The first chapter in The Sun Also Rises gave me the impression that the book would definitely be about Cohn and his life from the point of view of Jake (kind of like The Great Gatsby [haven't read the whole book, but from what I remember, I think the narrator follows the dude around places....]). However, I was pleasantly surprised when in the following chapters the focus shifted from the story about Cohn's life to the narrator. Surprised, I looked back to the 1st chapter that I read, and as I began to reread it, I realized that it was fun little literary trick of sorts. Rereading it, I realized that the way that Jake described Cohn also gave insight into Jake, and the reader can also sink into Jake's perspective of the macho masculine manly dudey dude.
The impression that the narrator gave me after my first read past under my conscious radar, but on the second read it was apparent that Jake wanted to present facts about Cohn, but also downplay them because he's a bro. It was quite amusing to me, as Hemingway masterfully crafts a perfect voice of a guy that wants to impress other people about his friend, another guy, but also wants seem like he has some impressive aura about himself because he's a guy and so he says good things about his friend to impress, but not too many good things, so that it doesn't seem too impressive compared to himself.
Cohn's boxing career is supposed to sound very impressive, and from a subjective view, it definitely does. Learning boxing requires master discipline and very hard work ethic, and any person that masters the art and even wins competitions is quite an impressive person, especially in that the person learned it out of self-defense. However, as the reader reads about it from Jake's voice, the narrator, it invokes a sense of triviality in the accomplishments of Cohn.
In this way, as we learn about Cohn's character, we also are learning about Jake's character. His pretentious way of dismissing Cohn's feats with his chin held high in the second sentence of the book, "Do not think that I am very much impressed by that as a boxing title, but it meant a lot to Cohn." immediately indicates an aura of 'bro'ness. Later, he moves on in the chapter and talks about Cohn his love life, and there too, Jake's 'bro'ness shows. Jake describes the way that Cohn tread extremely cautiously around Frances, Cohn's lady, and the image that I drew was Jake recalling the events in a very smug expression, musing about how Cohn was not a 'manly man' because he would forever be pushed around by his partners.
Therefore, for me at least, this first chapter gave me quite the first impression. I learned a lot from Hemingway's genius prose. The way that Jake's perspective provided quite a vivid picture of what his character is like.
The impression that the narrator gave me after my first read past under my conscious radar, but on the second read it was apparent that Jake wanted to present facts about Cohn, but also downplay them because he's a bro. It was quite amusing to me, as Hemingway masterfully crafts a perfect voice of a guy that wants to impress other people about his friend, another guy, but also wants seem like he has some impressive aura about himself because he's a guy and so he says good things about his friend to impress, but not too many good things, so that it doesn't seem too impressive compared to himself.
Cohn's boxing career is supposed to sound very impressive, and from a subjective view, it definitely does. Learning boxing requires master discipline and very hard work ethic, and any person that masters the art and even wins competitions is quite an impressive person, especially in that the person learned it out of self-defense. However, as the reader reads about it from Jake's voice, the narrator, it invokes a sense of triviality in the accomplishments of Cohn.
In this way, as we learn about Cohn's character, we also are learning about Jake's character. His pretentious way of dismissing Cohn's feats with his chin held high in the second sentence of the book, "Do not think that I am very much impressed by that as a boxing title, but it meant a lot to Cohn." immediately indicates an aura of 'bro'ness. Later, he moves on in the chapter and talks about Cohn his love life, and there too, Jake's 'bro'ness shows. Jake describes the way that Cohn tread extremely cautiously around Frances, Cohn's lady, and the image that I drew was Jake recalling the events in a very smug expression, musing about how Cohn was not a 'manly man' because he would forever be pushed around by his partners.
Therefore, for me at least, this first chapter gave me quite the first impression. I learned a lot from Hemingway's genius prose. The way that Jake's perspective provided quite a vivid picture of what his character is like.
I definitely agree with your post, we learn so much about how Jake thinks and talks by how he describes his friend. I think from these statements, we learn that Jake feels some sort of compulsion to put other's down, how blatantly non-supportive of his "friend" he is. His comments seem so backhanded, saying something that should be a compliment but turning it around so it seems far lesser. To me, this seemed indicative of a level of insecurity in Jake, maybe a jealousy of other people's accomplishments. And I wondered while I was reading it who Jake was trying to impress. Was it us, the reader? I agree with you , I think this is such a genius way of introducing us to Jake.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your post as well, Jake is constantly condescending when talking about Cohn. At first, I wanted to believe that Jake’s “rudeness” was only the result of them being good friends. With anyone you know well, you exchange teasing remarks. I, in a way, wanted Jake to be a charming narrator. Later, I realized that Jake is essentially talking behind Cohn’s back to us, the audience. In some ways, he is backstabbing Cohn. When Jake started describing other characters, I was forced to realize that Jake is naturally bitter and condescending.
ReplyDeleteI think at the beginning of the novel there is a sort of condescending, but friendly tone to Jake's narration as you mentioned. However, one thing that I did ponder about was whether the condescending, friendly tone was because they were so close as "bros" that they were used to talking to each other like that, or because even before the "Brett incident" that there was a underlying tension between the two characters. Maybe they outwardly express that they are friends, but internally they have conflicts and unexpressed dislikes to each other. Maybe I'm overthinking this (probably), but I think if there was an initial underlying tension, it would explain the way that Jake "exploded" when he figured out that Cohn was with Brett.
ReplyDeleteI like this "bro" code idea you've incorporated into your analysis of the first chapter. There is definitely condescending subtext that reveals Jake's insecurities. Now that we've gotten more context regarding the relationship between Jake and Cohn, I wonder if you still think they're friends? The more I read, the less convinced of it I am. Jake has upgraded his method of insulting Cohn, flat-out saying that he hates him. I'm not well-versed in bro code though, so maybe this is actually a sign of endearment.
ReplyDeleteI really like this post. Jake doesn't spend a lot of time self -reflecting so to learn about him we need to analyze hois perceptions of and interactions with other characters. Jake's relationship with Cohn is especially important to understand Jake himself. Jake often makes fun of Cohn's lack of manliness (like how women "took his hand" in marriage) which could be to cover up Jake's own masculine insecurities.
ReplyDeleteNice post! I definitely didn't notice that while learning about Cohn I was also learning about Jake until we discussed this subtle detail in class. It seems that although Jake appears to be a manly person he might actually be a little insecure. In this narration he is putting Cohn down and giving the vibe that he thinks that he is better then Cohn. He also devalues a lot of Cohn's achievements (like that he was middle weight boxing champion) probably to make himself feel better and prove that he was better then Cohn.
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