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.