overly sympathetic. He listens, and makes a few halfhearted comments. Frances is terribly cheerful, considering what they are discussing. She is nearly manic. They start back across the street, with Jake saying there's nothing he can do, and Frances asking him just not to tell Robert they discussed it.
Topic Tracking: Values 6
Cohn, smiling, asks Frances what the secret is. She won't tell him, and he asks if it was about her trip to England. She tells Jake then how Robert is sending her to England to visit friends. Frances starts in for the kill. Robert is giving her two hundred pounds (not a lot) for the trip, she tells Jake, and she had to convince him to give her that much. She sarcastically comments on Cohn's generosity, but he just sits there, the smile gone, and silent. Jake cannot believe either of their behavior.
Cohn finally says something to Frances, and she starts in again. Robert is sending her to visit friends that don't even want to see her. It isn't a vacation, it's a way to get rid of her. Frances knows it, and suspects Brett is the cause. Taunting Robert, she tells them how her family will have to avoid his name, because they'll all know what has happened. She comments crazily on how much fun this will be. She turns to Jake and tells him it's really her fault. Robert had a secretary in California, and he rudely got rid of her for Frances, so why should she be surprised when she is gotten rid of too? Frances says Robert and the secretary were only friends, but what does that matter with a man who will do anything the right woman tells him to? Then Frances starts in on Robert, the writer. She tells him:
"'Don't have scenes with your young ladies. Try not to. Because you can't have scenes without crying, and then you pity yourself so much you can't remember what the other person's said....We all ought to make sacrifices for literature. Look at me. I'm going to England without a protest. All for literature.'" Chapter 6, pg. 50
She implies that Cohn is not a good writer, because he has to go out and find things to write about, whereas real writers use their imagination. She thinks the reason why Cohn won't marry her is because he likes the idea and the romance of having a mistress, and a wife can never equal that. Jake finally gets up to leave, and Cohn remains at the table, taking Frances' abuse in silence.
Topic Tracking: Gender 4
Jake takes a taxi home and when he arrives the concierge greets him with his mail. Brett came by with the count while Jake was out, and the concierge, who so detested Brett last night, has changed her mind. She now thinks Brett is very genteel, and she excuses her behavior last night. Brett told the concierge that she and the count would return later. Jake's concierge used to own a concession at the racetrack in Paris:
"[She] took great pride in telling me which of my guests were well brought up, which were of good family, who were sportsmen, a French word pronounced with the accent on the men. The only trouble was that people who did not fall into any of those three categories were very liable to be told there was no one home, chez Barnes." Chapter 7, pg. 53
Jake had one friend, a disheveled artist, who could never get up to see Jake, whether he was home or not.
Topic Tracking: Values 7
This leaves Jake wondering how Brett buttered up the concierge. Jake looks through his mail. He has a cable from his friend Bill Gorton, who will arrive in Paris shortly. Jake showers, and when he is drying off the doorbell rings. It is Brett and the count. The count, an extravagant man who loves to spend, has brought roses. Brett puts them in water, and Jake asks her if she forgot their date. She was so drunk when she made the date, she can't even remember. Jake comments on the concierge's change of heart, and Brett tells him it's because she gave the concierge two hundred francs. It was the count's money, who thought they owed her something for last night. Brett comments on how the count remembers everything, a faculty she would not want to have.
Topic Tracking: Values 8
Jake goes into his room to finish dressing. He is feeling bad, and is sitting down on the bed when Brett comes in. She asks him what's the matter, calls him darling, and asks if she should send the count away. Though she came with another man to see Jake, she doesn't want Jake to feel bad. Jake tells her he loves her, and Brett offers again to send the count away. Jake isn't sure, but Brett decides to go out and send the count away for awhile, knowing he will do whatever she asks him to do.
Topic Tracking: Gender 5
She comes back and comforts Jake. She sent the count out for champagne; he loves to buy champagne, so he's fine. Jake asks Brett if they could just live together (since they cannot have sex, they could not be a real couple), but Brett says no, she would just cheat on him. Jake says she cheats on him now, and he's okay. But he really isn't, and she knows it. He asks if they could go to the country, but she says she wouldn't be happy there. Loving each other is not enough. Brett changes the subject, telling Jake she's going away for awhile, to San Sebastian, and then Michael will be back with her. Jake, hopelessly, asks again if they could go away together. But that idea is no good, and Brett is leaving tomorrow.
The count returns then with the champagne. The count, happy with his purchase, sits back and smokes a cigar. He loves the "finer things" in life. They talk about aristocratic titles, and how Brett will lose hers after her divorce is final. But the count says she doesn't need one, she's classy all on her own. He is very taken with her. Brett wants the champagne, but it isn't cold yet, and the count tells her she doesn't have to be drunk all the time. He enjoys the taste of wine, Brett enjoys its effects. When Brett wants to make a toast with the now-cold wine, the count won't let her, saying: "'This wine is too good for toast-drinking, my dear. You don't want to mix emotions up with a wine like that. You lose the taste.'" Chapter 7, pg. 59
Topic Tracking: Values 9
The count tells Jake how much he has seen. He has been in several wars, and he shows Jake and Brett his arrow wounds. For Brett, this wound helps make the count part of their group. Having lived so much, the count feels, makes him capable of enjoying things.
Topic Tracking: Values 10
They finish the champagne and then have a brandy. After this quiet drink, they head out to a club for dancing. Jake and Brett dance, and the count watches. They talk a little about Michael. Jake asks when the wedding is, and Brett tells him once her divorce is final and they get the money together. Jake, in a ridiculous moment, offers his help. They take a break and chat with the count.
When they go out to dance again, Brett tells Jake how unhappy she is. The music is loud, and the song is about cheating, fitting music for Brett and Jake. Perhaps uncomfortable with the music, or the large crowd, Jake and Brett decide to leave. The count stays, pays the drink bill, and is surrounded by women as soon as they leave.
They take a taxi to Brett's hotel, but she does not want Jake to come up to her room. They kiss, and Brett says melodramatically that she won't see him again. Expressing the opposite sentiment, they kiss again, and Brett pulls away and runs into her room. Jake takes a taxi home and goes to bed.
Jake does not see Brett until after her trip to San Sebastian. He does not see Robert Cohn either. Frances left for England, and Cohn went to the country. Cohn sends Jake a note telling him he is interested in going on Jake's fishing trip to Spain when he gets back.
With Brett gone, Jake enjoyed himself more. He worked, spent time with friends, and tried to get things ready for his trip to Spain with Bill Gorton. Bill arrived from America, spent a few days with Jake in Paris, then went for a short time to Vienna and Budapest. Bill is a successful writer, who overuses the word "wonderful," and who tells stories in short phrases, as though he were a telegram. He liked Budapest, but he was too drunk to remember much of Vienna. He did remember a boxing match he went to, between a local boy and a black foreigner. The black boxer was treated terribly, and Bill describes how he came to his aid.
The two go out for dinner. They pass a taxidermy shop, and Bill, who loves stuffed animals, tries to convince Jake to buy a stuffed dog. Jake won't buy one.
Topic Tracking: Values 11
The two have a drink. Bill drinks much more than Jake, and Jake doesn't think it's worth trying to catch up. Jake is often many drinks behind his friends. Bill got a few drinks at a hotel before he met Jake, and he saw Harvey Stone, who despite Jake's money, still looked terrible and acted depressed.
Jake and Bill leave and look for somewhere to eat dinner. A horse-cab passes, and Bill jokes about getting one stuffed for Jake for Christmas. A taxi drives by and stops. Brett is inside. Jake asks her to come have dinner with them, but Brett can't because she hasn't bathed yet. But she agrees to have a few drinks with them. Brett and Bill start talking about traveling, and how they like certain cities. Brett is very friendly and flirtatious, and Bill is too. Jake asks how her trip was, and she tells him it was interesting, but boring. She missed Paris. After a few drinks, Brett has to go, and they agree to meet her and Michael later that night.
After she leaves, Bill asks who Mike is. Jake tells him he's Brett's fiancé, and Bill is disappointed. They eat dinner at a favorite restaurant, which is now overcrowded with American tourists because someone put it in a guidebook. Praised as untouched by tourists, that evaluation is now completely wrong. Jake and Bill must wait to get a table. After dinner, they walk around Paris, which is beautiful at night. They walk some more, and eventually decide to go meet Brett and Mike.
Mike is very drunk, and happy to see Jake. Jake suspects he and Brett just had sex. Mike has a little cut on his nose from his travels, when an old lady's bags fell on him. He is very affectionate with Brett, and keeps saying how lovely she is. Jake introduces Bill to Mike, calling Mike a bankrupt, which Mike seems quite proud of being. Mike is very interested in having sex with Brett again, and he asks if they can turn in early. Brett tells him to behave. Bill invites Mike to a boxing match, but Mike can't go because he wants to have sex with Brett again. Brett tells Jake and Bill to go, and she'll take Mike home with her. She does not seem at all embarrassed to have this going on in front of Jake. Mike, knowing sex is imminent, gets even more vocal in his praise of Brett. He apologizes for not going to the fight, but he doesn't really care about that.
Bill and Jake decide to go to the fight. Jake, who has just watched his love go off to have sex with another man, comments on how happy Mike was to see Brett. Bill, who doesn't seem to get it, tells Jake he shouldn't be surprised by that, as Brett is quite a catch.
Jake receives a letter from Cohn, who is vacationing in the country. He wants to know when to come back for the fishing trip. Jake writes back to tell him he and Bill are leaving soon, and will meet him in Bayonne, then travel to Pamplona. He sends the note, then goes out to see Mike and Brett. Mike asks Jake if he would mind if they went with him on his trip to Spain. Jake says okay, and Mike presses him to make sure it's all right. Brett is annoyed that Mike put Jake in this awkward position. Jake tells Mike when he and Bill are arriving, and they make plans for meeting in Bayonne. They discuss what to bring, and Brett sounds excited. Then Mike heads to the barbershop, and Jake walks Brett back to her hotel so she can take a bath.
Brett asks Jake if Cohn will be coming on the trip to Spain. She's afraid it might be difficult for him, because they were together in San Sebastian. Both Brett and Cohn lied to him. Jake takes it all calmly, and sarcastically tells her congratulations. Then Brett starts to tell Jake about Cohn, how he acted during the trip. This is very insensitive, but Jake only makes one crack. Jake suggests that Brett find out if Cohn still wants to come.
Jake doesn't see Brett until the night before the trip to Spain. Cohn not only doesn't mind coming, he's actually excited about seeing Brett, even though he knows her fiancé will be there too. They expect this means Cohn will behave well. Mike and Brett will travel to San Sebastian, then meet them in Pamplona. Bill and Jake take the morning train to Bayonne.
On the train, Bill and Jake aren't able to get tickets to the first lunch service, and have to wait until past four to eat. There are a group of Catholics on the train, and they have booked the dining car all afternoon. Jake and Bill can't even bribe their way into an earlier lunch. There is an American family seated near them, and they tell Jake and Bill that the Catholics who've hogged all the lunches are American pilgrims, on their way to Biarritz and Lourdes. Bill gets very angry at this, because he thinks the Catholics are getting special treatment. The family decides to try to get some food, and they walk back to the dining car.
Topic Tracking: Religion 2
Topic Tracking: Gender 6
Bill and Jake are able to at least get sandwiches, and they eat their snack and watch the countryside go by. There is a brief stop, and when Jake and Bill get back on, the American family is there. They got to eat, because the waiter mistook them for some of the pilgrims. They sat down, and three of the pilgrims got sent back. The father comments on how strong the Catholic Church is, and Bill accosts a priest and asks him when Protestants get to eat. The priest doesn't understand.
Topic Tracking: Religion 3
Jake and Bill finally get to eat. The country they travel through is quaint and beautiful. They arrive in Bayonne after dinner. They say good-bye to the family, who is traveling on to Biarritz (but not for a pilgrimage; they want to swim and relax). Cohn is waiting at the station. Jake introduces Bill, and the three of them take a cab to the hotel, where they each have a nice room.
The next morning they have breakfast and walk around the town. They arrange for a car to take them to Pamplona, and have a drink in a pleasant café. They go back to the hotel to settle the bill before the car shows up, and Jake sees a big cockroach on the floor. Despite this, Jake insists it was a very clean hotel. Jake often tries to ignore the bad and focus on the good. The car shows up and they head out into the green hills. This is near the north of Spain, Basque country, and there are lots of farms and villages nestled in the pleasant hills. The car crosses the border into Spain. While they wait at the border crossing, and old man with a goat tries to cross, but he has no passport. The border police expect he will just cross somewhere else, illegally. They don't really care.
Everything checks out and they drive into Spain. They drive through the mountains, and when they come out the land looks fertile and green. They follow the white road over some hills and past a castle. Jake turns around and Cohn is asleep, missing the whole show. Jake does not wake him. He sees Pamplona in the distance. They drive into town, past the bull-ring, and stop in front of the Hotel Montoya. They sit in the downstairs dining room, which is nice and cool, and they have lunch, a big Spanish meal. Cohn doesn't want all the meat, but Bill and Jake refuse to interpret for him. Cohn acts strangely, because he doesn't know if Jake and Bill know about his time with Brett.
Jake mentions that Mike and Brett should arrive tonight, but Cohn says he doesn't think they will. Cohn says this as though he knows something Jake and Bill don't. They are annoyed. Bill bets that they will arrive tonight, and Cohn agrees to the bet. Jake tries to calm them down, but the bet is on. They go for coffee, and Cohn goes out to look for a barbershop, so he can look nice for Brett.
With Cohn gone, Bill asks Jake if he thinks he'll win the bet. Jake is doubtful; Brett and Mike are always late. But Bill couldn't help but bet, he was so annoyed with Cohn and his attitude.
Topic Tracking: Anti-Semitism 3
In the afternoon Bill went to write letters and Cohn, finding all the barbershops closed, went home for a bath. Jake walks around town, and goes to see the man who orders his tickets for the bull-fights. After this Jake sees a cathedral, and he goes inside to pray. A lapsed Catholic, Jake's prayer goes a little off course, as he eventually ends up praying for money. Then he starts thinking more about how he could make money than about prayer. So he leaves, a bit disgusted with himself.
Topic Tracking: Religion 4
That night at dinner, Cohn is very well-groomed, and this makes Jake angry. He knows it's for Brett's benefit. They are still eating when the train arrives, so Cohn offers to meet it, and Jake won't let him go alone. Bill stays and finishes dinner. Waiting at the train, Jake notices that:
"I have never seen a man in civil life as nervous as Robert Cohn--nor as eager. I was enjoying it. It was lousy to enjoy it, but I felt lousy. Cohn had a wonderful quality of bringing out the worst in anybody." Chapter 10, pg. 98
Topic Tracking: Anti-Semitism 4
The train arrives, but Brett and Mike are not on it. Cohn offers to forgive the bet, but Bill is too proud. They receive a telegram from Brett and Mike, saying they have stopped for the night in San Sebastian. Jake takes some pleasure in mentioning to Cohn that Brett is in San Sebastian with another man: "I was blind, unforgivingly jealous of what had happened to him. The fact that I took it as a matter of course did not alter that any. I certainly did hate him." Chapter 10, pg. 99
They plan to leave the next day for Burguete to start their fishing trip. Jake turns in early, and Bill and Cohn stay out late together. In the morning Jake buys the tickets for Burguete. But Cohn isn't going with them. He tells Jake that he's going to San Sebastian. He thinks Brett and Mike are waiting for him there. He tells Jake that he wrote Brett suggesting they meet there. Cohn doesn't care if Jake knows about him and Brett, and Jake is very annoyed, but says nothing. Jake goes to find Bill, and Cohn searches for a barbershop again.
Jake finds Bill in the hotel and tells him about Cohn. Last night, Cohn took great pleasure in spilling to Bill all the secrets about his affair with Brett. Cohn told Bill he had a date with Brett at San Sebastian, and Jake gets mad. They complain some more about Cohn. Bill had an awful night with him; Cohn only wanted to talk about Brett. Jake tells Bill about the trip Cohn and Brett took to San Sebastian. Bill is surprised, because Brett could be with anyone. Bill is glad Cohn isn't coming along, and he thinks a nice fishing trip, with lots of wine to drink, will make things better. They head out for a drink.
Topic Tracking: Anti-Semitism 5
That afternoon Bill and Jake board the bus to Burguete. The bus is very crowded, with people sitting on the roof and the floor. Jake buys a couple bottles of wine and joins Bill on the bus. Cohn waits to see them off. There are many Basque peasants on the bus, and they are drinking from wine-skins, which they offer to Bill and Jake. When Jake takes a drink, the Basque makes a loud sound, causing Jake to spill wine on himself. He tricks Jake with this again later, but it is all in good fun. Jake and Bill enjoy their company. Wine is the currency, and Jake and Bill offer theirs, and drink from the peasants. When the bus finally leaves, the Basques wave good-bye to Cohn, but Jake and Bill do not. They move into the countryside, and there is a cool breeze on top of the bus, where they're sitting.
Bill and Jake try to learn how to drink properly from the wine-skins. You have to raise it high above you, and let it spurt into your mouth. Someone demonstrates, taking a long drink from his friend's wine-skin. They pass through the green lands to an area that is barren and dusty. When they drive into a town, they are suddenly in a fertile valley with a nice stream. They stop at a posada, and Jake and Bill have a drink. Some of the Basques come in, and they buy Jake and Bill a drink, who in turn buy them one.
Topic Tracking: Values 12
After this brief stop the bus heads out again. Bill is talking to one of the Basques, and another starts speaking to Jake in English. He wants to talk about America. The Basque was there a long time ago, but he hasn't been recently because his wife doesn't like to travel. They are both going to see the bull-fights in Pamplona, and Jake tells him about fishing in Burguete. It is a very short conversation, as speaking in English seems to tire out the Basque.
They climb higher into the mountains, passing forests and plains before they reach Burguete. They see the monastery of Roncesvalles. The bus stops in Burguete, and Jake and Bill walk to the inn. It was very cold in Burguete, and inside their hotel rooms. The rate is not cheap, so Bill and Jake make sure to drink lots of the inn's wine to even up the price. Jake and Bill have some dinner, a lot of wine, and then climb into bed to keep warm. Jake feels content.
Jake wakes up the next morning to a nice day. Bill is still asleep, so Jake dresses quietly and goes outside to dig for worms. The innkeeper is awake by now, and Jake asks her for coffee and a lunch they can take with them. Bill jokes with Jake when he comes upstairs; he saw Jake out the window, but he did not want to leave his bed and help. He will get up for breakfast, though. He jokes some more, asking Jake to show some Irony and Pity, singing the words to the tune of "The Bells are Ringing For Me And My Gal." It's a New York thing, he says, and he tries to get Jake to be ironical, but he's not up for it. His life is ironical enough as it is, with his wound and his love. Bill asks him to say something pitiful, and Jake says Robert Cohn. But that's the best he can do. Bill makes fun of him:
"'You're an expatriate. You've lost touch with the soil. You get precious. Fake European standards have ruined you. You drink yourself to death. You become obsessed by sex. You spend all your time talking, not working. You are an expatriate, see. You hang around cafés.'" Chapter 12, pg. 115
Jake plays along, says that sounds like a good life. It is his life. Bill jokes about impotence, and he feels bad. In jest, he tells Jake he shouldn't talk about his injury, making it a mystery like Henry's bicycle. Too much on the subject of impotence, Bill changes the subject. Probably uncomfortable with the last topic, Bill jokes around some more, trying to lighten the mood.
Topic Tracking: Gender 7
Bill and Jake head out to fish. They follow a path up and through the countryside. It will be a long walk to the Irati River, where they plan to fish. They reach the river, and Bill goes upriver to fly-fish, and Jake stays to use the worms. Each man fishes alone. The river is full of trout, and Jake does well, catching six. He guts and packs them, and reads in the shade while he waits for Bill. He's reading a book by A.E.W. Mason about a man who was lost in the Alps while his lover and her lover waited years to see if he was found.
Bill returns. He has four trout, but they are bigger than Jake's. They get the wine and start lunch. They have eggs and chicken, and Bill wants to start with the egg first, then the chicken. He makes a joke about William Jennings Bryan, the lawyer who defended evolution. Bryan died yesterday, and Bill recites a humorous grace before eating, then launches into some jokes about evolution.
Topic Tracking: Religion 5
After all that wine, they are pretty drunk, and they joke around some more. Then they decide to take a nap before the long walk home. As they are falling asleep, Bill asks Jake about Brett, if he was ever in love with her. Jake, who still loves Brett, answers Bill as though his love for Brett was all in the past. Then Bill wants to know if Jake is a Catholic, and Jake answers that question more honestly. Then they fall asleep.
Topic Tracking: Religion 6
Bill wakes up first and starts to pack. He had a nice dream, but he can't remember it. They walk back toward the inn, and it is dark when they get home.
Their trip to Burguete lasts five days. The fishing was good, and they met a nice Englishman named Harris, who came fishing with them twice. The weather was warm and pleasant, and they found a nice place to swim. They do not hear from Cohn, Mike, or Brett.
One morning at breakfast there is a letter for Jake. It is from Mike. Brett passed out on the train, and they stayed over in San Sebastian so she could rest. They will be in Pamplona on Tuesday. Jake asks Harris what day it is; it's Wednesday. They will have to take the bus to Pamplona that afternoon. Harris is sad to hear this, and Jake asks him if he'd like to go with them to Pamplona. But Harris says no, he wants to stay and fish.
Jake is with Bill when he receives another telegram. It is from Cohn, and says simply "I come Thursday." The brevity of this note annoys Jake and Bill. Still, they send Cohn a telegram telling him they will arrive tonight. Jake and Bill spend their last afternoon at Burguete with Harris, visiting the Roncesvalles monastery.
Topic Tracking: Religion 7
After the monastery they go to a pub for a few drinks. Harris fits in very well, and Bill likes him a lot. Harris likes to buy the wine, which also increases Bill's appreciation of him. They all have fun, and hope to fish together again. They have lunch together, and Harris gives them his address in London, and also a gift of fishing flies, which he tied himself. Jake and Bill are touched at this gesture.
In the afternoon Bill and Jake reach Pamplona, and check in at the Hotel Montoya. The town is getting ready for the fiesta. Jake meets his old pal Montoya, and learns that his friends arrived yesterday. Jake asks Montoya about the bulls, and tells him he plans to take them all to the desencajonada. Montoya wants to know if Jake's friend Bill is an aficionado. An aficionado is one with passion for the bull-fights. Montoya and Jake are both aficionados. Montoya keeps photos of all the bull-fighters with aficion, and they always stay at his hotel. Montoya greatly respects those with aficion, and:
"For one who had aficion he could forgive anything. At once he forgave me all my friends. Without his ever saying anything they were simply a little something shameful between us, like the spilling open of the horses in bull-fighting." Chapter 13, pg. 132
Jake finds Bill, and they go looking for the others. Bill wants to know about the bull-fights. Jake has tickets for the unloading of the bulls. When the bulls are let into the corral the steers keep them from hurting each other. The steers, which are just being friendly, are often killed by the bulls.
Topic Tracking: Gender 8
They find Brett, Mike, and Cohn at a café. Brett and Mike are wearing Basque berets. Mike and Brett are happy to see them; they don't want to be stuck alone with Cohn anymore. Mike and Brett treat Cohn coolly. The subject of the war comes up, and Mike tells an army story. It's not about the war, but about how he was going to a dinner and needed medals to wear. He didn't have any, so he borrowed some from his tailor. The dinner went awry, and he didn't wear the medals, so he gave them away. Mike got in trouble with the tailor, but he couldn't repay him because he went bankrupt. He had too much fun and lost all his money. He owes people money all over Europe and England.
They walk to see the bulls unload. Jake and Brett are walking alone together, until Cohn comes up, uninvited, and joins them. They walk down the street, and some of the villagers gawk at Brett.
Topic Tracking: Gender 9
They arrive at the corral. They climb up a ladder and watch from the stone wall that encloses the corral. The bulls are waiting in cages. Everyone from the town is watching the desencajonada. The steers are let into the corral, and the bull's cages are moved against the corral. The bull bursts out of the cage, huge and muscular. The steers keep back, but the bull still charges them. A man makes some noise, to redirect the bull's charge, and the steers are safe for now. Jake tells Brett to watch the bull, who uses his horns like a boxer uses his fists. Another bull is let into the corral. The bull charges, and runs into one of the steers. Jake tells Brett not to watch the carnage, but she's mesmerized. The bull wounds the other steer slightly, and then calms down. The first steer lies apart from the group, dying. When the third bull comes in, the steer easily makes him comfortable with the group.
After the unloading the group goes to a café. Brett is especially impressed. Cohn is worried the last bulls are too calm and won't fight well. But Jake says no:
"'They're only dangerous when they're alone, or only two or three of them together....They only want to kill when they're alone. Of course, if you went in there you'd probably detach one of them from the herd, and he'd be dangerous.'" Chapter 13, pp. 140-41
Robert comments on how bad it is to be a steer, and Mike, who is sick of Cohn, tells him he thought Cohn would like the quiet life of a steer, since he's always following Brett around. Mike tears into Cohn, who came uninvited to San Sebastian and then followed Brett, his fiancée, around like a steer. He criticizes Cohn for being quiet, cheap, and sober. Bill finally takes Cohn away.
Brett reprimands Mike for his lack of manners, though she agrees with everything he said about Cohn. She hates him too. Jake is silent. They talk some more about Cohn. Mike asks Jake to ask Cohn to behave.
Topic Tracking: Anti-Semitism 6
Mike tells Jake about the romantic letters Cohn wrote to Brett. He even called her Circe. Unromantic Mike finds all this very funny.
Jake sees Montoya before dinner. They talk about the bulls, which they don't think are very good. Bill tells Jake that Cohn feels bad, and they fear dinner will be another disaster. But dinner is okay. Brett looks great, Mike behaves, and Cohn is quiet. He likes to look at Brett, happy that everyone knows he'd been with her. Bill and Mike get along well. Trying to convince himself that his friends haven't ruined his vacation, he thinks:
"It was like certain dinners I remember from the war. There was much wine, an ignored tension, and a feeling of things coming that you could not prevent happening. Under the wine I lost the disgusted feeling and was happy. It seemed they were all such nice people." Chapter 13, pg. 146
Jake, drunk, goes up to bed and reads some Turgenieff. He hears everyone else go to bed, and he tries to fall asleep himself. But he has had a lot to drink and the room spins when he closes his eyes. He lays awake and thinks. He thinks about how he used to sleep with the light on. He thinks about Brett Ashley, and their friendship. He figures he was really getting something for nothing, since he can't have sex with her, and so he shouldn't be surprised to be finally given the "bill":
"I thought I had paid for everything. Not like the woman pays and pays and pays. No idea of retribution or punishment. Just exchange of values. You gave something up and got something else. Or you worked for something. You paid some way for everything that was any good." Chapter 14, pg. 148
Topic Tracking: Gender 10
Topic Tracking: Values 13
Jake thinks about how mean Mike was to Cohn, and how much he enjoyed watching Cohn get hurt. But this feeling makes him disgusted afterwards. He thinks about the way the English talk, so spare with their words. Jake tries to read. He knows that reading now, so sleepy, drunk, and upset, will make it seem as though the events of the book have happened to him. He likes that idea.
Topic Tracking: Religion 8
Two quiet days pass. The town prepares for the fiesta. At night there is a small parade. Jake spends the mornings reading and walking around town. Brett and Mike sleep late. There is no trouble, and no one is drunk. Even when Cohn follows Brett and Jake around, there is no trouble. Everyone is at ease. On the last day before the fiesta the weather is fine and everyone is happy,.
The fiesta begins at noon on Sunday, July 6th, erupting with people. The festival is a time to drink and party, but San Fermin is also religious. Some people are drinking, some are going to Mass, and some are doing both.
Topic Tracking: Values 14
Topic Tracking: Religion 9
Jake meets Cohn in one of the outdoor cafés. They have a drink, and out in the square a rocket announces the start of the festival. Another rocket is fired, and the smoke hangs ominously over the square. It is pierced by the crowd of onlookers and a parade of musicians and riau-riau dancers. A man plays a reed-pipe and a group of children follow him around. The dancers get closer. They are all men, and have a sign welcoming the foreigners. Cohn wants to know who the foreigners are. They are all foreigners, him most of all.
The fiesta lasts for seven days, and:
"The things that happened could only have happened during a fiesta. Everything became quite unreal finally and it seemed as though nothing could have any consequences. It seemed out of place to think of consequences during the fiesta." Chapter 15, pg. 154
In the afternoon there is a religious procession. Everyone is going into church, but Brett is not allowed in because she does not have a hat. They walk outside instead, and a group of dancers circle around Brett. The dancers lead them into a wine-shop.
Topic Tracking: Gender 11
Topic Tracking: Religion 10
Jake goes down the street to buy a wine-skin. The dancers do not want him to leave. It is a big party inside the wine-shop. Their attention is focused on Brett, whom they have given a garlic necklace. They are teaching her how to drink from the wine-skins.
Jake goes looking for a shop, but he cannot find it and must ask directions. He buys two wine-skins for a good price and has them filled with wine. When he gets back he finds Brett and Bill surrounded by the dancers. Mike is eating and drinking with some men, and Cohn is asleep in the back room. Not used to drinking, he passed out. He wakes up two hours later. They go out to have dinner, but Brett wants to have a bath first.
Dinner is good, and Jake wants to be up early to see the bulls run through the streets. He can't find his key so he sleeps in Cohn's room. All the others stay up, and are at the ring for the running. Jake wakes late, and the bulls have already started. He puts on Cohn's coat and watches them from his window. One man falls, but there is little blood. Jake goes back to bed, and talks to Cohn a little when he comes in. Cohn liked the show, but now he's tired. They both go to sleep.
They get up in the afternoon and have lunch, then go to one of the crowded cafés. Jake has six seats for the bull-fights. Three at ringside, and three higher up. He and Bill sit at the ring, Cohn, Mike, and Brett sit above, and Jake sells the last ticket. Bill tells Cohn the best way to watch so that he doesn't get disturbed by the horses. Cohn isn't worried; in fact, he's afraid he'll be bored. Jake tells him to watch the picador, not the horses, especially if they get hit. Brett is a little worried, but Jake is reassuring. Jake and Bill go back to the hotel before the fight. Bill complains about Cohn's attitude. At the hotel they see Montoya. He asks them if they want to meet Pedro Romero, one of the bull-fighters. They enter to see a young boy being dressed in his bull-fighting costume. He is only nineteen and gorgeous. They exchange a few words. Montoya thinks Romero might be the one, a real torero.
Topic Tracking: Anti-Semitism 7
At the bull-fight Romero is wonderful. Jake thinks he might have aficion. A bull-fight always disturbs and exhilarates the emotions, because of the triumph and the gore. They meet up with the others, who are all impressed, especially by Romero. Brett has a crush on him. She didn't even mind the horses. Cohn, on the other hand, nearly got sick, and Mike enjoys teasing him about it. Cohn's comment about being bored comes back to haunt him as Mike insults him.
Topic Tracking: Anti-Semitism 8
Topic Tracking: Gender 12
Topic Tracking: Values 15
The bull-fight the next day is even better. Brett sits ringside with Mike and Jake. Jake explains things to her so that the bloodshed will seem more purposeful. He explains to her how and when to watch the bull, and the work of the bull-fighter. He shows her how close Romero always works to the bull. Romero never compromises himself, and his bull-fighting is honest and pure. He does not have to show how close he is to the bull, and this is what makes him different from all the others, and more real. Mike sees that Brett is falling in love with Romero. He wants to try and stop it, but Jake does not. He does not have to act jealous, showing everyone how close they are; he knows Brett loves him.
Topic Tracking: Values 16
The bull-fight leaves them all exhausted. Romero does not fight the next day, and it is not as good. There is no bull-fighting the following day, but the fiesta continues.
There is rain this morning. Foggy and gloomy, the bull-fights are canceled for the day, and the fiesta moves inside. Jake is shaving in his room when Montoya knocks. The American ambassador had phoned Montoya, and wanted Romero and another bull-fighter, Marcial Lalanda, to come over for dinner. Marcial is out of town, so Romero would have to go alone. Montoya is worried about Romero; he wants this wonderful bull-fighter to stay away from any bad influences. Too much partying could hurt his performance. Montoya trusts and respects Jake, so he asks his opinion. Jake tells Montoya not to give Romero the message, and Montoya is very pleased with this answer. He has seen other bull-fighters overindulge, and he doesn't want that to happen to Romero. He's too special.
After Montoya leaves Jake goes for a short walk around the square. It is still raining. He looks for the others, and finds them eating dinner in the hotel. They are all extremely drunk, and Bill is buying shoe-shines for Mike. Jake has some wine, but feels out of place being so sober. He sees Pedro Romero at the next table. Romero asks Jake to join him and his friend, a bull-fight critic. Romero knows some English, and he and Jake start to talk. Romero wants to know the English word for Corrida de toros, which translates poorly into bull-fight. Romero asks Jake how many times he's seen him fight, and Jake mistakenly answers three. Not wanting to explain, Jake has to lie a little. Romero is straightforward about his performance, but never conceited. The critic is excited to see Romero fight tomorrow; he doesn't feel like he's seen all that Romero can do. Romero asks Jake how the bulls for tomorrow look. They are good, he says. The critic complains that their horns are too small, but Romero, who will be inches from them, doesn't think so.
Brett calls to Jake from the next table. Mike, drunk and jealous, yells to Jake: "'Tell him that bulls have no balls.'" Chapter 16, 175 Actually it is steers that are castrated. Jake, impotent himself, tries to ignore Mike. Brett, intrigued by Romero, wants to be introduced. Jake's friends join him at Romero's table. Bill wants Jake to tell Romero he's ashamed to be a writer; Jake just passes on the writer part. Romero asks what Mike does, and Jake tells him he gets drunk, and he waits to marry Brett. Mike yells out again about castrated bulls. Jake tells him to be quiet. Mike is very drunk, and his jealousy is making him behave badly. Jake is calm. Brett and Romero are deep in conversation. Jake sees Montoya come in, and when he sees the drunken company Romero is keeping, and Jake at the table, he walks by and ignores Jake. Jake, who had earlier conspired with Montoya to keep Romero safe, now has him surrounded by drunks and a loose woman. Montoya's respect for him is gone.
Mike wants to make a toast, and Jake cuts him off to avoid a scene. Then Mike starts tearing into Cohn. Mike and Cohn almost have a fist fight, but Jake separates them. Mike and Jake walk into the square. Soon Brett and Bill join them, and they watch the fireworks king try to get his creations up in the wet weather. He doesn't have much luck.
Topic Tracking: Anti-Semitism 9
They go looking for a drink. Edna, an English friend of Bill's from Biarritz, has joined the group. Mike starts flirting with Edna, hoping to make Brett jealous. She's just disgusted. Bill, Mike, and Edna go off, leaving Brett, Jake, and Cohn. Brett is rude to Cohn so he will leave. Brett complains about Cohn's behavior. She says Jake would never act like that. Jake says no; and he comments on how hard it's been for Mike to see her with Cohn. It hasn't been easy for him either, but he doesn't tell her that. Brett likes that Jake does not seem to suffer. As they walk through town they notice Cohn is following them. Brett tells Jake: "'I hate him, too....I hate his damned suffering.'" Chapter 16, pg. 182
Topic Tracking: Gender 13
Brett asks Jake if he still loves her; he does. Brett believes she is falling in love with Romero. Jake tells her not to, it won't have a good end. Brett feels terrible. She asks Jake:
""Oh, darling, please stay by me. Please stay by me and see me through this....I don't say it's right. It is right though for me. God knows, I've never felt such a bitch.'" Chapter 16, pg. 184
Jake can't refuse. He loves her, so he gives her what she wants--he takes her to Romero.
Topic Tracking: Anti-Semitism 10
Topic Tracking: Values 17
They find Romero, and there is a definite chemistry between him and Brett. She reads his fortune, holding his hand in hers. After some more conversation, Jake gets up to leave. Romero looks at Jake to see if this is okay. And when Jake returns twenty minutes later, they are gone. All Jake can allow himself to think is: "It was not pleasant." Chapter 16, pg. 187
Jake finds Edna, Mike, and Bill outside a bar. They got thrown out for fighting; some people Mike owed money to were there, and a fight broke out. Bill stood up for Mike, and got in a scuffle too. Jake takes them all to a café. Cohn shows up, looking for Brett. He can't find her, and he knows she was last with Jake. Cohn is standing up, ready for a fight. Jake tells him he doesn't know where Brett is, but Mike does. He tells Cohn that Brett and Romero went off together. Cohn calls Jake a pimp, and Jake swings at him. Cohn ducks, then hits Jake a couple times, knocking his friend out. Cohn also knocks Mike to the ground. When Jake comes to, Cohn is gone. Mike complains about Cohn, and Edna asks Mike if he's really a bankrupt. Yes, he's so broke he borrowed money from Montoya tonight. Jake is angry Mike would misuse his friend that way. Jake goes back to the hotel, alone.
Topic Tracking: Gender 14
Jake's walk to the hotel is surreal. Everything looks new to him. He remembers coming home once from a football game. The game was in another town, and he had been kicked in the head during the game. Everything about his hometown had felt new to him, walking and holding his suitcase full of football equipment. As Jake crosses the square everything feels new like that, and he's carrying a phantom suitcase with him. He walks up to his room, and Bill asks Jake to go see Cohn, who is not doing well. Reluctantly Jake goes, taking his phantom suitcase with him. He won't let Cohn call him Jake. Cohn is crying, and asks for forgiveness. He tells Jake how awful things are, and how much pain Brett has caused him. A terrible friend, Cohn doesn't realize Jake has been through hell, too, and acted much the better man. Still confused from the concussion, Jake really wants to take a bath. He is barely listening to Cohn. Cohn insists on shaking hands with Jake before he goes. Cohn is leaving in the morning. Jake finds a tub and tries to take a bath, but there is no water. He can't get clean, so he goes down to his room and sleeps.
Jake wakes the next morning, and goes looking for Bill and Edna. He promised to take Edna to see the bulls run through the street. There is a fence set up along the route, and Jake watches from there because there is not enough time to reach the bull-ring. Two drunks wander into the path of the bulls, hoping to be hit. The police pull them out. One man from the crowd is speared by the bull's horns. The bull waves the man's body in the air before dropping him. The man lays still on the street.
Jake goes to a café for some breakfast. The waiter asks if anything happened during the running. Jake tells him about the man who was gored. He shows him where the horn hit. The waiter is disgusted that people will die just for a sport. To him, it is ridiculous. Two men walk by, and yell out that the man is dead. His name was Vicente Girones, and he came to the festival every year. He had a wife and children, who have to come to Pamplona to get his body. That afternoon, Romero kills the bull that killed Girones. It is a tradition to cut the ear off a defeated bull, and Romero gives the bull's ear to Brett. When she leaves the Pamplona she forgets the ear, which she had stuffed in the back of a dresser drawer.
Topic Tracking: Values 18
Jake goes back to the hotel to lay down. Bill and Mike come in and tell Jake about the morning show. About twenty people were hurt, and several men kept running into the ring, hoping to be gored. The three have a couple of beers, and Jake learns what happened last night. After Cohn knocked Jake out, he went to find Romero and Brett. Cohn, who was a prize-winning boxer in college, beat Romero up badly. He would get knocked down, then get half-way up, and get knocked down again. Cohn wanted to take Brett away, but she wanted nothing to do with him. Cohn started to cry, and tried to shake hands with Romero. When he leaned down, Romero socked him. Romero told him to leave in the morning, or else. Brett stayed, and is looking after the badly beaten Romero. Mike feels awful, having his fiancé off with Romero, but he can't leave Brett.
Topic Tracking: Gender 15
Topic Tracking: Anti-Semitism 11
Mike thinks Brett deserves a little happiness, since her husband, Ashley, went crazy after the war, and used to threaten to kill her. Mike decides to go to bed. Jake mentions to Bill that someone was killed in the street, but Bill is indifferent.
It is the last day of the fiesta. They are eating lunch and drinking in a café as the crowds collect in the town. Brett joins them and has a drink. Cohn is gone. Brett heard about the fight with Jake. She tells Jake that Cohn hurt Romero badly. His face is cut up, but he will go on this afternoon. Mike starts to tease Brett about her boyfriends, especially her bull-fighter. Tired of Mike, Brett asks Jake to take a walk with her. She tells him that Romero's people do not like her or the relationship. The fact that her ex-boyfriend beat Romero up probably did not help, either.
Topic Tracking: Anti-Semitism 12
They walk around town and then to the church. Brett wants to go in and pray, but she gets very uncomfortable once inside. Brett asks Jake to look after Mike, then she goes off to meet Romero.
Topic Tracking: Religion 11
Jake goes to check on Mike. He is depressed. Jake lets him sleep and has lunch with Bill. For the bull-fight, Brett, Jake, and Bill sit by the ring. The bull-fighters enter, with their attendants carrying their swords and muletas The muletas, fancy capes, are stained with the blood of the bulls. Brett is fascinated.
Topic Tracking: Gender 16
There are three matadors: Romero, Belmonte, and Marcial. There is a procession, and each bull-fighter gives his formal cape to a friend. Romero gives his to Brett. Jake, the aficionado, mistakenly tells her to spread it in front of her; it is supposed to be in her lap.
Belmonte has the first bull. He is the oldest of the three matadors, and just out of retirement. He was so good in his youth he has been mythologized. Unable to live up to the myth, Belmonte cannot please the crowd. They want something that never existed. Belmonte is also sick, and he cannot give them what they want:
"In bull-fighting they speak of the terrain of the bull and the terrain of the bull-fighter. As long as a bull-fighter stays in his own terrain he is comparatively safe. Each time he enters into the terrain of the bull he is in great danger. Belmonte, in his best days, worked always in the terrain of the bull. This way he gave the sensation of coming tragedy." Chapter 18, pp. 213-214
Now Belmonte chooses bulls whose horns are small, so even when he works in the terrain of the bull, the danger seems minimal. The crowd jeers and throws things at him.
The crowd loves Romero. It is Romero's honesty that hurts Belmonte. Belmonte came out of retirement to upstage Marcial's trickery and insincere work, but the appearance of Romero has ruined all that. This is because Romero does everything perfectly. The crowd is mesmerized. Romero loves his work, and he does most of it near Brett:
"Because he did not look up to ask if it pleased he did it all for himself inside, and it strengthened him, and yet he did it for her, too. But he did not do it for her at any loss to himself." Chapter 18, pg. 216
His first bull cannot see well, and Romero has to lead the bull to him with his body instead of his cape. This is very dangerous, and Romero shifts his body away at the last second. He is very focused; the work is hard. Some spectators do not understand and think that Romero is being cowardly. His second bull is good. Romero is so perfect, it is painful to watch. The crowd doesn't want it to end. When Romero kills the bull, he presents the ear to Brett. Then the crowd carries him out of the ring. Brett and the others move slowly through the large crowd, feeling drained after the bull-fight. Jake and Bill go for a drink. Bill wonders what Cohn will do. Jake thinks he'll get back with Frances, but he doesn't care. The group is leaving tomorrow. Bill describes the festival as a "wonderful nightmare," and they have some drinks. Jake gets very drunk. He goes to the hotel and sees Mike. He learns that Brett left town with Romero. She looked for Jake, but she could not find him. Jake cannot believe she's gone.
Jake goes to his room to try and sleep. The fiesta is loud outside. After a while, Jake goes downstairs to meet Bill and Mike. They sit down to dinner, but the group feels incomplete.
In the morning the fiesta is over. Jake wakes late and sits in a café, watching people clean up the remnants of the festival. Bill joins him. Bill is going to Paris, Mike to Saint Jean de Luz, and Jake wants to spend a week in San Sebastian. They decide to rent a car and drive as far as Bayonne together. They settle up at the hotel and wait for the car. Montoya, disgusted with what happened with Romero, stays away from them. The car arrives and they leave Pamplona and travel through the fertile Basque country. They arrive in Bayonne, buy Bill his train ticket, then go to Biarritz for a drink. They have several rounds, each paying, but Mike is too broke to buy very many. He tells them Brett doesn't have any money, and this worries Jake.
Topic Tracking: Anti-Semitism 13
The three go for a drive along the coast. They leave Mike at Saint Jean, and always the bankrupt, he leaves Jake to pay for the rental car. Bill and Jake drive to Bayonne, and Jake wishes him off. Bill will have left for America by the time Jake is back in Paris.
Jake rents a room in Bayonne. Back in France, Jake can rest. There is no one to party with, and that's okay. He has dinner and actually savors the wine, rather than drinking to get drunk. When he pays the waiter, he overtips him. Jake likes how simple France is--you tip someone well, and they like you. You know where you stand in France, but in Spain it is not so clear.
Topic Tracking: Values 19
Jake takes the train the next morning to San Sebastian. He feels silly and somewhat uncomfortable to be returning to Spain. But San Sebastian has good weather, a beautiful landscape, and good swimming. Jake takes a nap, then goes swimming. Afterwards Jake walks around town and has a drink. Jake returns to the hotel for dinner, and there are a group of bicyclists there. There is a big race going on, and they stopped in San Sebastian for the night. Jake talks to the team manager about bicycle racing, which he knows little about. The manager wants Jake to see them depart tomorrow, but Jake sleeps very late and misses it. He drinks coffee and reads the paper. Life is quiet and good. He takes a long swim in the afternoon. When he returns to the hotel, there is a telegram for him. It is from Brett, who wants him to come to Madrid. She needs his help. Moments later another telegram, with the same message, arrives. Jake asks the concierge for the train schedule to Madrid, and he sends Brett word of his arrival tomorrow. Disgusted with himself, he thinks:
"That seemed to handle it. That was it. Send a girl off with one man. Introduce her to another to go off with him. Now go and bring her back. And sign the wire with love. That was it all right." Chapter 19, pg. 239
Jake takes the overnight train and does not sleep. The train reaches Madrid, "the end of the line. All trains finish there. They don't go on anywhere." Chapter 19, pp. 239-240 He takes a cab to Brett's cheap hotel, the Montana. The maid takes Jake to Brett. She kisses him distractedly, and then tells him how awful things are. She tells him she sent Romero away. It was for his own good. Brett says she doesn't want to talk about it, but she cannot help bringing it up. It seems that Romero was somewhat ashamed of her. He wanted to marry her, to keep her close. But she had to become more feminine first. She jokes about it, but the idea frightens her.
Topic Tracking: Gender 17
Topic Tracking: Anti-Semitism 14
Brett starts to cry. She says she's going back to Mike. She and Jake leave the hotel, and learn that Romero paid the bill. Jake and Brett go for a drink. Brett wants to talk about Romero--how young he is, how he'd only been with two women. Brett feared her presence and influence would hurt his bull-fighting, which was so important to him. Brett misses him, but she feels good, too: "'You know it makes one feel rather good deciding not to be a bitch.'" Chapter 19, pg. 245
Topic Tracking: Religion 12
They go out for dinner, and Jake drinks a lot. Brett tells him he doesn't have to get drunk, but Jake isn't so sure. Jake suggests a ride around Madrid. They get into a taxi, and Brett sits close to Jake. Jake puts his arm around her. It is very cozy, and Brett remarks on how much fun they could have had together. Jake, who has seen how Brett treats those she loves, answers her:
"'Yes....Isn't it pretty to think so?'" Chapter 19, pg. 247