Now a straightforward writing style is what made Ernest Hemingway so well known, but even amongst the various characters in The Sun Also Rises Jake seems especially simply spoken. He really doesn't say very much, and when he does it seems to be very straight to the point. I don't just point this out to emphasize that he's not long winded though. In comparison to the other characters in the novel Jake seems to almost take things more seriously. This isn't exactly correct, but I see his attitude as being in comparison to Bill or Brett who take remarkably ironic tones towards life.
It had been pointed out in class I believe that irony seemed to be a way for the characters to shield themselves from true emotion. It really does give off this vibe of being so far removed from any kind of emotional attachment that you're able to crack jokes about anything. In this way people are able to cast off the illusion of ever being hurt by anything, whether this is actually true or not. I think more generally than Jake, this is an important statement of how Hemingway feels people are changing going into the 1920's. It's not longer suitable to act in a more open manner, such as the way Robert Cohn does. Cohn served in many ways I think as an example of an "old-fashioned" person, such as the way he treated Brett and wasn't able to accept her sexual promiscuity like the other guys supposedly do. All this ties into a more universal theme that people now need to start to cover up their emotions, and Bill claims irony is becoming the norm.
As pointed out also by Bill, Jake doesn't fall under the category of an ironic person. He's decidedly not ironic for the most part, and as a result you might read his emotions an actions as being more sincere than the other characters. I'm not sure this is exactly accurate though. Despite his straightforward manner I still see Jake as a somewhat shielded individual. He's entangled in an ordeal with the woman he loves, which surely must be gut wrenchingly painful for him on some level. It can't be at all easy to see someone you love in that way going of with other people. We get some indication that Jake is torn up about it, but really not as much as we could. For the most part he seems to just report on what he says, as a true newspaper writer would. But really, I don't think Jake could be as removed from this as he seems to be. This is why I don't see Jake as being a less shielded (or more sincere) character than the others. Honestly I read Jakes pointedly stoic manner as his own way of guising his emotions. If he only just tells us about the direct actions of those around him then emotions don't ever even factor into the equation. I believe that Jake uses his own stoicism as a means by which he can hide his own damaged emotional state.
I'd qualify this by saying that Jake doesn't "disguise" his emotions with his stoicism (in fact, the emotionally vulnerable moments where he's alone at night are, to my reading, *especially* potent because of their starkness), but rather than his stoicism allows him to *deal* with his emotions in a way that Hemingway sees as right and proper (and un-Cohn-like). Jake has been dealt a terrible hand by the universe. He can spend his days moping and cursing the universe, or he can get on with it and live his life. The stoicism almost seems like a form of irony, in this light--a way to make the unbearable bearable.
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