Essay on Robert Cohn's Struggle for Respect in The Sun Also Rises

The protagonist in Ernest Hemmingway’s The Sun Also Rises, Jacob Barnes, is a down on his luck war veteran living in France. Jake is characterized by his experiences prior to the events of the book and he narrates the story from a quiet observer’s third person perspective, often times quite cynically, exemplified when he tells his friend Robert Cohn, “You can’t get away from yourself by moving from one place to another.”Although never openly stating it, Jake on several occasions implies that due to a war injury he has lost the ability to have sex which leaves him feeling very insecure about his own masculinity, likely contributing to his

Disillusionment does not merely occur in only novels; every single individual to walk the Earth will experience mental displeasure at some point within their lives. Nevertheless, many choose to let unfortunate events circle within their souls and become encrypted into their memory. Once this happens, the role of aimlessness takes its course, adverse fate reigns, and the feeling of disenchantment dwells in the mind. Hemingway’s novel, The Sun Also Rises, grasps this very subject in a subliminal way; one must accurately analyze Hemingway’s somber tone and sparse writing style in order to find the hidden symbolism and themes captured within this literary work. His protagonist, Jake Barnes, has certainly experienced prodigious pain, but

This paper is concerned with the way that Robert Cohn is portrayed considering his actions, immaturity, and relationships that lead to and anti-exemplary behavior in The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. Cohn is a character who does not seem to change very much throughout the novel. The actions that Cohn presents in the beginning of the novel are still presented when it comes to the near end of the novel. While most of the characters are able to grow and learn the values, Cohn stays his immature self. Hemingway’s portrayal of Cohn is to demonstrate a better way to live as evident in characters such as Romero and the Count.

As the novel progresses, Robert Cohn begins to fall for Brett. After their little excursion to San Sebastian, Cohn begins to follow Brett around like a steer. Michael, Brett’s finance, lays into Cohn every time he follows her around. After a while of Cohn getting harassed, he loses it. He knocks both Jake and Mike out cold. This action reveals how Cohn, the boxer from Princeton, physically displays his dominance over the two due to the fact that they won’t listen to what he has to say. Later when Jake finds Cohn in his room, he is crying profusely. This reveals how emotionally scared he is from Brett. Throughout the novel, Jake makes several degrading comments about Cohn and this helps establish his character even further. In the end, Cohn’s

Similar to Jake, Cohn endures abuse from Frances; however, it is a different type of abuse. Apparently Cohn endures the verbal abuse Frances takes out on him. Jake describes Frances as “very forceful” and after realizing she wanted to get married due to aging, “her attitude toward Robert changed from one of careless possession and exploitation to the absolute determination that he should marry her” (Hemingway 13). Just from the single instance where Jake meets Cohn and Frances at a café, Cohn will not defend himself and allow Frances to publically berate him harshly as he sat there. Frances is willing to voice her opinion and dominate any ounce of masculinity Cohn may possess. Through her selfish desires and anger, she verbalizes her frustration publically and without discretion. Cohn thought “he was sure that he loved [Frances]” in the beginning, but unfortunately he had to tolerate her up until their separation (Hemingway 13).

Ernest Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899 in Chicago, Illinois. Hemingway was an American author and journalist. Kemen Zabala author of “HEMINGWAY: A STUDY IN GENDER AND SEXUALITY” states that Hemingway was commonly known for portraying the sterile and disillusioned environment created by the massive human loss of World War I. Perhaps his exposure to the atrocious nature of war as a Red Cross ambulance driver in the Europe during World War I aided and further influenced his literary capturing of warfare and how it had affected the “Lost Generation”. Hemingway himself popularized this term, it indicates the coming of age generation during World War I. Ashley Torres, author of “Gender Roles Shift in Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises” claims that the “Lost Generation” mirrors the disenchanted and hopeless attitudes generated by the war. Although the war resulted in the loss of millions of men, changing the social and cultural customs, the youths of the “Lost Generation” were “battered but not lost” (Gerald, Kennedy “American Literature Vol. 63” (Jun. 1991), p. 192). As a result, the strict gender roles set by the preceding Victorian era, did not apply anymore, as women now took on many jobs meant for men. With a newfound sense of experimentation, the men and women of the “Lost Generation” could reverse gender roles freely. This paper will analyze the shift in gender roles found predominantly in Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises.

            Hemmingway's preference for steers is shown in the implicit and explicit critiques of bulls. One such critique is implicit in Robert Cohn's actions. When he trades the steer's role for that of the bull, unhappiness and pain result. Jake, Mike and Pedro are physically injured and Cohn is emotionally mortified. The bull which gores the steer is described as being "just like a boxer" (139). We know that Cohn, too is a boxer. When he turns his boxing abilities against his former companions, he dies as far as the novel is concerned. Like a spent bull, he must leave the ring after the fight never to return. By contrast, Jake, the steer whom Cohn gores,

The pivotal character of Ernest Hemingway's novel, The Sun Also Rises is Jake Barnes. He is a man of complex personality--compelling, powerful, restrained, bitter, pathetic, extraordinarily ordinary yet totally human. His character swings from one end of the psychological spectrum to the other end. He has complex personality, a World War I veteran turned writer, living in Paris. To the world, he is the epitome of self-control but breaks down easily when alone, plagued by self-doubt and fears of inadequacy. He is at home in the company of friends in the society where he belongs, but he sees himself as someone from the outside looking in. He is not alone, yet he is lonely. He strikes people as confident, ambitious, careful, practical,

The clearest example is the impotency of the main character Jake Barnes. Jake explains to Georgette how he was hurt during the war in order to prevent her from becoming infatuated with him (Hemingway 22). The battle wound rendered Jake impotent, so he cannot be with his love, Brett Ashley. Throughout the novel, Jake witnesses Brett’s affairs with other men; his insecurity is enhanced. Robert Cohn, Jake’s Jewish friend, is a former boxer who did not experience World War I firsthand like the rest of Jake’s friends. Hemingway explains why Robert boxes: "He cared nothing for boxing, in fact he disliked it, but he learned it painfully and thoroughly to counteract the feeling of inferiority and shyness he had felt on being treated as a Jew at Princeton" (11). Robert practices boxing as a way to counteract his insecurity; he thinks he will gain respect and intimidate others. Instead, Robert is always found to be the center of jokes and criticism from his peer group; he nonchalantly brushes it off but is concerned about his identity.

Ernest Hemingway, author of The Sun Also Rises, a novel that has had a strong impact on the 20th century’s idea of the “lost generation,” particularly the racism displayed towards the character of Robert Cohn. This novel tells of three main characters, Robert Cohn, Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley all living in the continent of Europe traveling about in search of their life’s purpose after the first world war. Hemingway intended for this story to be about the love between the many men in attraction to Lady Brett whose mere presence affects the actions of them all. An important factor to consider is the ethnicity of Robert while reading the story because of the many instances where it is brought up

Jake and Robert Cohn and their relationship is another indicator of the theme of masculine insecurity. Hemingway plays up the tensions of competition and jealousy to demonstrate just how uncertain his male characters are. Cohn seems to sincerely be keen of Jake, and while Jake is normally nice toward him although he does not really seem to reciprocate Cohn’s warmth. Their relationship changes once Jake discovers Cohn’s fling with Brett. After this incident, he is more unfriendly toward him, and more critical of him. A conversation that happens later between Jake and Bill hints at Jake’s jealousy. Bill asks Jake if he was ever in love with Brett and Jake responds with “Off and on for a hell of a long time.” Bill apologizes for being inconsiderate, Jake them claims he no longer cares. Bill is skeptic of this though (128). The competition between Jake and Cohn relationship reaches its first peak, when he finds out about Cohn’s trip with Brett and their sexual affair and by Cohn’s belief that he knows Brett better than Jake does. His hatred for Cohn grows even more throughout the novel with Jake

Reflecting members of the Lost Generation, the characters in the novel are negatively affected by being a part of it because many are incapable forming genuine relationships. The fight between Cohn, Jake, and Mike especially illustrates such an idea because it shows just how meaningless the idea of friendship is to the characters. Cohn in particular gives little meaning to true relationships. He says that Jake is his best friend, yet he insults him prior to the physical altercation; “‘You’re really about the best friend I have, Jake’” (39). Despite Jake allegedly being his best friend, he still refers to him as a pimp, showing how little Jake means to Cohn. The negative effect of meaningless, dishonest relationships is also found in the overall relationship of the group: Cohn claims to like Jake, while Jake claims to hate Cohn. Mike abhors Cohn as well, yet they are all out together nonetheless. Their lack of honesty, which led to the fight, stresses the significance of the negative effects of being a part of the Lost Generation, which is Hemingway’s meaning of the entire work.

In conclusion, part of what makes Hemingway's style so unique is that he simply shows, without much telling. The matador scene in chapter 18 is rich because it provides penetrating insight with it's symbolism; Lady Brett with her elusive nature with men is captured through Romero's matador technique. The fact that Romero penetrates the bull with his sword accentuates the inherent masculinity that Brett displays—a sort of role reversal. Chapter 18 also highlights the character of Cohn, and his role as a foil and it's parallels to Belmonte's traditional

When Mike was drunk, he said to Robert: “ I would have thought you’d loved being a steer, Robert… Why do you follow Brett around like a poor bloody steer?... You came down to San Sebastian where you weren’t wanted, and followed Brett around like a bloody steer” (Hemingway 146). Mike is drunk and when people are drunk they tend to express their true feelings. Mike is calling Robert a steer and telling him that he thought that he loved being a steer. By definition, a steer is a castrated male bull. This means that they have been neutered and they no longer have their reproductive organs. Although Robert is not literally castrated like Jake, he is referred to a steer because he is weak. Mike said that Robert follows Brett like a steer. Mike is not talking about Robert’s relationship with France’s but he is talking about another girl. This shows that Robert is weak even when he is not around France’s. France’s is controlling and she takes advantage of Robert but he continues to obey her. If Robert is capable of being impotent in front of other women, he is weak in front of everyone because he had the chance to be strong while France’s was not

All of the characters were dealing with this whole issue of self.  Cohn, however, dealt with his problems in a different way.  "He cared nothing for boxing, in fact he disliked it, but he learned it painfully and thoroughly to counteract the feeling of inferiority and shyness he felt on being treated as a Jew at Princeton."  Cohn was willing to work and suffer physically to try to gain back some of what he wanted-acceptance and love.  The others tried to simply escape their problems in sex, alcohol, work, or fishing.  This is a similarity between Cohn and Romero.  Although boxing is not as threatening as fighting bulls, the work and torment and sweat involved show the hope that they have that the end result is worth the work and pain.  Cohn believed that true love existed, but he had never known it.  "For four years his horizon had been absolutely limited to his wife.  For three years, or almost three years, he had never seen beyond Frances.  I am sure he had never been in love in his life."  "She [Frances] was very forceful, and Cohn never had a chance of not being taken in hand.  Also he was sure that he loved her."