The passage I chose goes from page 18 to page 19 in Chapter 2 from where Robert Cohn says that "I can't stand it to think my life is going so fast and I'm not really living it", to when Cohn says that "This is a good place.". Robert and Jake talk about 'living life to the fullest', and I think that this passage is important because it conveys two different perspectives on life and it explains certain behaviors of the characters.
Jake says that "Nobody ever lives their life all the way up except bull-fighters."
This explains Jake's fascination with bull-fighters and bulls. The tone of this line is a little melancholic. He doesn't believe that he'll ever live a moment to its fullest. I think that this line also refers to his time as a soldier, because that's the closest he's ever gotten to resembling someone as powerful and reckless as a bull-fighter.
Robert on the other hand is in a state where "[he] can't stand it to think [his] life going so fast and [he's] not really living it."
He believes that if he would just go to some other place like South America, he would find this satisfaction of living everything he could possibly be living. It seems as though Jake thinks that this only comes from the reading Robert has been doing about intensely romantic stories, and that Robert is just looking for crazy love adventures. He even goes as far as to say that the reason Robert doesn't want to go to British East Africa is "Because you never read a book about it. Go on and read a book all full of love affairs with the beautiful shiny black princesses."
The last part of this passage is interesting as well, because just after talking about something so meaningful and deep as the importance of living life to the fullest, they go downstairs and have a drink at the bar. Cohn then looks at the bottles and says that "This is a good place", perfectly displaying how dependent both of them are of alcohol and Jake is trying to avoid their emotional conversation by offering a drink to Cohn. Once again, alcohol is associated with emotions, which I find is a very pertinent motif of the book.
Becca chose a passage that goes from page 24 to 25.
What I find most important about this passage, is the contradiction in Jake's need for company. He says that he picked her up because he had a vague sentimental idea that it would be nice to eat with someone, displaying that he's lonely and needs someone to love, but then a few lines later he shows that he doesn't care about her at all. He says "Better than you eat in Liège" and she responds, "Brussels, you mean". This shows that he wants company, but he doesn't care who the company is. It could be anyone.
I also found his remarks about the war interesting. Becca thought that Jake hates the war and it should (as he says) have been avoided, but I think that he's just being sarcastic. I feel like the lines about the war (25) are pretty bitter, and it's hard to define whether Jake mocks Georgette's perspective, or if he's talking about his opinion.
Becca also says that when it says that "We had another bottle of wine and Georgette made a joke. She smiled and showed all her bad teeth, and we touched glasses", it reminds him that no one is perfect, which makes him feel better about himself. I find this interesting because it could in fact be related to his injury, but I hadn't thought of it this way. I thought that he was just repulsed of her and that in this moment he realizes that he'd rather be in company of someone beautiful like Brett. I like Becca's interpretation though. In this quote I find the fact that they're having another wine bottle very important, because it relates once again alcohol to emotions.
I find the connection Becca made between Jake and Jacob quite interesting. Seeing it as she described, his name being ironic to his situation, is a very good thought and I hadn't considered that before.
Jake says that "Nobody ever lives their life all the way up except bull-fighters."
This explains Jake's fascination with bull-fighters and bulls. The tone of this line is a little melancholic. He doesn't believe that he'll ever live a moment to its fullest. I think that this line also refers to his time as a soldier, because that's the closest he's ever gotten to resembling someone as powerful and reckless as a bull-fighter.
Robert on the other hand is in a state where "[he] can't stand it to think [his] life going so fast and [he's] not really living it."
He believes that if he would just go to some other place like South America, he would find this satisfaction of living everything he could possibly be living. It seems as though Jake thinks that this only comes from the reading Robert has been doing about intensely romantic stories, and that Robert is just looking for crazy love adventures. He even goes as far as to say that the reason Robert doesn't want to go to British East Africa is "Because you never read a book about it. Go on and read a book all full of love affairs with the beautiful shiny black princesses."
The last part of this passage is interesting as well, because just after talking about something so meaningful and deep as the importance of living life to the fullest, they go downstairs and have a drink at the bar. Cohn then looks at the bottles and says that "This is a good place", perfectly displaying how dependent both of them are of alcohol and Jake is trying to avoid their emotional conversation by offering a drink to Cohn. Once again, alcohol is associated with emotions, which I find is a very pertinent motif of the book.
Becca chose a passage that goes from page 24 to 25.
What I find most important about this passage, is the contradiction in Jake's need for company. He says that he picked her up because he had a vague sentimental idea that it would be nice to eat with someone, displaying that he's lonely and needs someone to love, but then a few lines later he shows that he doesn't care about her at all. He says "Better than you eat in Liège" and she responds, "Brussels, you mean". This shows that he wants company, but he doesn't care who the company is. It could be anyone.
I also found his remarks about the war interesting. Becca thought that Jake hates the war and it should (as he says) have been avoided, but I think that he's just being sarcastic. I feel like the lines about the war (25) are pretty bitter, and it's hard to define whether Jake mocks Georgette's perspective, or if he's talking about his opinion.
Becca also says that when it says that "We had another bottle of wine and Georgette made a joke. She smiled and showed all her bad teeth, and we touched glasses", it reminds him that no one is perfect, which makes him feel better about himself. I find this interesting because it could in fact be related to his injury, but I hadn't thought of it this way. I thought that he was just repulsed of her and that in this moment he realizes that he'd rather be in company of someone beautiful like Brett. I like Becca's interpretation though. In this quote I find the fact that they're having another wine bottle very important, because it relates once again alcohol to emotions.
I find the connection Becca made between Jake and Jacob quite interesting. Seeing it as she described, his name being ironic to his situation, is a very good thought and I hadn't considered that before.
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