Cindy's Blog

The Sun Also Rises Essay

Author: Cindy Chen

Class: English Honors

Last Edit: 6/05/2014

In Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, Brett, the beautiful, manipulative, and unattainable leading female character in the novel, is the epitome of masculinity due to her control over her love life, as well as many of the other characters in the novel. In contrast, many of the male characters are insecure of their own masculinity, unable to maintain control over the people around them or their own lives. This leads many of the emasculated males to behave cruelly and callously to others in their pursuit of Brett because they believe by having her, they will regain their masculinity. Robert Cohn pursues Brett desperately, almost to the point of fanaticism, regardless of who he hurt in his quest, in his attempts to win Brett. Mike Campbell resorts to insulting and belittling the other men to try and drive them off so he can have Brett to himself. Jake Barnes introduces Brett to Romero, knowing that she will break his heart and then run back to him for comfort, thus making him the winner of their competition and restoring his masculinity. Though it seems as if the men in the novel are in love with Brett, in reality, they only want Brett because by winning her, they can regain their masculinity.

Robert Cohn continues to pursue Brett, regardless of the people who are hurt in his chase ― even if said people are Brett’s friends ― despite his low chances of actually winning her because he wants to restore his masculinity. Cohn was often portrayed as a weak and pathetic character. “[Robert Cohn] came out of Princeton with painful self-consciousness and the flattened nose, and was married by the first girl who was nice to him.” (12) Cohn had no real aspect of himself and his life to be proud of ― having no confidence, looks, or even a loving family. This is why he pursued Brett so fervently ― because he wished to rid himself of this weakness and feeling of emasculation by winning the girl that all of the other men couldn’t woo, just as he had once attempted to rid himself of his bullies at Princeton by taking up boxing. However, because of this desperation, he does not stop chasing Brett, even when Mike tells him “Do you think Brett wants you here? Do you think you add to the party? ...I know when I’m not wanted. Why don’t you see when you’re not wanted Cohn? Go away. Go away, for God’s sake.” (181) This leads to even more conflict amongst the men, particularly Cohn and Mike, and eventually escalates to the point where Cohn breaks his own morals and punches both Jake and Mike in an attempt to force them to tell him where Brett is, as well as warn them not to mess with him and his chase for Brett. This desperation and blatant disregard for what both Brett and her friends feel shows that he does not actually care for Brett, but more about what she symbolizes ― the restoration of his masculinity.

Mike Campbell, having no money or skills to impress Brett, resorts to insulting and belittling the other men in an attempt to drive them off and have Brett to himself. When Mike was first introduced as Brett’s fiancé, he was portrayed as a confident, masculine, and presumably wealthy character ― the bull or leader of the herd. However, as the story progresses, he slowly loses his image of masculinity as it is revealed that he is, in fact, not wealthy, and cannot even read. Not so coincidentally, this decline in masculinity also coincides with Brett’s gradual loss of interest in him. This is why he resorts to desperate measures like insulting the other men to keep Brett ― because whoever has Brett has at least a facade of masculinity. One example of such an instance is when he repeatedly yells out the phrase “Tell him [Romero] bulls have no balls!” (179, 180) This phrase, while originally meant to be insulting, in reality only reflected the irony of his situation. Mike had previously been compared to a bull, and by saying this, he indirectly admits that he has lost his chance at winning Brett and regaining his masculinity, but is still futilely trying to drive the other men away from her. These ineffective attempts to drive the other men away from Brett instead of trying to talk with her and understand her feelings show that he does not truly care for Brett, and wants to keep her purely for his own selfish reason of having his masculinity.

Jake Barnes attempts to earn his masculinity and Brett by manipulating her into being with other men, such as Pedro Romero, knowing she will break their heart and run back to him for comfort. Near the beginning of the novel, Brett confesses to Jake that she loves him when she is feeling miserable. “”Don’t you love me?” “Love you? I simply turn all to jelly when you touch me...Kiss me just once more...” (34, 35) Her verbal confession allows Jake to confirm that he does have some sort of hold over Brett, in that she cares for him, and that she is more likely to come to him when she is upset. His theory is later confirmed when, after she decides she likes Romero and breaks up with Mike, she comes to him for consolation and advice. This pushes him into manipulating her to get them together, knowing she will likely break his heart as she had done to the other men. After the two had run off, “[Jake] wrote a message to the Hotel Montoya, telling them to forward all mail and telegrams for [him] to this address. [He]...wrote out a wire asking them to hold mail, but forward all wires for [him] to San Sebastian for six days.” (238) This shows that he knows that there will be mail coming from Hotel Montoya. Jake only has three friends who are likely to send him a telegram: Cohn, Bill, and Brett. Since Bill knew that Jake was no longer at Hotel Montoya, as they had shared a car to Bayonne before parting ways, and Cohn was unlikely to contact Jake due to their fight, logically, the only person likely to contact him thorough Hotel Montoya would be Brett. This leads to the conclusion that Jake knew that Brett was likely to contact him. Added to his previous experiences of Brett only contacting him when she was upset as well as the fact that Brett never seemed content with anyone except Jake, who she had professed she loved, this leads to the conclusion that Brett would be contacting Jake because she had broken up with Romero and needed consolation. The fact that Jake had been the one to introduce Brett to Romero in the first place, and even planned for her breakup implies that Jake is manipulating her to come back to him and thus giving him masculinity. The fact that he knows that she will only hurt herself by falling for and breaking up with another man, but manipulates her into doing exactly that, shows that he does not care for what will help her, and instead cares more about her will coming back to him and give him masculinity.

The male characters that pursue Brett do not actually care for Brett as a person. They only want her because she is a symbol for regaining their lost masculinity. Cohn ignores her feelings, pursuing her relentlessly and hurting her friends in the process. Similarly, Mike belittles the other men to try to drive them off instead of attempting to work it out with Brett herself. Jake manipulates her into being with other men, knowing she will be unhappy and break up with them and come back to him, uncaring of how it would hurt her to keep breaking up with other men. though on the surface, it seems as if the men are in love with Brett, in reality, they merely want Brett because she is a symbol for regaining their masculinity.