Final Destination

 Aakash Vasireddy | 20th Century Blog Post #5 | November 6th, 2020

Today's post: Final Destination - Our final scenes in The Sun Also Rises

In today's post, I'll be covering my thoughts of the final scene with Lady Brett Ashley and our main character Jake Barnes. 

We know that through the entirety of the novel, the whole guiding storyline or plot point is the relationship surrounding Jake and Brett as they have a very unique relationship and way of interacting with one another; a way that we see as unconventional for the typical romantic relationship we expected from two characters who have confessed feelings for one another. These two have not been able to be truly and fully intimate and committed with each other due to Jake's sexual injury. Brett goes off with all these other guys like the lovely Robert Cohn, Mike, and the young bullfighter Romero while Jake feels this huge disconnect but still comes running to Brett's side for emotional support .

However, in this last scene, I think there are some key things to point out that may shift our perspective on Jake as a character and what Jake and Brett's relationship has really come to by the end of the novel. First off, I'll say that this scene seems to show Jake's development (to a certain extent) as a character. If we flash back to the more introductory scenes of Jake and Brett's relationship, we see them both get in a cab together in which there is a lot of Jake questioning why they can't they have this full-fledged relationship along with statements about Jake being in love, etc. etc. 

In this final scene which also happens to be in a cab where they share this isolated moment together, Brett makes the remark that they would have been great together and would have a had a damned good time and Jake says the whole "It's pretty to think so" bit, but some things stood out to me: it seemed like there was a shift in the dynamic of what we had previously read many chapters before.  At the end, there's no tone to Jake's final statement. Hemingway simply uses the word "said" to describe Jake's statement rather than using a word that gives implications of Jake's emotions. Having said that, we can't really gain anything from this final line of dialogue like we might in a different novel with different wording choices. In this final scene, a big thing that really stood out was that Jake doesn't affirm that Brett and him could have had something better and been this grand couple that Brett speaks of. You'd think that if Jake still was madly in love with Brett and believing in a possible future between the two he would have reaffirmed this... but he didn't.

I think we can agree that there are multiple interpretations of the text. Brett's language - saying we could have had it all - suggests more of a past tense event which didn't have a chance of happening again. Could even symbolize it as like a disappointed sigh. Jake could be angry that Brett is being so ignorant to the fact that Jake has been thinking those same thoughts throughout the novel and now has the audacity to tell her now. However, in my mind I believe that Jake comes to this acceptance and realistic realization of what their relationship has come to and what it will be for the rest of the foreseeable future. 

After Jake replies to the telegrams Brett sent, he knows that he's always going to be this person that comes running to Brett when she needs it, even admitting it to himself which is something we haven't really seen from Jake . That role in the relationship for him is not going to change. There's no point in Jake thinking about this possible future further so why should he? It could have been great, but it could have been as bad as all the other relationships Brett has had that have crashed and burned and overall, it just wasn't meant to be. 

This was for sure an interesting talking point during in-class discussion that I enjoyed, especially for a couple pieces of dialogue at the end of the story, but still at the bottom of Hemingway's iceberg of thought and meaning. Let me know what you think about Jake and Brett's final scene together! That's all I got for today. Thanks for reading. Peace.

~Aakash V.

Comments

  1. RyanNovember 18, 2020 at 6:27 PM

    I also got the impression that by the end of the novel Jake realized that he would always be Brett's shoulder to cry on. I think that he realizes the dynamic between them is unhealthy and will never be resolved, but his feelings for her prevent him from ever breaking it off. This cycle between him and Brett, though may feel good at times, ultimately causes both of them pain. Thus, I read the last line as rather bleak and ironic, like Jake was admitting that the idea of the two of them being perfectly happy together could never come to fruition, but it was pleasant to pretend that it might.

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