Sun Also Rises Relationships

The Sun Also Rises is narrated by Jake Barnes and tells the story of a group of friends who visit Madrid, Spain to go see bullfights and some of the characters have conflicts with each other. Most of the conflicts involve romantic relationships with Brett and the other male characters in the novel. Brett had romantic relations with every male character in the book except Bill. Hemingway showcases Brett’s serial dating throughout the story and shows how one woman can affect everything. Brett’s selfishness and disregard for men leads to Jake’s torn heart, Mike’s hostility, Cohn’s obsession and Pedro’s ….
Brett constantly plays with Jake’s emotions and this results in Jake being torn between his head and his heart throughout the entirety of the …show more content…
In the beginning, Brett already shows her true feeling for Mike. When talking with Jake, Brett displays her carelessness for Mike. Brett is supposed to be marrying Mike and it mentions in the text that Brett has not even thought about Mike for a week and she finds it funny. In the text it says, “I’m going to marry him…Funny. I haven’t thought about him for a week” (69). Brett is supposed to be marrying Mike, and the fact that she has not given him a thought in a week displays her unconcerned and self-centered ways towards men. Mike finds out that Brett had an affair with Robert Cohn in San Sebastian. Mike is accustomed to Brett’s affairs, but Cohn’s affair really distresses him. Cohn is different than all of the other men Brett has had an affair with because Cohn is still hanging around Brett. Mike becomes so angry at one point that he blows up on Cohn in front of the whole group. In the text it says, “Is Robert Cohn going to follow Brett around like a steer all the time?”(146). Mike is taking his anger out on Cohn, when he really wants to lash out on Brett. Brett has made Mike jealous and has made Mike develop this aggressive attitude towards Cohn. In the text it states, “Why do you follow Brett around? Haven’t you any manners? How do you think it makes me feel?” (147). In this instance, Mike reveals his true feeling about Brett and Cohn expressing not only his anger …show more content…
Cohn goes to San Sebastian with Brett even when he knows that she is supposed to be getting married to Mike. His love for her blinds him into irrational thinking. At one instance in the book, Cohn becomes obsessed with his appearance and becomes very anxious when he hears that Brett and Mike are supposed to be coming soon. In the text it states, “… Robert Cohn had taken a bath, had had a shave and a haircut and a shampoo, and something put on his hair afterward to make it stay down. He was nervous…” (103). In this instance, Cohn is only thinking about how he cannot wait until he sees Brett, but he is not thinking about the fact that Mike will be there also and that nothing will happen between him and Brett, especially if Mike is there. He is obsessing over his appearance in the hopes of impressing her, but his imaginative thinking is only clouding his judgment. In the novel, Cohn refers to Brett as “circe” in which he thinks Brett “turns men into swine” (148). Cohn has caught a glimpse of who Brett really is and how much she is capable of. He is “He calls her Circe… He claims she turns men into swine” (148). Cohn even tries to sit with Brett and Mike at the bullfight  should I put a period (166). “I thought I’d sit here because I felt a little tight” (184). “Yes. He would. You know I do know how he feels. He can’t