For the majority of The Sun Also Rises, my opinion of Brett was quite poor. It feels really easy to see all the negative sides of Brett, because many of her actions negatively affect Jake with seemingly no good reason. At first, Brett’s character is confusing because she goes from partying and drinking and generally seeming like a constantly happy, free spirit to the scene in the taxi where she suddenly becomes very somber and serious about her relationship with Jake. Brett’s persona in the taxi is completely contradictory to her actions outside of it, which we soon learn is really how she acts alone with Jake versus when other people are around. My impression of Brett throughout the entire story was that she didn’t truly care about Jake because despite claiming to love him, it felt like she was also pushing her other relationships in his face.
It wasn’t until the end of the book that I realized there could be another side to the situation. It’s mentioned that Brett and Jake met and fell in love when she was a nurse. This perplexes me because I can’t imagine Brett working as a nurse, therefore I imagine her character has changed since they met. Likely, she would have woken up at normal hours, and drunk a more appropriate amount of alcohol, and she would have had to be more serious of a person. Like many people in Paris after the war, I would guess that Brett has adopted a more carefree and partying persona as a response to the trauma she experienced as a war nurse. I also think Brett could be distracting herself from the reality of her and Jake’s relationship, and maybe even unconsciously punishing herself for not being able to accept a relationship with Jake without sexual relations. I often questioned why Jake constantly welcomed and supported Brett despite her treating him poorly. At one point in the book, Jake alludes to Brett losing the love of her life during the war as an explanation for the way she acts. I think Jake could have been referring to himself, because Brett calls him the love of her life at another point in the book. I think Jake cares for her despite the way she treats him, because he knows she is reacting to losing him as the love of her life. He isn’t judging her for the way she reacts to losing him, because he knows what it feels like to lose her.
I love your analysis of Brett's character, and I think it is great that you brought up the detail about Brett being a nurse when she was younger. Now that you mention it, an occupation as demanding and strict as a nurse seems extremely out of character for Brett. It makes sense that her carefree persona came as a coping mechanism from a previous trauma, which helps me see her in a more positive light. Awesome job!
ReplyDeleteI agree that Brett must have changed since the war, and I think the idea that it is response to her trauma is significant. Jake being the love of her life that she "lost in the war" might explain why she feels like she cannot be with him. She might view her old identity as also being lost in the war. Jake is the only person in her current circle who knew her old self, and being with might disrupt her coping mechanism of forming a new persona. Your ideas explain unique aspects of Brett's identity and encourage readers to be more empathetic towards her!
ReplyDeleteNice post! I like the idea that Brett's actions are her method of coping with the war and the consequences that it brought. Although, personally, I still don't like her much. Brett has lots of complicated and confusing emotions but they don't really justify her actions, only explain them.
ReplyDeleteThat last sentence of your blog is so good, and yeah I definitely agree that Brett's character is so fascinating. I recognized Brett's pain quite early on in the novel, but still never really sympathized with her due to her treatment of Jake, but after reading this blog, I now see the "iceberg" in a lot of her scenes. Especially when she told Jake she loves Romero, that one is really painful now.
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