These tactics carry through to his relationship with the audience, as well. Like Brett with her submissive men, Romero is highly skilled at a somewhat "feminine" manipulation of the bulls moreover, he penetrates them in a "masculine" way at the end of fights with his sword. His appeal to her, beyond his beautiful appearance, is clear through the parallels Hemingway draws between bull-fighting and sexuality.
Pedro RomeroĪlthough Romero appears only briefly in the novel, his presence is crucial, as he is the only man who seems capable of manipulating Brett. Cohn's one strength is that he is an excellent boxer, a skill developed to compensate for his inferiority complex. Jake, who shares certain feelings of inferiority with Cohn, sometimes sympathizes with his plight, but frequently Jake enjoys it and does not intervene when Cohn is humiliated. Quiet and willing to take abuse, he is disliked by everyone in Jake's circle, especially Mike, who resents him for his fling with Brett and the way he follows her around pathetically. He is romantically involved with Frances at the start of the novel, dominated by her as he was by his former wife. He represents American pre-war romanticism and idealism, and it is often painful to watch him pitted against a world that has lost these beliefs. Robert CohnĪ Jewish novelist from Princeton, Cohn the only central male character not a war veteran, and perhaps because of this he is the only one whose values have not been fully compromised. Brett is the strongest, most conventionally "masculine" character in the novel, dominating her lovers and manipulating them like a bull-fighter she even has a short haircut and refers to herself as a "chap." However, in her carelessly dominating relationships with Jake, Mike, Cohn, and Romero, she appears to be dependent on them as well she needs men to let her be dominant. She met Jake as a volunteer nurse when he was in the hospital during the war, but she is now engaged to Mike Campbell.
Brett (Lady Ashley)Īlthough the true antagonist in the novel is the lack of values and direction of the Lost Generation, Brett comes closest to personifying this malaise and provoking it in others as she consistently manipulates Jake and makes him undermine his sense of self. Overall, Jake represents the worst of the Lost Generation - irresponsible, aimless, and bitter, his life seems over before it has begun. He spends his days and nights living irresponsibly and drinking heavily with his friends, none of whom he seems to care about too deeply, such as Robert Cohn. His other passion besides Brett is bull-fighting he is considered a true aficionado of the sport. His submissive pursuit of her often undermines his values and sense of self-worth.
He desires Brett, with whom he developed a relationship while in the war hospital, but cannot have her because of his physical condition. He is a veteran of WWI and has an injury from it which, it appears, has left him impotent. The protagonist and narrator of the novel, Jake is a young American expatriate working in a Paris newspaper office.
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