Mind And Character Of Jake Barnes

After the departure of their first meeting, Jake feels miserable: "This was Brett, that I had felt like crying about. Then I thought of her walking up the street and of course in a little while I felt like hell again" (Hemingway 34). Lady Brett Ashley serves as a challenge to a weakness that Jake must confront. .
             Since his war experience, Jake has attempted to reshape the man he is and the first step in doing this is to accept his impotence. Despite Brett's undeniable love for Jake, she is engaged to marry another. Mike Campbell is Brett's fiancee, her next planned marriage after two already failed ones. Mike is ridiculously in love with Brett and though she knows this she still decides to marry him. In fact, Brett is only to marry Mike because she is tired of drifting and simply needs an anchor. Mike loves Brett but is not dependent on her affection. Moreover, he knows about and accepts Brett's brief affairs with other men: " Mark you. Brett's had affairs with men before. She tells me all about everything'" (Hemingway 143). Mike appreciates Brett's beauty, as do all the other males in the novel, but perhaps this is as deep as his love for her goes. In his first scene in the novel, Mike cannot stop commenting on Brett's beauty: " I say Brett, you are a lovely piece. Don't you think she's beautiful?'" (Hemingway 79). He repeatedly proposes similar questions but does not make any observant or profound comments on his wife-to-be. In fact, throughout the entire novel, Mike continues this pattern, once referring to Brett as "just a lovely, healthy wench," his most observant remark. Furthermore, Mike exhibits no self-control when he becomes drunk, making insensitive statements that show his true lack of regard for Brett and others. .
             After Brett shows interest in Pedro Romero, the bullfighter, Mike rudely yells: "Tell him bulls have no balls! Tell him Brett wants to see him put on those green pants.