Jake Barnes is the main character and also the narrator of the novel. Jake is an American veteran of World War I. He works in Paris as a journalist. This is where he and his friends spend their time drinking and attending parties. The key events of the making of Jake’s character occurred before this novel took place. During World War I, Jake was a casualty of war. Although Jake doesn’t come out and say so, there are numerous times in the book when he implies,because of his injury he has lost the ability to have sexual intercourse. The first hint of this is when he it talking with Georgette, “ I was hurt in the war”, this is in reference to why they cannot have physical relations. (pg.24) Jake’s narration is characterized by subtlety and implication. He rather hint at things indirectly, especially when it comes to his war injury. Although Jake is the most stable of his friends, he constantly struggles with the anguish over his love. He fell in love with Lady Brett Ashley years ago and is still powerfully and uncontrollably in love with her. Brett loves Jake, but will not give up a physical relationship for Jake. Since Jake can never be Brett’s lover, they are forced to create a new relationship between
the two of them. This relationship may actually be even more dangerous than that of lovers. They became best friends. This forms a great difficulty for Jake, in the sense that Brett’s presence is not only pleasurable, but definitely agonizing for him. This is the force that sets Jake’s inner conflict in motion. (Vol.19) Jake seems to be lost when it comes to living in his world of emotional relationships. He confronts extreme feeling of disapointment when Brett invades his mostly male world. This shows he cannot handle living with this day to day. He experiences difficulty with the situation at hand between him and Brett. Jake needs these emotional ties, but at the same time he is simply imagining what they could have had in an imaginary past. Brett constantly reminds him of his handicap. This is challenging for Jake as being a man. This makes him seem quite insecure of his masculanity. This also imposes profound psychological consequences. If I had the same problem as Jake had, I don’t think I would be able to handle it as well as he does. This is one of the obstacles that Jake has to face in his life in becoming a man again. He needs to figure out that what is done cannot be erased. He needs to move on with his life. In saying that, tow
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