As a result of his impotence, Jake sees Lady Brett's sexuality as threatening, rather than an expression of a feminist sensibility. Brett's independence is shown as futile, a kind of a symptom of the 'world upside down' of gender relations created by the war, but the implication by Jake (and by Hemingway) is that her strength is not fulfilling for her as a woman, and she is really looking for a male to subdue her, such as the bullfighter Romero.

Jake's cool and distanced character makes him a superior, if not a less disinterested narrator than Cohn. Cohn is emotional and romantic, and lashes out with his fists or tears. He lacks the ability to engage in cool, self-searching analysis to understand his own psyche or the psyche of others, although he has enjoyed some success as a writer. Because of the anti-Semitism he has experienced, like Jake he has...
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