Conflicts- external style

As I've previously said, the novel has some internal conflicts in a person's head, but it also has some external conflicts between two or more people. The major external conflicts involve the main issue that Hemingway focuses on in the novel- love. Most of them are between Cohn and another major character. Cohn punches Jake and argues with others, but I'm going to focus on the conflict between Cohn and Mike. Mike is a bit upset about the affairs that Brett has and he knows that Cohn has feelings for Brett. On page 146 he tells Cohn just how he and Brett feel about his being around all the time. "Why don't you know when you're not wanted? You came down to San Sebastian where you weren't wanted, and followed Brett around like a bloody steer. Do you think that's right?" In a very cruel way, he confronts Cohn about his being around Brett all of the time.
Hemingway uses this to show the reader the effects of speaking their mind. Hemingway obviously doesn't like the way that society has no filter when it comes to what they say, and he is using this external conflict to show the negative effects of that. He creates a timelessness in the novel by using issues that are not specific to his time, but rather can be applied to anyone's life.

Conflicts- internal style

In this novel, the major character that has the biggest internal conflict is the narrator, Jake. His debate has to do with Brett. He obviously loves her, and it seems that she has feelings for him too, but she also has feelings for other men. When they are alone, she seems to love him too, but when others are around, she doesn't act the same way. On page 42, Jake tells us how this issue makes him feel. "This was Brett that I 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 it is another thing."
Throughout the novel, Jake is constantly watching Brett run off with one guy or another. He doesn't want to make Brett upset, but he is constantly debating in his head whether or not to make his feelings more obvious to her. This is a debate that many people have in everyday life, and Hemingway is playing to that. He adds a timelessness to the piece by creating an internal conflict that not only produces drama in the novel, but also draws the reader into the characters' relationships that are easy to relate to.