Lady Brett Ashley

“Don’t we pay for all the things we do, though? . . . When I think of the hell I put chaps through. I’m paying for it all now” (Hemingway 34). 

 Though I recall saying this back in Paris, it still applies after everything that has happened. It is sad because it will probably apply for the rest of my life. I inflict pain, I gain pain. I have put every man that has come into my life through trouble and heartache. I have affected Jake, The Count, Mike, Robert, and Pedro. I know what I am doing but I cannot help being so attractive and having men swooned over me. I love having a physical relationship with men but I have never wanted more than that. Yes, I love Jake, and yes I had love for Pedro Romero as well. However, I know having a sentimental relationship with them, or any man for that matter, would only destroy them in the long run. I believe I am paying for what I have put men through because I am miserable myself. I do not want be like all these other women who live to please a man. I am independent and I am my own person. I should be able to what I like when I like without disapproval. I wish more men could look at it in the same light. Look at Jake; he loves me but, he knows how I am and even has come to accept it. Cohn became obsessed with me ever since we were in San Sebastian. I caused him so much pain that he decided to leave the country. My morals are so diminished that when I was with Pedro, as perfect as can be, I had to call it off because I know how bad I am. You know, I recall be referred to as a sadist. At first, I denied it but now I might have to agree with it. Misery loves company.

Examples

Lady Brett Ashley

"It’s funny," I said. "It’s very funny. And it’s a lot of fun, too, to be in love." 

"Do you think so?" her eyes looked flat again. 

"I don’t mean fun that way. In a way it’s an enjoyable feeling." 

"No," she said. "I think it’s hell on earth." (4.4)

He's insane. It's as if he gains pleasure from this roller coaster that we're in. All I want is to be his. Jake thinks that this is a game. I'll show him how to play. Maybe he just wants my body and not my mind. After all that I've been through I'm sick and tired of men. I don't imagine there being a happily ever after or some Prince Charming. I'm my own hero. It shouldn't be so important for a woman to find a man and settle down and have a family. What's the point in being young if you can't have a little fun?

Jake Barnes

"You're an expatriate. You've lost touch with the soil. You get precious. Fake European standards have ruined you. You drink yourself to death. You become obsessed by sex. You spend all your time talking, not working. You are an expatriate, see. You hang around cafés." (Hemingway 120)

Sigh. Yes Bill, I have lost touch with the soil. Yes, those fake standards have ruined me. I do drink myself to death, but, what do you expect? After everything that has happened- with the effects of what WWI has done to me, with Brett not staying by my side and not being able to give her what she wants- what else can I do but these things? To numb my thoughts and feelings, this is the only way. It helps me feel more of a man then I already do. Did you ever think about that Bill, have you? But please don't think you've hurt my feelings. Trust me, everything that you've said is true. I am one of the worst type of expatriates.

Jake Barnes

   "Why I felt that impulse to devil I do not know. Of course I do know. I was blind, unforgivingly jealous of what happened to him. The fact that I took it as a matter of course did not alter that any. I certainly did hate him. I do not think I ever really hated him until he had that little spell of superiority at lunch – that and when he went through all that barbering. So I put the telegram in my pocket. The telegram came to me, anyway."(Hemingway 105)

   That Jewish fool, trying to go after Brett. Brett doesn't want him. To hell with Cohn! If anything Brett wants me. I'll be damned if I see her run off with him than with me. Cohn doesn't know what he's getting himself into with Brett. He doesn't know her like I do. He's a damned fool trying to say he knows her better than I do. She'll destroy him, and he doesn't even know it. He'll see, He'll get what he deserves. To hell with Robert Cohn.  

Brett Ashley

" She [Brett] was looking into my eyes with that way she had of looking that made you wonder whether she really saw out of her own eyes. They would look on and on after every one else's eyes in the world would have stopped looking." (Hemingway 34)

I seem to charm men with my beauty and attitude. I can't help if they fall for me, but I know I'm not going to be committed. I love to have fun and party.When guys look into my eyes, it's like they have an instant attraction. They want to get know me and whats going on inside my head.Unfortunately I sometimes feel miserable. I do enjoy my time with these guys but at the end of the day I still feel unsatisfied. Jake is there for me, but hes not enough.