The Sun Also Rises Chapter 9
Jake receives a message from Robert the following morning asking to meet Jake and Bill when they go fishing in Spain, and later that evening, Brett and Mike ask if they may join the group as well. It is agreed upon, but later, when Mike leaves to get a haircut, Brett asks if Robert will be going on the same trip. When Jake says that he will be, Brett expresses concern that the trip might be hard on Robert. She reveals that she and Robert had been in San Sebastian together, and had engaged in an affair.
After a tense discussion, it is agreed that Brett will let Robert know that she will be going to Spain as well.
Robert still wants to go on the trip.
Jake makes plans to meet Brett and Mike in Pamplona. Jake and Bill then take the train to Bayonne, France, where they meet Robert.
Analysis
This plot takes a big turn with Brett’s revelation about having an affair with Robert. This is emotionally damaging to Jake, as he feels betrayed by two people simultaneously. It also marks the point in the story that Robert begins to go from being a fairly ambivalent character to his fall from grace as he becomes more villainous.
Comparisons are also implied in this chapter, as the brutality of boxing, hunting, and even fishing are metaphorically connected to relationships, love, and sex. There is little doubt that the author is conveying his belief that even way is comparable in nature to relationships, as the potential damage is immense… and perhaps even inevitable. We do see, though, that those already hardened by difficult experience (specifically, those who have seen war up close) can deal with life experiences differently (albeit with copious quantities of alcohol) than those without battle history (specifically, Robert, one of the few non-veterans in the story).
Also notable are the many Americans they encounter on the train. They become representative of the reasons that Jake and others have become expatriates of America. The other tourists speak “heresy,” such as the man from Montana who finds fishing dull. Others on the train hinder meals for Jake and Bill, due to their immense numbers, and the pre-reservation made by the other tourists. Bill even jokes, probably heavily influenced by his intoxication, that the annoying people are enough to get him to join the Ku Klux Klan, as many of the tourists are Catholic, a target of the KKK
