Take Brett for example, she almost epitomizes the Parisian culture of the time period, which seems to be what Jake idealizes, but his relationship with Brett is obviously unhealthy. This becomes even more clear when, while she is gone and he is in Spain, Jake seems content for the first and only time in the novel. The contrast between his emotional health in Paris and Spain is highlighted by how well he sleeps and how he feels before and during going to bed in the two countries. In Paris, when his unfortunate relationship with Brett is not something he can ignore, he often sleeps extremely poorly and spends long periods of time thinking about his situation with Brett, sometimes crying because of it; not what you would expect from a person in a healthy relationship. In Spain, when Brett is removed from his thoughts, he is placid and his only thoughts before going to sleep are that "It felt good to be warm and in bed", he is content.
Jake's love of bull fighting also represents both how Spanish culture is a better fit for Jake, and that Paris is unhealthy for Jake. Jake's love of bull fighting seems to stem for it's tradition and it's passion, which are also seen in other elements of Spanish culture (i.e. the peasants with their more traditional approach to drinking); when he is in these settings he is much happier. This would seem to indicate that he would fit well into Spanish society, and that he would be content with it. However, when Parisian culture comes into the equation in the form of Brett, he goes back to being unhappy and loses touch with his values. Instead of being placid and happy like he had been before, he became unhappy and corrupted Romero, who basically symbolized everything Jake loved about bull fighting. Basically, Parisian culture is harming Jake's life.
I definitely agree that Jake seems to fit better with Spanish culture, but at the same time, we only really see Jake when he is fishing or watching bull-fights. If he was to live permanently in Spain, what would he do? I suspect he would end up going to live in a big city for work and eventually run into some of the same sorts of people he befriended in Paris, thus making the move pointless.
ReplyDeleteI think it's really interesting how you brought up the specific influence of Brett in Paris vs. in Spain. I think it's ironic how stressful their relationship is, especially since he works so hard to keep it going.
I agree that we definitely see Jake act with more maturity during his visit to Spain than he does whilst in Paris. However, we only get a very small and quaint/romanticized picture of what Spain is really like so it's possible Jake's negativity would just manifest itself in a different way. The different character dynamics could also play a role in Jake's mindset; in Paris, before the Robert Cohn and Brett drama, Jake's drama is at the forefront of his mind and he feels miserable and isolated. However in Spain Jake is the one with the expertise and consequently more comfortable and he also has Bill to banter with while Mike and Robert are fighting over Brett--their situation takes center stage and Jake's off the hook.
ReplyDeleteI like your title! I also find it interesting (and plausible) that Romero represents Spain, and Brett represents Paris. I also want to point out that after the disaster in Spain, Jake stays in the country: he goes to San Sebastian, which is still in Spain, and tries to recover. But in the end he is pulled back by Brett, and, symbolically, by Paris, as well as post-war decadence and culture in general.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this post. Jake is obviously happier when he is in Spain, and even more so when he is just with Bill in Spain, not with Brett and Cohn who, as you said, embody Parisian culture. I think it's interesting that near the end of the book Jake talks about how much easier it is in France because you can basically buy happiness, which doesn't work in Spain. What Jake is describing as one of France's good points is actually an unhealthy behavior that could have contributed to some of his unhappiness.
ReplyDeleteI think that's an interesting layer to the character dynamics in the novel; that Brett and Jake's inconsummatable relationship might reflect the fact Jacob's simple "Spanish" nature isn't at home with Parisian behavior (i.e. Brett), even as much as Jacob draws from Parisian irony in a deliberate facade (and how he loves Brett?)
ReplyDelete