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Jake's Masculinity



Throughout the Sun also Rises Jack is constantly engaged is traditionally masculine activities. No one else in the novel is depicted as masculine and tough as Jake. He is interested in boxing, bullfighting, fishing, etc. Bill and Cohan have similar interests but none of them seem to take it to the same level as Jake, nor our they as outspoken as Jake. Cohan was a boxing champion at Princeton, but he doesn’t seem to bring it up a lot. Bill enjoys fishing similarly to Jake. None of them are “aficionados” when it comes to bullfighting like Jake. Cohan is actually a wimp when it comes to bullfighting (according to Jake).  

All of this hyper-masculinity makes it seem like Jake is trying to overcompensate for something. Obviously, we know that he has a problem “down stairs”.  He has a problem with “manhood” and he is trying to show everyone he is still a man. He still likes manly activities because he is still THE man. However, we never really find out what Jake was like before his injury. Was he also very masculine? Or was it more toned down? Jake seems like the type of person who would always be interested in things like boxing and other manly activities. However, I think that after his accident he hyped these ups to hide his insecurities. Do you think Jake was always so “manly” or was that something that developed after his accident?


Comments

  1. Smita NairSeptember 28, 2018 at 8:33 PM

    Good point. I'd assumed that Jake's passions for fishing and bullfighting had existed before his issue had, but his hard-boiled persona exists as a result of that issue. However, I think it's Jake's newfound push into toxic masculinity that leads him to insult Cohn so frequently. No one confident in themselves and their masculinity insults someone to that degree. Although this could just be because he's so bigoted.

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  2. Amina GSeptember 28, 2018 at 9:47 PM

    I agree with your analysis. Jake does seem like he's probably always been "manly", but that that manliness was over-exaggerated after the accident. As we've discussed in class, his harsh judgement of Cohn and other men says a lot about his insecurities. Jake seems to harbor quite a bit of resentment towards men who he thinks are more 'masculine' than him because of his issue. This causes him to hyperbolize how masculine he really thinks he is, thinking that this amplification will cover up his issues and hide his problem

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  3. Neha AluruSeptember 30, 2018 at 9:22 PM

    I think that Jake has always had an interest in bullfighting, fishing, and boxing. However, to overcompensate for his "lack of manliness", I think Jake copes by being overly critical of people like Cohn and acting like he doesn't have a care in the world, especially when it comes to discussing Brett in front of others. Because we see a softer and kinder version of Jake when he is with Brett, it makes me think that Jake was probably not as "manly" before the war.

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  4. KevinOctober 1, 2018 at 8:54 AM

    I'm not really sure. It seems possible that he began following bullfighting seriously after the war. I think he definitely was a fan of all of these sports beforehand, because he knows how to fish well. At the same time, it's possible that before the war, he wasn't as much of an aficionado for bullfighting, or any of his other manly interests, as he is now. It definitely seems over emphasized, particularly in that he criticizes people who aren't very masculine--i think he developed this tendency after the war.

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  5. FaizahOctober 5, 2018 at 12:41 PM

    I like how you brought up the point that we never got to know what Jake was like before the war, and before his injury. I imagine that Jake was probably always into bull fighting and boxing. However, I do agree that after the war he probably amplified and tried to be more vocal about his interests in things that are seen as more masculine in order to compensate for his injury.

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