Codependency in The Sun Also Rises
Charting Jake's codependent relationship with Brett on the Hero's Journey formula.
In high school, I always used to wonder why books like The Sun Also Rises can have “no plot” and still be regarded as great works of literature. My English teachers would say something to the effect of, “The point is that there is no plot because it represents the aimless feeling of modernity experienced by the Lost Generation.” I thought that was really cool and would try to mimic that in my own fiction. But then my stories were not hailed as genius for having no plot and I couldn’t understand why.
Rereading The Sun Also Rises, I realize that part of the reason why I was confused was that this book actually does have a plot: it is just very subtle. Recall the classic Hero’s journey formula,1 the building blocks of a story:
A character:
Exists in a state of comfort.
Enters an unfamiliar situation.
Learns something.
Returns to a familiar world having changed.
The plot of The Sun Also Rises can be charted on this skeleton as follows:
Jake is comfortable in his codependent relationship with Brett.
Jake and all his friends take a trip to Spain.
Jake learns from Robert Cohen’s example of what desperation for a woman does to a man.
Jake returns to Brett but no longer has the fantasy of what they could be together, saying, “Isn’t it pretty to think so?”
I’ll expand on each of these below.
But first, a quick definition of codependency
I like the one from BPD Family, which quotes psychology professor Dr. Shawn Meghan Burn:
Burn defines a codependent relationship as a dysfunctional helping relationship where one person supports or enables the other person’s addiction, poor mental health, immaturity, irresponsibility, or under-achievement.
In my experience, codependent relationships are usually driven by fantasy. The subservient partner dreams of what their partner could be. Because they hold onto this fantasy, they remain stuck in their codependency. They cannot see the reality of what their codependency is doing to them.
As we’ll see, Robert acts as a mirror for Jake to look at himself. Observing Robert, Jake will see what codependency is doing to himself.
#1 The codependent state of comfort
In The Sun Also Rises, Jake enables Brett’s irresponsible behavior, namely her pathological infidelity. The subtext here is that because he is impotent, he cannot provide her with the kind of sexual pleasure she seeks. He tolerates her finding it from other people, even though Jake and Brett are really the only people who can make the other happy.
This subtext is actually really key but very subtly exposed. His injury is revealed when he is staring at himself in the mirror and thinks, Damn, of all the places to get shot. This subtlety is probably part of the reason why some claim that the book has no plot. Without this subtext, a reader might not fully get why Brett can’t be with Jake.
Towards the beginning of the novel is a scene where Brett and Jake are in a taxi discussing their romance and Jake’s impotence. Jake is clearly lost in the fantasy of what they could be together if it weren’t for his injury from the war.
“What happened to me is supposed to be funny… It’s very funny. And it’s a lot of fun, too, to be in love.” (58)
He’s convinced that he and Brett are “in love,” even though Brett can’t really commit to him.2 She shows him affection, sure, and they kiss now and then. Yet she is engaged to Mike and has affairs with various other men, most notably Robert Cohn.
Again, it’s Robert Cohn’s example that will ultimately help Jake learn what codependency does to a man.
#2 and #3: The new scenery and the lesson
Jake, Bill, and Robert have plans to go fishing in Spain. The change of scenery sufficiently demarcates that Jake is entering a new world, fulfilling #2 in the Hero’s journey formula. What the change of scenery actually represents is that Jake is entering into a new world in which he can see his flaw of codependency. In a sense, the world with Robert Cohen is actually the new world he is entering. It is Robert who makes visible the flaw of codependency, whereas before the flaw was invisible to Jake.
Halfway to Spain, Robert stays behind to wait for Brett. In so doing, he misses out on the fishing (a lovely and also very masculine outing). This is the first sign that Robert just can’t get over Brett, even though she has clearly moved on. Throughout the rest of their time in Spain, Robert is constantly attaching himself to Brett, who doesn’t give him the time of day.
In Robert’s head, he’s probably thinking that the reason he can’t be with Brett is because of her fiancé Mike. But when she throws herself at Romero, he realizes that she would be adulterous for the right man, it’s just that Robert is not the “right man.” To prove his manliness, he beats living daylight out of Romero, as well as Jake and Bill.
His lack of self-respect makes him try to prove himself to others through force (a theme I’ve covered in my post on Tik Toks about American Psycho). Jake seems to learn from this that it is not romantic to cling to a woman who does not commit to you. Your lack of self-respect will lead you to ugly violence.
#4 Returning to Brett, having changed
The final scene of the novel is iconic. It’s also a parallelism to the scene I discussed before. Jake and Brett enter a taxi and discuss their relationship. This signifies a return to the familiar world. Robert Cohen is gone. Mike is gone. Romero is gone. It’s just Jake and Brett.
This time, it’s Brett who romanticizes what they could have been with each other. I’ll quote the ending in full below because it is just so beautiful:
“Oh, Jake,” Brett said, “we could have had such a damned good time together.”
Ahead was a mounted policeman in khaki directing traffic. He raised his baton. The car slowed suddenly pressing Brett against me.
“Yes,” I said. “Isn’t it pretty to think so?”
This final line has so much weight because it shows a subtle but monumental change for Jake: he no longer fantasizes what he and Brett could be. He has unchained himself from codependency. Yes, he is helping Brett in this final scene, but he’s not doing so with the hope that she will one day give herself fully to him.
This little moment of the policeman stopping the car illustrates a lot. Brett gives out a tempting call: she fantasizes about their potential together. The policeman raises his baton. This is a warning. The car slows and Brett presses closer to him. This, in a way, repeats the call, the temptation how her body feels against his. But Jake, having changed, refuses the call. "Isn't it pretty to think so?" he says, letting the fantasy, and his codependency go.
Usually I prefer to use Dan Harmon’s eight part story structure but for the purposes of this analysis it’s much simpler to focus on the four above.
“The word ‘love’ is most often defined as a noun, yet all the more astute theorists of love acknowledge that we would all love better if we used it as a verb.” bell hooks, all about love, p. 4. hooks would make much of how Jake understands him and Brett to be “in” love but that’s another essay.