Something that jumped out at me towards the end of the
novel is Jake’s thoughts and actions while he is alone. Throughout The Sun Also Rises, there are very few
moments when Jake is fully alone; in a “typical” scene, he is a member of a
group in which he often plays the role of observer. He has one-on-one
interactions with main characters (like Brett, Bill, or Robert), and through
those interactions we learn more about Jake’s character. In class, we’ve said
that one of the distinctive traits of Hemingway’s style was use of dialogue to
expand on character. So what happens when there’s no one Jake can talk with?
Throughout the entire time he is alone, Jake seems
more unburdened. When he goes swimming, we are given a detailed description of
the beach, the ocean, and Jake’s experiences. He swims for a while and then
stops on a raft, where a boy and girl are sitting and talking. While these two
are clearly reminiscent of Jake’s ideal relationship with Brett (“The boy lay
face downward on the raft and talked to her. She laughed at things he said (…).),
Jake doesn’t seem particularly upset by them or even mildly interested in them
(239). We don’t overhear any dialogue, Jake doesn’t even get involved. Instead,
Jake describes his dives in the ocean, then gets out and walks around town and
people-watches. He seems content to be out of the drama.
The next day, he goes swimming again, but this time he
is fully alone. We get a vivid image of what life is like for him (see p. 241).
He marvels at how small the people and the town are, and how big the ocean is. Overall,
the passages with Jake alone in San Sebastian seem very calming and relaxed,
even though for me they evoke memories of Brett. Jake doesn’t seem sad to me,
instead he seems unburdened, which puzzles me because he just was very upset about
what happened with Brett. In this case, I’m not entirely sure whether or not
Jake is thinking about Brett without actually articulating anything in the text
(relying on iceberg-theory thinking) or if he isn’t thinking about her at all. But
why describe these ocean scenes so thoroughly if we aren’t meant to see that
Jake is thinking about Brett? Hemingway could have made the San Sebastian
scenes much more clear-cut and simple, unless the scenes are meant to give the
reader a chance to process what’s happened. And, if Jake is thinking about what
happened with Brett, why is he so calm?
One of the scenes the swimming reminds me of in particular
is the fishing trip with Bill, which was also very nature and detail oriented
and away from people. Both the fishing trip and the trip to San Sebastian feel
very introspective in that Jake is distancing himself from others, not letting
himself be sidelined in the observer role. However, once Brett sends him the
telegram, he returns to his typical position.
Thoughts? Why does Hemingway choose to include these details at the end?
I think that you may be right, that Hemingway adds in the seemingly unnecessary detail about nature to let us process what has happened as well as showing that Jake is calmer and not so stressed. But I hadn't thought about how even though Jake is away from Brett and is obviously enjoying his time away from her, he still thinks about her. Nice!
ReplyDeleteThroughout the book, it seems as if the more alone Jake is, the more in detail he seems to describe things. There is the above example with the beach, but also in Spain when he is with only Bill, and in Paris when he is alone, and Cohn and Brett are in San Sebastian, he describes things a lot more.
ReplyDeleteI agree. It seems that every time Brett reenters Jake's life, everything transitions from very detailed, calm, and slowed down to much more stressed and fast-paced. I think Hemingway does this well. For example, he doesn't have Brett join Bill and Jake in rural Spain, but instead has her join them when they're in Pamplona, around the time that the festival "explodes". It gives you a good sense of Brett's role in Jake's life without just stating it outright.
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