After every chapter of The Sun Also Rises we read, I am always still left wondering what the role of Lady Brett Ashley actually is. It seems that every time she shows up, Jake is left even more depressed than he was before. Jake’s life is already like a daily emotional rollercoaster and it seems like Brett is the main reason for his bumpy ride.
The way Brett is able to almost manipulate and toy with Jake is both lifting and damaging to Jake’s emotions. When Jake had just gotten home from the bar and taken a shower (one could argue that he has symbolically cleansed his mind in an effort to have a peaceful night of sleep), Lady Brett Ashley just decides to barge in, after standing him up earlier in the day at Crillon, with the man she was with instead (although the count’s presence doesn’t seem to bother Jake very much). It is obvious that Jake has had a rough day/ life as is and Brett’s routine of jumping in and out of his life doesn’t seem like it’s helping much. Even as Jake tries get away by opting to finish changing, Brett feels the need to “check up” on him, saying “‘What’s the matter, darling? Do you feel rocky?’” (Hemingway 61). It is obvious that Jake is feeling “rocky”, for his life is seemingly always on a rough, downward slope. Even as he attempts to shield his face from Brett, she goes on by saying, “‘Poor old darling” while stroking his head. Then later, “Do you feel better, darling? Is the head any better?” (Hemingway 62). As if Jake’s life isn’t seemingly hard enough, Brett feels the need to baby him, totally aware of his true thoughts and feelings for her. (Although I’m not sure if she can sense that her actions may be hurting Jake, rather than helping him).
I get the feeling that Brett feels bad that, not matter how much they try, she and Jake can’t be together. To substitute for this, she tries to fill Jake’s void by being a loving, motherly figure in his life. Unfortunately, this only makes the situation worse, as Jake keeps asking, “Couldn’t we live together, Brett? Couldn’t we just live together?” (Hemingway 62), and Brett just responds, “I don’t think so...It’s my fault, Jake. It’s the way I’m made” (Hemingway 62). Because of these cryptic actions and responses, it seems as though Brett is just toying and manipulating him, (like she seemingly manipulates the count), and Jake can’t help himself but play along in her little game, crashing and burning every time. Although I bet Brett is just trying to protect Jake’s feelings by trying to have a different kind of loving relationship, it seems as though her actions and words are doing more damage than good. She keeps sending Jake these mixed messages that keep their relationship in a grey area, which seems to torment Jake.
It’s almost as if Brett may be a main source for Jake’s inferiority (besides the obvious war injury). In class, we’ve discussed how Jake seems to judge people and bring them down in order to make himself seem more masculine than those who are supposedly less than him. Examples of this include how he describes Robert Cohn, the gay men who enter the bar with Brett, and the black drummer, who is one of Brett’s good friend. (I talk about this more in my previous blog post). But one person that all these people tie back to is Lady Ashley Brett. Brett is literally involved with all the people that bring Jake distress, even though she tries to be a nurturing, motherly figure. Of course there are other reasons for Jake’s hatred towards these people (racist, homophobic, and anti semitic; just to name a few) that can only make sense in Jake’s mind, but the fact that Brett is involved with all of these men obviously annoys Jake to no end.
Although I’ll bet Brett means well, the fact that she keeps sending Jake on this emotional roller coaster is something to consider. She seemingly either doesn’t notice what seems to cause Jake so much pain and hatred, or she is too far in her ways to change...or both. Either way, it’s because of these facts that I can’t make up my mind if I like Brett’s character or not.
I like the way that you're seeing both Brett and Jake as sympathetic characters here. Jake was generally described as such in our class discussions, but I hadn't thought about Brett in that light before. I didn't like Brett early on because I felt she was being unnecessarily cruel to Jake, but now your arguments have made me uncertain. Is she really just trying to sooth him by acting as a maternal figure? Does she really mean everything that she says? It's an interesting topic to discuss, and your perspectives illustrate the more sympathetic side very well.
ReplyDeleteI feel that if Brett really wanted to be with Jake, she would at least give being with him a try instead of checking on him and then leaving again to be with other people. Perhaps she has attempted to stay solely with him in the past, but there's no mention of anything having been done. Brett's explanation for what she does is saying "it's the way I'm made" while discussing the problem with Jake. I suppose she does try a little by assuming a motherly role, as observed in this post, and attempting to make Jake feel better by telling him that it's her fault they can't be together, but she still causes him pain. I'm not sure either if Brett is all that good for Jake or not, but I think I'm leaning towards not liking her.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Brett tries to toy with his emotions, but she always ends up doing it. The worst part is she keeps coming back to him, even though it's often harder for him when she's there. I know Brett can't be with Jake due to his injury, but does he feel the same way? Does he think he could still be with Brett? If he does, this must be absolute torture, because she has made it very clear that they can't have a romantic relationship. (But she still flirts with him and kisses him.)
ReplyDeleteWithout knowing the full story, it's really hard to make up our minds on Brett and Jake's relationship. It's clear that Brett is not oblivious to the way Jake is affected by her. The way she wants to baby him makes it seem like she does care for Jake at least in a "motherly" kind of way. She seems to genuinely enjoy his company so I think at some level she's aware that she's being a bit selfish in asking for friendship when she knows he's in love with her.
ReplyDeleteWithout knowing the full story, it's really hard to make up our minds on Brett and Jake's relationship. It's clear that Brett is not oblivious to the way Jake is affected by her. The way she wants to baby him makes it seem like she does care for Jake at least in a "motherly" kind of way. She seems to genuinely enjoy his company so I think at some level she's aware that she's being a bit selfish in asking for friendship when she knows he's in love with her.
ReplyDeleteI think Brett truly cares about Jake, in an odd mix of maternal and romantic feelings, but I also think that she isn't a very good person. I don't think she means to harm Jake by telling him she can't be with him, she seems to think she's helping or protecting him, but her natural demeanor is kind of selfish, which makes things harder on Jake. Their relationship is complicated, as both seem interested in one another and they are good friends, but they could never be in a full relationship. Jake doesn't want to hold Brett back, because he knows he can't give her everything she wants, but they also want to be friends. This makes their dynamic very complicated, as Jake wants Brett to be with a man who's "good enough," but also wishes he could be that man. I don't think either are to blame, because both are in a really difficult situation.
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