Throughout
The Sun also Rises, Jake’s narrative depicts Robert Cohn as someone who takes things way too personally, spoils
their fun, and is generally irritating to be around. He is the odd one out in
their group, and yet, if we look at what Cohn does that actually annoys them, we
see that it is never anything serious, or for that matter, even necessarily
bad. It is really just a combination of unfortunate circumstances and conflicting
ways of life. Jake, Brett, Bill, and Mike lead very carefree lives, joking
ironically, never taking anything seriously, and drinking and partying all the
time, whereas Cohn is much more serious. He lives and dies by his own chivalrous principles, and he gets very offended when they aren't respected. This
makes it hard for each of them to understand what the other person / people
mean, and so they get angry all the time over petty misunderstandings.
One
example of this is when Cohn tells Jake about what happened between him and
Brett after the party in Paris. Although Jake narrates the story in a way that makes
Cohn seem like a complete idiot for thinking that his relationship with Brett
could go anywhere, Cohn’s point of view makes sense objectively. For most
people, if a relationship went as far as theirs did, it would be clear that
both people were serious about it, but for Brett it didn’t mean anything; she
was just having a bit of fun. In fact, if anyone was in the wrong, it was
Brett. She led him on, even though she loves Jake and is engaged to Mike, whereas
Cohn just made a relatively logical assumption.
The
other reason Cohn is portrayed badly is because Jake is biased. He is jealous
of Cohn’s accomplishments and his relationship with Brett, and he even admits to
this when he says “I was blind, unforgivingly jealous of what had happened to
him. […] I certainly did hate him” (p. 104 – 105). We can see this bias even
from the very beginning of the book. When Jake introduces him, he says that “Robert
Cohn was once middleweight boxing champion of Princeton. Do not think that I am
very much impressed by that as a boxing title, but it meant a lot to Cohn” (p.
1). He acknowledges Cohn’s accomplishments, but makes his opinion very clear, and
I think that because this occurs extremely often throughout the book, it has a
big impact on how we subconsciously perceive Cohn.
These
two factors – Jake’s bias and their contrasting personalities – are what make
me wonder if Cohn would be better off around people who are more like him, perhaps
people from the more conservative older generation, as opposed to the reckless,
adventurous, and cynical modern generation.
I felt sort of bad for the way Cohn is treated during the fiesta. There was obviously some connection between him and Brett, and it's perhaps normal for him to expect that there would be something more to it. The fact that Brett seems to only want to have quick affairs is probably something pretty uncommon for women at that time to want, so Cohn isn't really expecting that. Mike and Jake, who know that Brett is like this, don't really seem to understand that Cohn couldn't know that about her, which is why they hate the way he's acting so much. Brett also never really tells him to leave or to stop to his face, the only person who does this is Mike, and he's very drunk, so Cohn perhaps doesn't take him seriously.
ReplyDeleteI do think that Cohn is differently minded than the rest of the group. He doesn't seem to understand the "irony" that everyone else uses. But in some ways I think that the whole group is dysfunctional and barely holds together by themselves. I feel like the only two who have a truly positive relationship are Jake and Bill, who are best of bros. As far as I can tell, all the other relationships have some kind of trouble thats not hidden very far beneath the surface. I agree that Cohn might have felt more comfortable in a different crowd that had different values, people who are more literal and more open about their emotions, instead of people who take nothing seriously and make everything into a joke. It also might help if he found some people that didn't find him fundamentally annoying...
ReplyDeleteCohn definitely is portrayed to be the idiot of the group when--you're totally right--objectively everything he does makes sense. He had some relations with Brett, despite her being married to Mike... it isn't that crazy of a notion to think that she would be at least somewhat into him. Jake definitely does seem to superimpose his opinion and agree with Brett in that Cohn following her around is totally annoying. Honestly, though, Cohn isn't that bad of a guy.
ReplyDeleteCohn reminds me of a younger kid trying to keep up with the older kids; his relationship with Bill, Jake, and Brett seems very juvenile, like he is trying to keep up with them, but is constantly coming into conflict with -- and is thrown off by -- their heavy use of irony. He believes so strongly in chivalry and genuine emotion and "cute" stuff like that, its kind of sad watching someone with such good intentions be put down and embarrassed and talked down to. I guess you could argue he should be in a different crowd, but he seems like the type that, if he were really and truly unhappy, would just leave. I think he finds there to be something mystifying about the crowd he's with, a way about them he can't understand. Even if it does slow him down and hurt him, their irony seems to be kind of engrossing to him.
ReplyDeleteCohn is a character that just makes me cringe. I almost feel bad for him, I mean no one really deserves to get so much hate, especially by Mike. He is a really annoying character that needs to take a chill pill, but it is just sad when everyone excludes him and make fun of him. I think of Cohn made another group of friends like you said. A group of people with similar values as him, he would be a likable character because he wouldn't be so different and wouldn't stand out as a character.
ReplyDeleteThe perception of Cohn as a disgustingly noble and lame guy is totally determined by the irony shades the narrator wears. To think of Cohn in a different crowd is thought-provoking, because there are plenty of social sectors that would encourage his chivalrous ideals. But we have Jake Barnes as the narrator; emasculated veteran of World War I who is painfully and constantly reminded of what he lost by who he hangs out with. In order to ease that pain, he's gonna have to deflect his situation using irony. And when you have such an unironic, untainted character as Cohn, who is symbolic of the pre-war values, Barnes will make sure the reader understands his disgust. Perhaps Jake is reminded of himself before the war by Cohn. We never get a glimpse of what he was like then, but it'd be fair to say he wasn't quite as insecure and indirect.
ReplyDeleteI also feel Cohn would be better off with a different group of people. However, I don't think that contrasting values in and of themselves cause the discord. We all are friends with or know people with whom we fundamentally disagree on certain things, and yet we can get along without belittling each other constantly. I think it's the modes of communication that Cohn and the rest of the group use that confuses everyone. Cohn is very literal and doesn't really understand the whole "irony" thing. All the misunderstandings this causes make him the most obvious "outcast" of the group, but as Luis said, the rest of the group doesn't like each other much, they're just better at hiding it.
ReplyDeleteI felt sorry for Cohn when I was reading the book because he was trying so hard and he didn't deserve all the crap his friends heaped on him. In a different story, he could be portrayed as the lovable heroic loser type. I want to hear the story of The Sun Also Rises from Cohn's point of view, and see his perspective on the other characters and setting. It would be interesting to see what things Jake picks up on that Cohn misses, and even vice versa.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Cohn doesn't quite fit, mainly because of his worldview. His principles belong to an older time. He also doesn't seem happy being around the group. Jake is his best friend, and Jake can barely tolerate him. He is often criticized or ridiculed for his anachronistic tenets, and I think he would be much happier with others.
ReplyDelete