And let's just say there's a bittersweet feeling in the air. In class, we discussed our feelings about the final scenes of the novel.. and, well... most of us just sort of felt like...
Predicatble.
As soon as we thought everything was over with, Brett comes in the picture and brings us all back to square one. Some people just never learn their lesson. Brett tends to keep in the habit of luring Jake into her trap of "I love you, but I don't want to be with you. Instead I want to be with all the wrong people and then end up breaking all their hearts and expect you to comfort me when it all falls apart."
Jake should feel this way:
But instead, he does the same ol' Jake routine and comes to Brett's beck and call. Which... induced a simultaneous groan from the class.
What are you thinking, Jake?
On the other hand, we came to an agreement that Jake is aware that he keeps comforting Brett through her many unsavory adventures with men. After receiving her message, Jake knew the situation before he even visited her. Jake thought to himself, "That was it. Send a girl off with one man. Introduce her to another to go off with him. Now go and bring her back. And sign the wire with love. That was it all right" (Hemingway 243). Jake has a moment of realization that he is being used over and over, yet he still returns to her. He sees her, she claims she is miserable, he comforts... what's new?
The class came to an agreement that the ending was just the beginning all over again.
After all we've been through...
Remember the scene at the beginning of the novel when Brett and Jake get into the taxi after going out dancing? Brett says once they climb in the cab, "Oh, darling, I've been so miserable" (Hemingway 32). Brett is always miserable. That is a common theme in this novel. She sulks in her misery after dancing and she is miserable at the end of the novel when she parts ways with Romero. Oh, but look! Here comes Jake to her rescue. He is there for her when she's in the cab, kissing all over that woman. Then, in the last scene, he lets her snuggle up as she wallows in self pity once more. What a mess.
The role of women is an interesting topic in this novel, which we discussed briefly in class. The femininity in this novel lacks overall. When Brett is first described by Jake, she had all the characteristics of a man. Jake notes, "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" (Hemingway 30). They later described her as being "handsome" as opposed to pretty, dainty, or fair. In fact, Pedro did not appreciate Brett's masculinity and even tried to make her a more suitable woman. He would've even married her, of course, on the condition that she become more womanly. She simply could not fit that role. We even realized that the names of all the female characters in this novel could have doubled as boy names.
I mean, think about it. There's Brett, Georgette, Edna, and Frances, otherwise known as Brett, George, Ed, and Frank.
Hemingway uses the theme of masculinity throughout the novel, even in the role of women.
Where do we go from here? What do we do with our lives now? Although the sun does rise, it also sets...
Isn't it pretty to think so?
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