The Sun Also Rises critical essay

Love isn’t Opt-in

I was confused and asked: “Why does Brett say ‘I have to’ when Jake asks if she loves him?”. Mrs. Waterman asks back in a sad tone: “Do we have a choice with who we love?”

The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway, is a novel about Brett’s and Jake’s tragic love on each other. They both love each other deeply yet unrequitedly. Brett loves Jake because she is always able to gain mental comfort and calmness talking to Jake, Her love is unrequited, however, because she cannot endure a relationship without sex. Jake’s love on Brett is expressed continuously throughout the novel in his behaviors. He tries and thrives to be with her, even though he knows it will never happen. “Love” is never associated with “opt-in”. Their tragic love are unrequited.

Brett never lies to Jake. Whenever she feels mental breakdown or miserable, she goes to Jake. Jake is the only person who she can fully rely on and regain confidence and calmness. However, her love to Jake is unrequited because of the injury Jake endures during the war. Brett wants sexual relationship, yet Jake is never able to offer. Thus, she does not want to be with Jake, although she loves him. When Jake asks to live with Brett, she says: “I’d just tromper you with everybody. You can’t stand it.” (Hemingway 62). Brett does not want to ‘tromper’ or cheat Jake if she live with him. It is not that she does not love him, but she does not want to cheat Jake, which is because she wants to have sex and Jake is not able to. Her love on Jake is unrequited and unfulfilled by Jake’s injury. Another indication on this unrequited love is when Brett meets Jake after all her relationships with other men. “She kissed me, and while she kissed me I could feel she was thinking of something else.” (Hemingway 245). Brett’s action shows her unrequited love. Her kiss with Jake is an expression of love. However, Jake’s feeling that ‘she was thinking of something else’ indicates that Brett still wants sexual relationship. Jake’s injury makes it impossible so she only can think ‘something else’, sex in imagination, to fulfill her unrequited love.

Jake, as well, loves Brett deeply that he can do everything for her. Even though he knows that there is limited chance of being with Brett, he always run to Brett instantly on her request. Following with Brett’s statement that she concerns she might cheat on him, Jake answers: “I stand it now.” (Hemingway 62). It is the saddest line in the novel. Jake can even stand her cheating, only asking her to stay with him. How small and unrequited Jake’s love is? Her loyalty seems indifference if she live with him. He only asks for psychological love because he cannot offer sexual. However, because of Brett’s desire of sex, his love can never be fulfilled. After the conversation they have, Jake understands he has limited chance of being with Brett, but goes instantly to Brett everytime. In country, Jake and Bill enjoy a wonderful time fishing with Harris. They have pleasant and relaxing time traveling. However, when Jake receives a telegram about Brett, he instantly starts to travel back and run to her. Harris asks:”I hope you’re not thinking of leaving?”, and Jake instantly answers: “We’ll go in on the afternoon bus, I’m afraid.” (Hemingway 132). The scene in the novel creates a contradiction between Jake’s pleasant time and his immediate reaction after receiving telegram about Brett. Jake cares about Brett so much that he can leave the pleasant place for approaching her. His unrequited love is tragic and small, yet he never stops seeking.

It is ironic that they both love each other yet both unrequited. Brett always wants a sexual love that Jake cannot offer. At the same time, Jake’s injury makes him only seek for Brett’s psychological love, yet Brett refuses. Without choosing, they fall in love with each other. However, physical injury separates them and makes their love forever unrequited.