The Necessity of Faults

How is it possible that there's only one solidly good character in this whole novel? Cohn is a whiner, Mike is a drunk, Jake can be a jerk, Bill is jaded sometimes, and Brett is the worst. Thank goodness for the existence of Pedro Romero, because otherwise, I'm not sure we'd find a completely likeable character. Even Jake, as the narrator, admits to some of his faults, particularly his horrid jealousy of Cohn. Then, there's Romero, the dashing young bull-fighter. Is there anything "wrong" with him? Not that we know of at the moment. He's mature for his age, an incredible bull-fighter, he's proficient in English and French as well as Spanish, and he's an all-around nice guy. At this point, the only potential problem with him is that he's interested in Brett, which spells trouble.

Meanwhile, there's every other character. Let's start with our narrator, Jake. He puts himself in a good light, but we can still see hints of his flaws. He's very judgmental and doesn't stop other people from slamming Cohn since he doesn't particularly like Cohn. Jake doesn't try to hide his issues, but he isn't confronting them, either. I see Jake as a coward. He loves Brett, and even though he knows she's destructive bad news, he doesn't try to sever ties with her. He's too afraid to be without her, but he can't be with her. He would be better off if he could face his problems head-on.

I'll say the same for Mike: he's a coward. He becomes falsely brave when he's drunk--a.k.a. all the time--and that's when he chooses to confront Cohn. But he confronts Cohn for these issues. Only Cohn. Never Brett, because God forbid she do anything wrong. I mean, Mike even mentions that Brett has affairs all the time, yet he's still going to marry her! Like Jake, he's too scared to leave her.

Cohn needs to get over himself. So he spent some time in San Sebastian with Brett. So has probably the majority of male Europe. That doesn't make him super special. He published a book that was popular in America? Congratulations, but he's in France! He isn't a big deal there! He seems very whiny to me, especially when talking about the bull-fights, a huge contrast to Romero. First, he's afraid he might be bored, then he's feeling sick at the sight of dying animals. I'm sure he's a nice guy when he's not being terribly annoying, but I'm finding it hard to see too many redeeming qualities at the moment. But I should keep in mind that our narrator is Jake, who isn't so happy with Cohn, so there's obviously some bias abounding.

Bill is generally a light-hearted guy, but on occasions, he lashes out. He's pretty jaded, especially with his snarky comments about Cohn and the Catholic pilgrims. Did the war make him like this? Maybe he's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline. He's hardly in the chapters post-fishing, though, so we don't get to see a lot more of his bitter side.

Then there's Brett. Ah, flirtatious, insincere, self-destructive Brett. Everyone is a phase to her. Cohn, Mike, Romero, even Jake, although their relationship doesn't fade super quickly. Her flaws are more noticeable than others. It's like there's an air horn directing our attention to her faults. She's engaged (and still somewhat married, if there is such a thing), yet she still has affairs with pretty much every man she meets, and doesn't even try to hide it from her fiancée. How cold-hearted and ridiculous is that? If I had a moral compass that didn't quite point North, I wonder if I would like Brett more, since Jake still paints her in a flattering light. I guess love really does see not with the eyes but with the mind.

It's hard to argue that there is a character besides Pedro Romero that has no faults. On the other hand, if everyone was as perfect as Romero, the book would be totally boring. Brett would stick with Mike or Jake, there would be no conflict, and it would be nearly impossible to differentiate the characters. Without problems, what is the plot? What are we? I guess I should thank Hemingway for making his characters less than perfect. It makes for an interesting tale.