Jake Character Analysis

715 Words3 Pages
Jake has always been one of the only people out of his group of friends that have any sense of morality. He knows when to distance himself from bad situations and knows how to keep himself together under the influence of alcohol. However, the more time the Jake spends with Brett, he loses more of his faith in everything. Jake can’t have Brett, and the more he thinks about what he can’t have, he abuses alcohol and becomes cynical, most specifically in the way that he views life and Robert. Jake’s cynical look on life and his loss of faith in himself are the key elements to his characterization as a mature pessimist. Jake is a mature pessimist, he has lived long enough and experienced enough that he knows everything is not as good as it seems. He has become disillusioned with his life and everything around him. When Jake is around Brett he begins to abuse alcohol with negative consequences. When he awakens after a night with his friends, he can hardly remember the previous night. In this moment his pessimistic persona comes about when thinking of Brett…show more content…
Back when Jake was in Paris, he strained to fake a friendship with Robert Cohn, he hated him but he couldn’t bear to tell him about it. Now, Jake’s negativity causes him to hold nothing back. He expresses remorse for what Mike said to Robert, but he doesn’t make any moves to stop him (152). Jake even remarks to himself that he “liked to see him hurt Cohn” (152). Jake has no respect for Cohn’s naïve optimism towards life and towards Brett. Jake distastes Cohn because of his obsession for Brett even though Jake vaguely mirrors the same love. Jake’s pessimism overrides their friendship. Jake believes that Cohn will never achieve Brett’s love, and gets jealous when Cohn sleeps with Brett. Jake is pessimistic when it comes to Brett and Cohn, doing everything he can to put his friend down, because if he can’t have her he doesn’t want anyone else
Open Document