"I did not see Brett again until she came back from San Sebastian. ... Nor did I see Robert Cohn again. I heard Frances had left for England and I had a note from Cohn saying he was going out in the country for a couple of weeks, he did not know where ... " (pg. 75)
I wanted to go back a couple of pages and bring up another literary device that Hemingway used. In this situation, he used dramatic irony. I would think that Jake would've seen what was going on and not thought that Cohn and Lady Brett leaving around the same time was just a coincidence. I thought Jake knew Cohn liked Brett a lot? I just don't understand why he didn't figure it out. I guess Ernest just wanted the reader to be more aware of the situation. I definitely thought something was fishy at this point, but Jake doesn't find out about this relationship until page 89 when Brett tells him.
Since Jake didn't even figure this situation out, I think Hemingway put this inhere to show how sneeky and crazy things could be at this time. Two of a man's closest friends could be having a relationship without the man ever realizing it.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
The City is Alive
" Down the river was Notre Dame squatting against the night sky." (pg. 83)
Growing up in a Catholic school system in Indianapolis, Indiana has made it almost impossible for my eyes and ears to ignore or skip over the words "Notre Dame." When I spotted the words on page 83, I also spotted an example of personification that went along with them. In France, the Notre Dame de Paris is a cathedral. Jake here describes this building as "squatting." Hemingway gave this human characteristic to the cathedral to try and show the reader that this city had a way of almost appearing alive. Ernest wanted to emphasize how graceful and beautiful this city was at night time. I believe he used the Notre Dame because it is a well known building. After he mentions Notre Dame, he further explains how the city is alive by bringing up couples walking and a river flowing.
Tromper? Tight? Chaps?
"Couldn't we just live together, Brett? Couldn't we just live together?" - Jake
" I don't think so, I'd just tromper you with everybody. You couldn't stand it" - Brett (pg. 62)
With small exchange between Jake and Lady Brett I want to bring up two points. First of all, Lady Brett's first impression held to be true. Let us just say that she is a woman with needs and she isn't afraid to show it. Jake truly loves her (like many other men) and I do believe she has feelings for him (like she also does for many other men), but she cannot be with him because he is incapable of meeting her needs. I guess Brett never understood the saying, "What is on the inside counts most." Actually, she probably just chose to let it go in one ear and out the other.
The other point I wanted to bring up is that in the book, Hemingway does a nice job of including dialect. The reader might not know what the word means, but after recognizing it through out the book and using comtext clues, one can infer what it means. By using this dialect, he completes the characters French qualities. It also created an accent almost for the charaters in my head.
Tight - being drunk
Chaps - gentlemen
Flat - house, where one lives
Tromper - french for "to commit adultery"
" I don't think so, I'd just tromper you with everybody. You couldn't stand it" - Brett (pg. 62)
With small exchange between Jake and Lady Brett I want to bring up two points. First of all, Lady Brett's first impression held to be true. Let us just say that she is a woman with needs and she isn't afraid to show it. Jake truly loves her (like many other men) and I do believe she has feelings for him (like she also does for many other men), but she cannot be with him because he is incapable of meeting her needs. I guess Brett never understood the saying, "What is on the inside counts most." Actually, she probably just chose to let it go in one ear and out the other.
The other point I wanted to bring up is that in the book, Hemingway does a nice job of including dialect. The reader might not know what the word means, but after recognizing it through out the book and using comtext clues, one can infer what it means. By using this dialect, he completes the characters French qualities. It also created an accent almost for the charaters in my head.
Tight - being drunk
Chaps - gentlemen
Flat - house, where one lives
Tromper - french for "to commit adultery"
Frances
" " Listen to him. I'm going to England. I'm going to visit friends. Ever visit friends that didn't want you? Oh, they'll have to take me, all right. How do you do, my dear? Such a long time since we've seen you. And how is your dear mother? ... " "- Frances (pg. 56)
This would be a prime example of a complete freak out from a woman. Personally, I can't believe she did this in public. I have no idea what I would've done it I was Cohn. It is obvious that she is fed up with this situation, but I would've been too. I have no idea why she was staying with Cohn when it was obvious that their relationship had seen its' day.
The quote above isn't even half of the rant she went on. When I was reading this part, I pictured her speaking as if she was in the show Gilmore Girls. On that show they speak so quick that one has to be paying complete attention to catch everything that is being said. Frances was spitting out facts, questions, and some harsh thoughts at 100 mph. It was obvious that she didn't want them to answer her questions, she wanted to make Cohn realize that she knew what was going on and she wanted him to feel just a portion of all the pain she felt.
The rant continues...
"Well, I suppose that we that live by the sword shall perish by the sword. Isn't that literary, though? You want to remember that for your next book, Robert. You know Robert is going to get material for a new book. Aren't you, Robert? That's why he's leaving me." - Frances (pg. 57)
This would be a prime example of a complete freak out from a woman. Personally, I can't believe she did this in public. I have no idea what I would've done it I was Cohn. It is obvious that she is fed up with this situation, but I would've been too. I have no idea why she was staying with Cohn when it was obvious that their relationship had seen its' day.
The quote above isn't even half of the rant she went on. When I was reading this part, I pictured her speaking as if she was in the show Gilmore Girls. On that show they speak so quick that one has to be paying complete attention to catch everything that is being said. Frances was spitting out facts, questions, and some harsh thoughts at 100 mph. It was obvious that she didn't want them to answer her questions, she wanted to make Cohn realize that she knew what was going on and she wanted him to feel just a portion of all the pain she felt.
The rant continues...
"Well, I suppose that we that live by the sword shall perish by the sword. Isn't that literary, though? You want to remember that for your next book, Robert. You know Robert is going to get material for a new book. Aren't you, Robert? That's why he's leaving me." - Frances (pg. 57)
Here we continue with Frances' rant to Cohn. I wanted to include this excerpt because here Frances completely disses Robert's writing by suggesting he use a trite expression or cliche in his next work. By saying this, she implies that he can't come up with anything good on his own, so he has to resort to ideas that have been around for ages.
Lady Brett ...
" " Hello, Brett," I said. " Why aren't you tight?" " (pg. 29)
This is the first time the reader has the pleasure of meeting such a lovely woman, Lady Brett Ashley. The name Brett kind of threw me off at first, because it isn't a very common name. The only Brett I know now is a guy, but when Lady Brett Ashley came into the story, all I could compare her to was the woman Brett Sommers of off the old game show match game. She is the only other Brett I know of that is a woman, so from this point on, through out the whole book I pictured Brett Sommers as Lady Brett Ashley. This is very weird, I know.
Anyways, I am someone who believes in the whole first impression theory. One can never make a first impression twice. The first impression Hemingway gives of Lady Brett is very accurate. Ernest prepares the reader quite well for what is to come. After an exchange of hellos, the first thing Jake says to Lady Brett is "Why aren't you drunk?" It wasn't the usual, " I haven't seen you in forever, how have you been?" This explains a lot about her character and what the reader is to expect from her in the coming chapters.
This is the first time the reader has the pleasure of meeting such a lovely woman, Lady Brett Ashley. The name Brett kind of threw me off at first, because it isn't a very common name. The only Brett I know now is a guy, but when Lady Brett Ashley came into the story, all I could compare her to was the woman Brett Sommers of off the old game show match game. She is the only other Brett I know of that is a woman, so from this point on, through out the whole book I pictured Brett Sommers as Lady Brett Ashley. This is very weird, I know.
Anyways, I am someone who believes in the whole first impression theory. One can never make a first impression twice. The first impression Hemingway gives of Lady Brett is very accurate. Ernest prepares the reader quite well for what is to come. After an exchange of hellos, the first thing Jake says to Lady Brett is "Why aren't you drunk?" It wasn't the usual, " I haven't seen you in forever, how have you been?" This explains a lot about her character and what the reader is to expect from her in the coming chapters.
The First of Many
" It was a warm spring night and I sat at a table on the terrace of the Napolitain after Robert had gone, watching it get dark and the electric signs come on, and the red and green stop-and-go traffic signal, and the crowd going by, and the horse-cabs clippety-clopping along the edge of the solid taxi traffic ... " (pg. 22)
At the beginning of the book, I thought this was a very relaxing and precious scene. A guy sitting at a table, relaxing, having a drink, and enjoying his time observing the night life. At this point I was jealous of this man's life. Who wouldn't want to be able to sit back and do this every night? Hemingway describes this scene quite well. Using great description and onomatopoeia he made me feel like I was right there on the terrace in the seat next to Jake.
I can't speak for people in other countries, but I think many people in America would love to do this every night. The country that we live in today has way too many stressful situations going on. I have witnessed the worries that my parents go through. If it isn't cars, it is money. I think that some people in the world today may think that this "lost generation" had it made.
Live Life to the Fullest
" Nobody ever lives their life all the way up except bull-fighters." (pg. 18)
How does one live their life all the way up? I think that is something everyone wants to know how to do. For centuries, people have been creating "Bucket Lists" to try to attempt to conquer everything they want to before their time on earth is up. Regret is one feeling that nobody wants to have to hold in their heart, so everyone is always encouraged to try something new and "Live life to the fullest!" Everyone wants to accomplish this trite saying, but is it possible for someone to actually do it?
During this lost generation, I am sure nobody really felt they were living their life to its potential. Anyone who has read this book would probably agree with this. How can one live their life to the fullest when all they do is drink alcoholic beverages, eat, and find company with friends. Even if they were living their life all the way up, there is no possible way they would ever remember it.
The Sun Also Rises
"You are all a lost generation." - Gertrude Stein in conversation
"One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh; but the earth abideth forever ... The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to the place where he arose..." - Ecclesiastes
Whenever I read books, I always like to recognize how the titles tie into the story. After reading this book, I was quite stumped. The only place I could find anything remotely related to the sun was in the epigraph at the beginning of this literary work. Personally, I didn't find much of a point to this book, but the epigraph Hemingway chose explains some of his reasoning for writing this work.
His first quote from Gertrude Stein explains an obvious view of his. If he didn't agree with this quotation, he wouldn't have found it necessary to place it before his writing. Hemingway clearly believed that this generation of drunk cafe hoppers was lost. In my opinion, through out the book he makes the characters look like they all have no lives. Hemingway wrote this book not to put this generation and their way of life on a pedestal, but to actually look down upon them.
His second quotation presents the idea that everything is happening in one mad circle. Things always go back to where they came from. This is where he wanted to emphasize the continuous aspect of life.
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