Does Brett Really Love Jake?

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Throughout The Sun Also Rises, we see Jake's struggle as he deals with the fact that he can never be with the woman he loves and instead has to see her spend time with other men. We know that Jake is undeniably in love with Brett, but does Brett really feel the same way about Jake? 
Although Brett tells Jake she loves him, she is engaged to Mike and spends time with multiple other men. She even tells Jake that if they lived together, she would undoubtedly cheat on him. However, they still have a deep and intimate emotional relationship and enjoy spending time with each other. Although Brett does go around with other men, she is open with Jake about it and they have an understanding that this is the dynamic of their relationship. I think one of Brett's favorite qualities in Jake is that he doesn't say anything about the number of men she spends time with. However, to the reader it is clear that it does hurt Jake internally to see the woman he loves be with other men. But because he loves her, and wants her to be happy, Jake keeps his feelings buried and lets Brett have her fun. While he can give Brett the emotional aspect of a relationship, he knows he cannot do the same for her physically, so he pushes his own feelings aside out of love because he wants Brett to be happy. 
Sometimes it seems like Jake is getting himself played by Brett, but an argument could be made that Brett's promiscuity would not exist in the first place if there was a greater chance that she and Jake could be together. When criticizing Cohn and Mike for their actions in Spain, she praises Jake for not acting like them. But Jake knows that even if he did act out, there would be no point because he and Brett will never be together. Cohn and Mike can argue about Brett because they've both had a chance to be with her for at least a short time. While they both get to compete for Brett's affection, Jake doesn't even get that chance. However, I think that if he and Brett could be together, there would be no competition at all. Brett has been with many different men throughout her life, but Jake has been a constant since they met. With most men, she spends a short amount of time with them and then moves on. However, she never quite seems to move on from Jake. She always tells him they cannot be together, but keeps going back to him and depends on him for emotional support. While they may not be together in a physical sense, they definitely have an emotional connection that neither Brett nor Jake can get get rid of. 




Comments

  1. Irina September 28, 2018 at 9:04 AM

    Nice summary of the situation. I would agree that if perhaps Jake was not injured in the war, the promiscuity that seems to be Brett's defining characteristic would not have existed. But I am not sure that Brett really loves Jake. Perhaps she is using him, not just to hook up with other men, but also depending on him emotionally. Considering that her relationship with Ashley was abusive, she may have wanted to find a steady, sensible man like Jake.

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  2. Dominick LongSeptember 28, 2018 at 3:22 PM

    I think your point about Brett staying connected with Jake is good, another possible reason for this is just that Brett wants Jake's money. We see him bail her out at the end of the book, and it is implied that this has happened before, so Brett could be just staying connected with Jake for his money.

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  3. ElishaSeptember 28, 2018 at 11:56 PM

    I agree with you on that they have an undeniable emotional connection and vulnerability with each other. And I actually do believe that they both love each other!
    I just think the idea of "love" means much less to Brett, if that makes any sense. I feel like emotion is Brett's shield - "love" and "drama" and "drinking" are her ways of forgetting to care . Emotions just become coping mechanisms for her on some level, some way of keeping herself interested. Love is fun - "'we could have had such a damned good time together'". Just as their friend group is pushed to not take anything too seriously, I think Brett pushes herself to not take love too seriously, not to let it have too much power over her. Ultimately, I think she loves herself more than she can love anyone else, and she's maybe not too honest with herself about it. (Don't get me wrong - I'm not condemning her! She's great :) )

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  4. Neha AluruSeptember 30, 2018 at 9:16 PM

    I definitely agree with your point but I also wonder if Brett and Jake could have succeeded as a couple if Jake didn't have his injury. While we can argue that Brett goes from man to man because she is trying to "replace" the physical aspect of Jake that she can't get, it can also be argued that Brett is the way she is because of her abusive husband. Jake and Brett have a solid relationship because its only intellectual and emotional but it's hard to say whether Brett would be loyal to Jake if they also had a physical relationship as well.

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  5. Elizabeth RienstraOctober 1, 2018 at 7:49 PM

    I think you make a good point about Brett and Jake's relationship. The mere fact that Brett always gravitates back to Jake is alone enough to point out their connection. What other man has Brett ever returned to? Because of this, I agree that if Jake had a chance in this game, there would be no competition. Brett is extremely emotionally connected to and invested in Jake. It's sort of a hell for him --- he desperately wants to be with Brett, but he knows that they can't. She also knows that they can't, but neither of them make any movements to make that easier. They keep seeing each other despite the fact that it causes both of them some amount of pain. They're in a really terrible loop of dependency that neither of them have even bothered to escape because they're addicted to each other.

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  6. Nic RamkumarOctober 13, 2018 at 9:09 PM

    You have some good points about the relationship dynamics between Jake and Brett. I do kinda doubt that if Brett and Jake would be together if he could have sex with her. I feel like Brett's promiscuity prevents her from having a stable relationship with any of the men in the book. Cohn and Mike both seem like they take it as a failure on their part as men to not be able to hold Brett down and Jake admits that he'd be just as bad as them if he wasn't injured.

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