Jake's Conflicting Views on Boxing
Image of a man boxing a bull.(https://www.freeimages.com/premium-vector/man-boxing-bull-2850106)
The Sun Also Rises opens with a long description of Cohn’s boxing ability, which Jake presents as unimpressive and even demeaning. However, the reason for this long explanation of boxing is unclear until much later in the book. Jake's need to exude masculinity causes him to go on long tangents of traditionally male activities, like fishing, cycling races, and crucially bullfighting. In part these digressions serve to distract Jake from his suppressed feelings about his life and injury, but what I find most interesting is Jake’s conflicting opinions about boxing.
When Cohn boxes Jake belittles him for it. He even says, “I never met anyone of his class who remembered him. They did not even remember that he was a middleweight boxing champion” (1). Cohn was not part of the lost generation whose lives were forever altered by the war. Instead of battling in real world combat, he fought in a boxing rink, his only injury left his “nose permanently flattened” which Jake says “certainly improved his appearance” (1). In contrast, Jake left battle with a life changing injury, leaving him unable to have a relationship with his love Brett and with a permanent scar, having given “more than [his] life” to the war (39). He also says, “of all the ways to be wounded. I suppose it was funny” (38). He then proceeds to distract himself with bullfighting magazines. While the torturing reality of Jake’s wound is certainly not funny, everyone thinks it is funny because they don’t have to deal with it themselves. Cohn’s injury is not seen as funny, so Jake must frame it in a humorous tone to cope.
It's clear that Jake does not appreciate Cohn’s boxing abilities, but it's also exceedingly clear that he deeply admires the bulls as “boxer[s]” (144). So much so that he shares his passion with Brett. When Cohn, a boxer, asks about Brett Jake immediately says everything he can to prevent him from attempting anything with her. When Brett and Jake watched the bulls fight in Pamplona, a steer was suddenly gored. I initially wanted to compare the steer to Jake, as a steer is a castrated bull, but I see a good case for comparing the steer to Cohn. Mike even suggests that Cohn is a steer, “I would have thought you’d love being a steer, Robert “(146). Robert is excluded from the group and an outsider, as he did not fight in the war and is Jewish in a time of extremely blatant antisemitism. Similarly, “The steer who had been gored had gotten to his feet and stood against the stone wall. None of the bulls came near him, and he did not attempt to join the herd” (145). At first Cohn makes as many attempts as possible to join the bulls, the rest of the group, but he soon realizes he is not wanted and eventually leaves. While the steer is getting gored Jake is surprised to see, “[Brett] was watching, fascinated” much how she does little to prevent the calamity or the collateral damage from all of her affairs (144). Even in the bull fighting match Jake can not admit to himself that Brett can be cruel. However unlike in real life, while watching bullfighting Jake can also be entertained seeing himself as a strong boxer outcompeting Brett’s other interests instead of sitting on the side lines, out of the game so to speak.
To conclude, I believe that Jake has a passion or aficion for bull fighting because it is one of the few times he can see himself as a boxer, fighting for entertainment not war and fighting against the men who Brett continually chooses over him. In this setting he is able to vicariously take retribution on Cohn for temporarily taking Brett. In real life he fails miserably in a fight, and Cohn immediately knocks him out with his boxing knowledge. But in the safety of the stands he can feel victory and comfort in a caricature of masculinity (bull’s are always male cattle) ruthlessly hurting a defenseless and estranged steer (Cohn). Jake's love of bullfighting further reflects his status in the lost generation. Now cast aside after the war, he is left to distract himself with brutality in an attempt to find fulfillment.
Work Cited:
Hemingway, Ernest, 1899-1961, author. The Sun Also Rises. New York :Scribner, 2006.
Sasha, great blog! I found it interesting how you suggested that Jake made fun of Cohn's nose from a boxing injury as a way to cope with his; I originally concluded he was simply rooting against Cohn whenever the opportunity arose. Jake finding his inner boxer was quite the good depiction of his passion for bullfighting, as we talked about him securing his masculinity via his aficion. Also, when Jake went up against Cohn and was knocked to the ground in a flash, he accepted it, but did not give much credit to Cohn. Their dynamic will continue to intrigue me.
ReplyDeleteJake never really harps on it, but there's a similar kind of implicit comparison between his own "toughness" and Cohn's when it comes to their various reactions to the bullfight itself: Jake admits how hard it can be to witness all this blood and violence, and he and Bill are clearly shaken after the bullfight, but Jake describes it as the familiar feeling that a bullfight produces--part of the epic struggle that is so transcendent for Jake, when it is done well and properly. But Jake never looks away, so to speak, and he flaunts his deep knowledge and "aficion" in the way he narrates the details of the bullfight for the reader (so WE can't really "look away" either). In contrast, they all laugh at how Cohn looks "green" during the violence, and they're all deeply offended by his statement that he worries he might be "bored" during the bullfight. Jake clearly takes satisfaction in the way that Brett can handle the violence, as he "teaches" her in detail how to intelligently and critically view the bullfight. Cohn, in contrast, is never taught anything, and he seems like one more green-at-the-gills uninformed American tourist. At least in Jake's estimation.
ReplyDeleteHi Sasha! I agree that Jake's passion for bullfighting stems from his want to almost feel more masculine. I think this is the same reason for why Jake gets so upset seeing Brett at the bar with her friends, who happen to be gay men. It doesn't sit right with him that he can't take full charge of his masculinity, but those men can, and they simply choose not to, in his eyes. I also thought it was very interesting how you contrasted Jake's injury to Cohn's. He tries to poke fun at it just as he thinks others would poke fun at his injury. Overall, great post!
ReplyDeleteWow, I've never really thought of Jake's dismissal for Cohn's boxing being related to his experience in the war, as he sees Cohn as fighting for fun and getting minorly injured, while Jake had to actually fight in the war and received a major injury as a result. It is perhaps Jake's jealousy that Cohn had it easy that leads him to despise Cohn and the sport of boxing despite deriving great enjoyment from the sport of bullfighting.
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