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

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.

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

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

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."

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).

            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,

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

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,

     In Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, Jake Barnes is a lost man who wastes his life on drinking. Towards the beginning of the book Robert Cohn asks Jake, “Don’t you ever get the feeling that all your life is going by and you’re not taking advantage of it? Do you realize that you’ve lived nearly half the time you have to live already?” Jake weakly answers, “Yes, every once in a while.” The book focuses on the dissolution of the post-war generation and how they cannot find their place in life. Jake is an example of a person who had the freedom to choose his place but chose poorly.

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

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

The novel begins with Jake Barnes, the narrator, giving a description of Robert Cohn. His description of Cohn is not particularly favorable as it illustrates that Jake has little respect for Cohn. He describes Robert Cohn as a Jew, not in reference to his religion but more so as a flaw in his character. This is evident in statements like, “No one had ever made him feel he was a Jew” (Hemingway 12) and “He had a hard, Jewish, stubborn streak” (Hemingway 18). The language Hemingway uses here is significant because it is the first introduction to the disconnection between these characters and their faiths. Like Jake, Robert Cohn is

"One generation passeth away, the passage from Ecclesiates began, and another generation cometh; but the earth abideth forever. The sun also ariseh…"(Baker 122). A Biblical reference forms the title of a novel by Ernest Hemingway during the 1920s, portraying the lives of the American expatriates living in Paris. His own experience in Paris has provided him the background for the novel as a depiction of the 'lost generation'.

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