First Person Point of View, quizas?

Well, in this post, I'm going to discuss why I think Hemingway chose to have the story told from the point of view of Jake, one of the main characters. The main point of the novel thus far seems to be the development of the characters and their relationships with each other. I've always heard that the best way to understand someone's character is through other people's reactions to them. Hemingway is able to use Jake and his reactions to other characters to give the reader the opinions that Hemingway wants them to have.
The way that Hemingway does this can only be explained by showing what he could have said if the novel was written in third person. When explaining Cohn's history and how that history made people perceive him, he could have said "people were not impressed by Cohn's boxing title." But since he wrote in first person, he was able to say, on page 11, a phrase that is much more impactful- "do not think that I am very impressed by that as a boxing title, but it meant a lot to Cohn." Phrases such as this show a sense of looking down upon Cohn by other characters, causing the reader to do the same. It also enlightens the reader as to Jake's compassion and kindness because he reveals that he will allow Cohn to be happy with his unimpressive title. It is situations like these that show why Hemingway chose to write his novel about character development from the first person point of view.

Pssst. Antihero.

I previously mentioned that I thought Cohn was the main character, then I didn't. Well, now I do again. I think that Hemingway is using him as an antihero. He lacks all of the admirable characteristics that people expect out of a novel's hero. Cohn is described by Jake (and Hemingway) as "nervous," (100) "shy," (11) and "bored, (168) as well as many other negatives. These are not attributes that the reader will appreciate. Hemingway portrays Cohn as this antihero to persuade the reader to have the opinion of Cohn that Hemingway wants them to have. He uses Cohn as the typical person who wants to please everyone but angers those people in the process. The reader immediately doesn't like Cohn and are constantly rooting against him. Hemingway is able to elicit these reactions from the reader by having the narrator, who the reader trusts, describe Cohn as having mainly negative personality traits. This draws the reader into the character interactions that occur in the novel. The reader knows someone like Cohn in their life and can relate to other characters' reactions to Cohn. This creates a timeless aspect to the novel that allows people to relate to its issues and characters.

Motivation?!?!?!

Well I'm starting to see why Cohn acts the way he does. He is over Frances and the other girls he has had feelings for, and is now going for Brett. He leaves Jake "a note saying he was going out in the country for a couple of weeks," (75) but doesn't tell him where. We later find out that he's been chasing Brett and stays with her for a little while. It is now apparent to me that all of Cohn's actions at this point are motivated by his longing for Brett. Hemingway has played with the issue of motivation a lot in this novel. He shows how the love of a certain woman can cause men to ignore obvious wrongs, make stupid choices, and travel places they wouldn't usually go. These love-driven motivations are something that every person will be able to relate to at one point in their life. Hemingway really adds a timelessness to his novel by playing on these motivations that aren't specific to his time period. He successfully brings the reader into the lives of the character by making them people that the reader can easily relate to.
I think I'm starting to understand the point to this novel. The characters and their developments are ones that the reader can relate to. I'm hoping to see these character developments more as I continue to read.

Oh Brett...

I'm having a bit of trouble understanding Brett. She obviously has some feelings for Jake. She visits him at home and is always flirting with him and such. But she also flirts with many other men. She appears to enjoy drinking and dancing with every man with a pulse. I had grown okay with that until I heard that she was engaged. Seriously, Mike?? I do believe that if my fiance "kissed standing at the door" (71) with some fellow that wasn't me, I wouldn't be with her much longer. I haven't heard anything about her having a lot of money, so Mike must be as desperate as can be. But I guess this isn't somewhere I should be poking my nose. Brett isn't going to change her ways, and Mike isn't going anywhere. And I am pretty impressed by how all of these people can cheat on each other left and right and still be best buds. They go out drinking at least twice daily, and seem to have no significant issues with each other. Those are either some very strong friendships, or some very oblivious boyfriends.
I really did think that at this point I would have found a plot of some sort. Mr. Hemingway has yet to make a plot obvious and it is starting to annoy me. I understand that this novel is a classic and all, but I really don't know how people have enjoyed this. I'm just hoping that this plot awakes from its slumber soon.

Smells Like Local Color

France and French culture seem to be a big part of the novel so far. Hemingway tries to portray the type of environment that the characters are living in by focusing on their dialect, customs, etc. On page 29, Brett is described as wearing "a slipover jersey sweater and a tweed skirt, and her hair was brushed back like a boy's." Also, the characters, who speak mostly English, insert little bits of French. This can be seen on page 31 when a patronne says "C'est entendu, Monsieur." The description of the French-style clothes, as well as French phrases, that, though not in the readers' language, can be understood, remind the reader of the French environment of the novel and how that environment influences the actions that they make.
Another major example of local color is in the landscape. A natural landscape isn't focused on, but rather an urban landscape. The characters spend most of their time going from cafe to cafe drinking, eating, and dancing. This is a very common way to spend free time in Paris, and the extent to which the characters do this really emphasizes the importance of these activities in France. Due to Hemingway's use of local color, the reader really understands why the characters do what they do.

This Robert Fellow

After the first four chapters, I'm still lost on where this novel, The Sun Also Rises, is going. After the first two, I was certain that the novel was going to be about Robert Cohn. He was the only person talked about in detail, and Hemingway seems to think we need to know an awful lot about him. Why we need to know about the "inferiority and shyness he had felt on being treated as a Jew at Princeton," (page 11) I don't know. Apparently it is going to be useful information later, as are all of the other details we receive early in the book. Randomly in the third chapter, the narrator shifts his focus to himself and Lady Brett, as well as Cohn and a few others. Cohn really isn't talked about much after the monologue at the beginning.
The back of the book tells me that some "brutal bullfighting rings" are going to be involved in the novel somehow. Unless the five bars and three cabs that they've been in so far are metaphors for bullfighting, the real plot hasn't shown itself yet. The novel is a bit boring at this point, but that is expected. I'm looking forward to seeing where the plot and characters go from this point. I'm not a big book fan, but for a book, this isn't bad.