Jake Without the Rest

Looking back from the end of the book, I think Jake might possibly be an introvert.

Jake's happiest, most relaxed moments are when he is by himself or with a single friend. For example, when Brett goes to San Sebastian, or Jake and Bill's week in the mountains, or Jake in San Sebastian at the end of the book. During these times, he is content, calm, motivated (fishing, swimming, newspaper-ing), and enjoys life. For example, when Brett and Cohn are in San Sebastian, Jake remarks "I rather enjoyed not having to play tennis", and Jake also describes himself as being productive at work -- even getting ahead so he can take more vacation time.

In contrast, his friends bring with them turmoil. Brett showing up in the middle of the night, Cohn's romantic worldview clashing with the rest of the group, the fiasco at the fiesta with Romero, Mike's belligerence, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. It's during these times where Jake thinks things "to hell with you, Lady Ashley", or pounding one drink after another to fuel his hard-boiled facade.

Another point is how in conversations, Jake often seems to fade out of existence, closer to a third-person narrator than a participant in the conversation. Jake will still respond, sometimes even interject, but he likes to sit and listen.

This definitely isn't conclusive support for "Jake is very definitely introverted", but I feel the notion of introversion is at least slightly applicable to Jake. (Maybe it's just that in situations with fewer of his friends he can relax and let his hard-boiled, ironic facade)

Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 29, 2018 at 8:00 PM

    I don't know if it's so much that Jake is introverted, maybe just that he is happiest when he is separated from his crappy set of friends. I think that if Jake found some real friends, he would be a lot happier a lot more often. The worst part is that his current friends poison his other relationships: one example is when he sacrifices his status in the bull fighting community to set up Brett with a one night stand.

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  2. AngelynnOctober 11, 2018 at 9:08 PM

    I feel like Jake is one of those people who are pretty social, but always internally detached. They're extremely superficial with most people, who mistake them for extroverts/open books. However, on the inside, there's so much more to them than people realize. Jake really does value his quietness and solitude over drinking with friends. I believe he sees those engagements as social obligations rather than genuine love for the events.

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  3. 1000gamesOctober 13, 2018 at 5:22 PM

    He might be partly introverted but not completely. When talking about introvert, they usually are happy when they either in a group of friends or being completely alone. It's like they spend their energy with their friends and recover their energy when they are alone. I feel like its less him being introverted but his friends are a bunch of dysfunctional people.

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