Lady Brett Ashley

"Isn't it pretty to think that"

Point of view of Brett responding to Jake

I can't believe Jake said that to me. I finally opened up to him and talked about our future together and all he says is "Isn't it pretty to think that". HOW RUDE! I know he loves me and I love him and yet he just dismisses the thought of having a relationship. That makes no sense whatsoever. I left Pedro for him and he doesn't even acknowledge that! If that's how he really feels then why did he come back to me. It's not like I begged him. He willingly came back to be with me.

Maybe he doesn't love me anymore. Maybe I pushed him too far with all the other guys I dated. I probably shouldn't have said "I love Mike" when I first saw him. But Jake knows I still love him. Why can't I love them both? My heart is big enough for all of them. But I guess it's pretty to think that too... Isn't it Jake.

By: Chelsie Edwards

Pedro Romero

Pedro Romero

“Romero never made any contortions, always it was straight and pure and natural in line. [...] Romero’s bull-fighting gave real emotion, because he kept the absolute purity of line in his movements and always quietly and calmly let the horns pass him close” (Hemingway, 171) 

                Hola, my name is Pedro Romero. You may know me from my days as a bullfighter. Those days are long behind me as I am writing this, but to think of those days brings me much joy. All of my practicing, my passion, my love for the bulls and the fights had led me through an amazing career I could never forget. I was always standing up straight, my cape never wrinkled, waiting for the bull to attack. The audience was always so nice to me, I could never ask for better fans. The people during the festival were so lively and excited! While the festival is a huge part of my career, it took me a very, very long time to get there. I will never forget the hardships and struggles of training with the deadly bulls when I was first starting out. I was never perfect, I never got to be perfect, but to be out there doing the best I could with the bulls was all I needed.

Robert Cohn

 

"He was a nice boy, a friendly boy, and very shy, and it made him bitter." (Hemingway 12)





 

          

        I am very often misunderstood. Most people make fun of me because I am Jewish. I haven't experienced the shame until I went to Princeton. At Princeton, everybody made fun of me. That is mainly the reason why I am so sensitive now. As a child, I grew up with Jews so I didn't know what it was like to be mocked because of my religion. I was hurt and confused as to why the people at Princeton treated me the way that they did. That is why I am so attached to Brett. She was actually nice to me despite my religion. I don't want to believe that she is not interested in me. That is why I lashed out on Jake and Mike when they tried to explain that to me. I lashed out on Pedro because I didn't like the idea of Brett being with someone else. Even though it was hard, I finally understand. I am used to being mistreated anyway.



Jake Barnes

"I mistrust all frank and simple people, especially when their stories hold together..." (Hemingway 12)

I am not a very trusting man. People just do not usually tell the truth. I tried to stay away from people in general because I do not enjoy drama much. Unfortunately, I picked the wrong friends anyways. I thought that their bluntness would decrease any problems, but they were too good to be true. When people seem like they are always truthful, odds are that they are almost never truly honest. It is all over now. Now I pay people and they have all been good to me.

Jake Barnes Characterization Blog

"Fake European standards have ruined you. You drink yourself to death. You become obsessed by sex. You spend all your time talking, not working. You are an expatriate, see." (Hemingway 120)

He has a point. I do hold myself to these standards of masculinity and friendship, that are only exemplified through a small group of people I do not like anyways. I have spent many a night up drinking because of these fake standards I have been holding myself to. Brett certainly has played a part into my drinking too. One second she is in love with me, the next she is crying in the back of a cab, complaining of my impotence. It confuses me so much, and I love her so much... can I ever please her? I talk and talk to try to make these "friends" that really just stay because I give a good tip, for what? To distract myself from the expectations of a serious job? Oh lord Bill is right. I am an expatriate. Something has to change, and I think I know where to start.

Jake Barnes

"I lay awake thinking and my mind jumping around. Then I couldn’t keep away from it, and I started to think about Brett and all the rest of it went away. I was thinking about Brett and my mind stopped jumping around and started to go in sort of smooth waves. Then all of a sudden I started to cry." (Hemingway 39)

I feel like I'm walking around in circles.  No matter what I do, I always back in the  same place.  Every time I look at Brett all the old feelings come rushing back. I'm helpless.  I know she is bad for me, but I can't stay away.  I thought I could push her away like I do with my other "friends",  but I was mistaken.  I love her.  She says she loves me too, but she always runs off with another man.  It seems as though my heart is something only to be trampled on.  She leaves me in this pathetic state. I'm addicted to Brett, and this is my punishment.

Jake Barnes

                                 "'Yes.....Isn't it pretty to think so?'" Chapter 19, pg. 247

            After years of fawning over this toxic girl, this girl with no inch of remorse, who so carelessly crushes the souls of the men around her, I am done. After I got back from the war she was my lifeline. She was all I needed in this world and for the first time in my life I feel free of her. I’ve been waiting after her for years in hope of her learning to except my disability because once we were in a constant state of euphoria but I can’t recall that last time I was satisfied with where we stood. Us being in a relationship, it’s nice to think about sure but I’m done putting her on a pedestal. She has plenty of men to fawn over her, I’m sure her losing one will do no damage. 

Lady Brett Ashley

                                                       

"This wine is too good for toast-drinking, my dear. You don't want to mix emotions up with a wine like that. You lose the taste." – Count Mippipopolous"  (Hemmingway, 59)

My, name is Brett Ashley, my ex-lover Count Mippipipilous said this to me one day and i completely disagree. A young beautiful women will never lose her "taste". I am a lady who loves the attention of men. I lost my first love in the war and have been on a destructive love path ever since, no-one said that i couldn't have fun along the way. Jake is my favorite of them all, he has the emotion stability i need, but Mike is my type. Count Mippipipilous, Mike, Robert, Jake, and Pedro have all "mixed in the wine" but i do think i am "losing taste" because i have seem to have lost Jake's attention. I guess ill find someone else to make me a lady before i turn 35.        

Lady Brett Ashley

Lady Brett Ashley

“Brett was damned good-looking. She wore a slipover jersey sweater and a tweed skirt, and her hair was brushed back like a boy’s. She started all that. She was built with curves like the hull of a racing yacht, and you missed none of it with that wool jersey.” (Hemingway 29-30). – Jake 

I like when men pay attention to me. I want them to desire me. I have done many things in my life I am not proud of. I can’t change my decisions now because it’s too late. What can I say, I like having control. I like how Jake loves me. Unfortunately I can’t be with him because he won’t make me feel good intimately. But I love how he always comes back to me. Men tend to need me. Cohn needed me for his thrill of having an affair. Mike needs me because I take care of him when he’s drunk. They all need me, they all desire me. I absolutely love that.

Robert Cohn

“For four years his horizon had been absolutely limited to his wife. For these years, or almost three years, he had never seen beyond Frances. I am sure he had never been in love in his life” (Hemingway, 16).

I totally agree with this quote. I, Robert Cohn, am an adventurer. I want to live my life to the extreme before I die. Yes, I was limited to my wife once, but my life is too short to be limited. Frances is a great girl but she’s wants a family and to settle down, but I’m not into that. I want to have mistresses and travel the world. Which is why I wanted to go to South America. The mistress part brings me to Brett. Brett is a storm that will just sweep you off your feet.  She took me up on an offer that would break me. I tried to chase her and make her my mistress, but she wasn’t into being with someone. I told her I loved her, but I wasn't in love with her, I was in love with the adventure. I admit I failed to get her. I've lost my best friend trying to get her. Eventually, I had to go back to Frances, at least she took me in. I think my days of trying to be someone I’m not is over. However, in the end I still have never loved anyone in my life.

Robert Cohn

“You know Robert is going to get material for a new book. Aren’t you, Robert? That’s why he’s leaving me. He’s decided I don’t film well. You see, he was so busy all the time that we were living together, writing on this book, that he doesn’t remember anything about us. So now he’s going out and get some new material. Well, I hope he gets something frightfully interesting.” (Hemingway, 57).

I have grown farther and farther away from Frances in the past few months, working on my book and all, but it seems as if she’s always right in front of my face. I just want to work in peace. She can’t seem to let go that I don’t see our “relationship” progressing anymore. Yes, I went into it looking for someone, she just turned out to be the wrong someone. Honestly, I just don’t have feelings for her anymore. She’s just too demanding for me. Someone like Brett would be the best girl for me. As for my “research,” I just need to get away from her. She’s distracting me from my work. Travelling away from her is the only reprieve I can get. Her constant whining and demand for attention drive me insane. Don’t you think so, Robert? Or Well, I have to ask Robert… She can’t make a decision on her own. I just don’t understand why she’s still with me. She just needs to move on like I did.

Lady Brett Ashley 

"Oh, darling, I’ve been so miserable," Brett said. 

I love to dance. I love to go to parties. I have tendencies of engaging in temporary romances with men. I believe I live life. However, the truth of it all is that I am miserable. Deep down inside, I'm confused lost and sad. People see me in high spirits and just assume I am a bottle of happiness. No, no, no! I want to be loved...actually loved. I want attention. I feel as if I'm obsessed with the idea of being loved. 

 My only true love is impotent so a possibility of me being with him is non existent. Jake and I could not possibly have a future. I could not write a book long enough to explain how much sadness that brings me. I don't know if I'm capable of truly loving or being loved.  My love life is a puzzle and I believe I've lost all the pieces. I can't even understand myself.  So yes, I am miserable. Possibly the most miserable girl in Paris. 

Examples

Lady Brett Ashley

"It’s funny," I said. "It’s very funny. And it’s a lot of fun, too, to be in love." 

"Do you think so?" her eyes looked flat again. 

"I don’t mean fun that way. In a way it’s an enjoyable feeling." 

"No," she said. "I think it’s hell on earth." (4.4)

He's insane. It's as if he gains pleasure from this roller coaster that we're in. All I want is to be his. Jake thinks that this is a game. I'll show him how to play. Maybe he just wants my body and not my mind. After all that I've been through I'm sick and tired of men. I don't imagine there being a happily ever after or some Prince Charming. I'm my own hero. It shouldn't be so important for a woman to find a man and settle down and have a family. What's the point in being young if you can't have a little fun?

Jake Barnes

"You're an expatriate. You've lost touch with the soil. You get precious. Fake European standards have ruined you. You drink yourself to death. You become obsessed by sex. You spend all your time talking, not working. You are an expatriate, see. You hang around cafés." (Hemingway 120)

Sigh. Yes Bill, I have lost touch with the soil. Yes, those fake standards have ruined me. I do drink myself to death, but, what do you expect? After everything that has happened- with the effects of what WWI has done to me, with Brett not staying by my side and not being able to give her what she wants- what else can I do but these things? To numb my thoughts and feelings, this is the only way. It helps me feel more of a man then I already do. Did you ever think about that Bill, have you? But please don't think you've hurt my feelings. Trust me, everything that you've said is true. I am one of the worst type of expatriates.

Jake Barnes

   "Why I felt that impulse to devil I do not know. Of course I do know. I was blind, unforgivingly jealous of what happened to him. The fact that I took it as a matter of course did not alter that any. I certainly did hate him. I do not think I ever really hated him until he had that little spell of superiority at lunch – that and when he went through all that barbering. So I put the telegram in my pocket. The telegram came to me, anyway."(Hemingway 105)

   That Jewish fool, trying to go after Brett. Brett doesn't want him. To hell with Cohn! If anything Brett wants me. I'll be damned if I see her run off with him than with me. Cohn doesn't know what he's getting himself into with Brett. He doesn't know her like I do. He's a damned fool trying to say he knows her better than I do. She'll destroy him, and he doesn't even know it. He'll see, He'll get what he deserves. To hell with Robert Cohn.  

Brett Ashley

" She [Brett] was looking into my eyes with that way she had of looking that made you wonder whether she really saw out of her own eyes. They would look on and on after every one else's eyes in the world would have stopped looking." (Hemingway 34)

I seem to charm men with my beauty and attitude. I can't help if they fall for me, but I know I'm not going to be committed. I love to have fun and party.When guys look into my eyes, it's like they have an instant attraction. They want to get know me and whats going on inside my head.Unfortunately I sometimes feel miserable. I do enjoy my time with these guys but at the end of the day I still feel unsatisfied. Jake is there for me, but hes not enough.