Why doesn't Jake want to address his wound directly?

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             An interesting pattern through the first part of the book is that Jake generally tries to avoid any direct discussion of his injury and subsequent inability to have sex, especially with Brett. He will not even directly address it in his mind as he narrates the story and the reader never gets a crystal-clear picture of what specifically happened or why his genitalia looks like. Instead, he generally circumvents this topic and hints rather than tell the reader what happened. It took a good deal of thought, and some prodding from the classroom discussion, for me to figure out that he couldn’t have sexual relations at all; it’s easy to think he is just infertile if the reader does not really dig deep and focus on subtleties in Jake’s actions and language.
            Why is Jake still hesitant to discuss his wound though? His privacy and embarrassment surrounding his battle wound draw an interesting distinction with how the count acts with his battle. While the count lifts up his shirt probably showing off his scars from his arrow wounds to people, flaunting his toughness, brittleness, and sacrifice, Jake cannot do anything of the sort. Ironically, it is Jake whose life is definitely more effective in the long term by his wounds, and he can’t even show them off and use them to flex on everyone show people how brave and tough his. Jake says he would be fine with his wound, and its inability to have sex, if not for Brett. He is truly in love with Brett, and Brett exhibits the love back to him. And what really breaks Jake mentally, is that his injury prevents him from being with Brett the woman he loves. In this insecurity and rejection, he feels from Brett fuels his insecurity about his injury. I definitely don’t blame him for how he handles the injury and his narration of the novel, and more importantly his life story and formula to experiences. It’s not like he can embrace this injury and say, “oh it sucks, but it makes me stronger” or something when it’s so devastating for not only his sex life but more importantly his love life. However, it’s important not to immediately totally trust everything the narrator tells you when you’re reading a novel. I pondered whether Jake is possibly lying to the reader about the impacts the injury has on him, and how to more about Brett than the injury directly, but I don’t think this is totally true. First of all, Jake confides in the reader, and shows his true self much more than he does to any other character in the book. Unlike someone like Peter Walsh, who I think is a narrator I learned not to trust when reading Mrs. Dalloway, Jake is someone who I believe tells the reader the truth about what he’s feeling. What you guys think about this, is Jake trustworthy in general to the reader? And you think that Jake is specifically trustworthy about the reasons why so much insecurity stems from his injury?
          

Comments

  1. ArianaOctober 15, 2020 at 6:03 PM

    I agree with you. I think the fact that Jake is kind of like a "reporter" and only absorbs the pain of other people rather than reflecting on his own pain shows that he puts up a shield to prevent him from feeling/expressing emotion (part of this might also because a) no such thing as therapy and b) it was considered non-masculine for men to show their feelings).

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  2. erin's blogOctober 16, 2020 at 10:18 AM

    I don't think Jake lies to the reader, he just omits. And while he does share opinions that we might disagree with, it is easy to tell when it's an opinion and not a fact. In general Jake feels numb. When he talks about his day the narration has a robotic feel, like he's just going through the motions of his life. I think there's definitely a lot of denial going on.

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  3. Lorenzo PantanoOctober 16, 2020 at 2:48 PM

    I definitely agree, and think that maybe he is so disappointed that he can never be with Brett that he is scared of giving any recognition or positive commentary to this injury that is effectively ruining his life.

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  4. Nabeel BashirOctober 17, 2020 at 8:54 PM

    I think that since Jake barely shows emotions when he is in any public setting it is very hard not to trust him when he is alone, because it is the only time we can see him be emotional and vulnerable. He doesn't feel comfortable talking about his injury with anyone else, and I don't blame him.

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  5. Katya S.October 18, 2020 at 3:18 AM

    I think what makes his injury even worse is not only Brett loving him back but refusing to pursue a relationship but also the way she handles it. If they both knew that they couldn't pursue a relationship and left each other alone, I think it would be easier to handle. However, Brett seems to have relations with other men but keeps coming back to him. The fact that he gets a taste of what life could be like but then gets it taken away repeatedly opens wounds that never fully healed in the first place. He gets to feel a sliver of hope only to get thrown back down.

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    Replies
    1. AnyaOctober 18, 2020 at 11:22 PM

      I definitely agree with this assertion, Katya. I think the reason Brett keeps coming back to Jake is because, even though she cannot have a fulfilling relationship with Jake, they still have an emotional connection. Even though Brett has decided that she cannot be with Jake, she keeps coming back to him, which I see as a reflection of her conflicted feelings. It's true that Jake can't move on from Brett, but it seems that Brett is also still tied to Jake. And when she repeatedly comes back to Jake, she is, as you said, giving him "a sliver of hope," which I think is preventing Jake from being able to move on.

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  6. Aakash V.October 18, 2020 at 7:21 PM

    I'm with you. I did take awhile for me, even with some class discussions to really decipher what was happening with Jake's insecurity surrounding his injury. In my mind, Jake's indirect narration about his injury speaks to clearly how his injury has affected him, but in terms of looking at the narration alone, I think it fits greatly with what we have discussed about Hemingway. He won't directly tell us anything and we as readers have to really work hard to take it upon ourselves and read the meaning "between the lines". This sticks with the Iceberg Principle we talked about that Hemingway uses regularly in his writing. In terms of answering your question, I don't think Jake is a untrusty narrator because I do think he tells us the truth. However, I do think it's one of those scenarios about telling the truth, but choosing how much of the truth you want to make clear to the reader. Like you said, I don't judge Jake for choosing this path because this injury continues to damage his relationship and his perceptions of himself.

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