The Sun Also Rises (Chapters 16 & 17)

Chapters 16 & 17 Summaries

Chapter 16 begins the next day after Jake and Brett went out to a bar. The chapter begins with a very rainy and foggy dull morning. Montoya the owner of the hotel, tells Jake that there is a message from that American ambassador inviting Pedro Romero to dine at the Grand Hotel. Montoya tells Jake that he fears that foreigners will corrupt Romero. Jake tells Montoya that he feels the same way and advises him not to deliver the message. He also tells him that Brett is one American women who "collects bullfighters". Montoya tells him thank you and that his friends are waiting for them in the dining room. Romero is there as well, eating dinner with a critic. Jake approaches Romero and discuss bullfighting with him. Romero is modest but extremely passionate about his work. Brett pesters Jake to introduce their group to Romero, and he agrees to do so. Everyone is quite drunk now and Mike tells Romero that bulls don't have any balls. Though Brett getting angry at Mike because of what he had said, strikes up a private conversation with the young bullfighter Romero. When Montoya enters the dining room, he sees Romero drinking cognac and talking to Brett. He does not even acknowledge Jake's presence. After Romero leaves, Mike begins to insult Robert again viciously, shouting at him to go away. Jake trying very hard to prevent a fight between Robert and Mike, pulls Mike away from the table. The next day arrives and hundreds of American tourists arrive in Pamplona for the final day of the fiesta. Bill and Mike leave together to bother the Americans. Robert stays behind to try and talk to Brett alone, but Brett tells him to get lost because she wants to be alone with Jake. She complains to Jake about Mike's behavior and Robert following her around. Jake tries to defend Mike, but she asks him not to make her feel guilty. They go for a walk together, and Brett asks Jake if he still loves her. After telling her that he still does love her, she confesses to him that she is crazy for Romero. Jake being a nice guy to her, agrees to find Romero with her. They go to a cafe where Romero is seated with other bullfighters and fight critics. When Romero comes to their table, Jake invites him to sit down. Romero knows there is a mutual attraction between him and Brett. She reads his palm, and they begin to talk about bullfighting, with Jake translating. Romero says that the bulls are his best friends, and that he always kills his best friends, so they do not have to kill him. Jake then realizes that Romero and Brett wants to talk in private together. So Jake decides that he will leave. Romero's bullfighting friends stare at Jake with disapproval as he leaves. When Jake returns to the cafe, he cannot find Brett nor Romero. The both of them are gone and are nowhere insight. Chapter 17 begins with Bill, Mike, Robert, and Jake all going to a cafe together. Robert then demands to know where Brett is and Mike tells him that she had ran off with Romero. Furious, Robert calls Jake a pimp. Jake then very angry at him, takes a swing at Robert, and a fistfight ensues. Robert shows his athletic prowess, knocking Mike to the ground and Jake out cold. When Jake comes to, he returns to the hotel. Bill then tells him that Robert wants to talk to him. Jake finds Robert lying face down on the bed in tears. He begs Jake to forgive him, but Jake refuses. Robert says that Jake is the only friend he has, and Jake finally gives in. Jake tells him that he forgives him and that he is also sorry for what he had done also. On the next morning, Jake finds that Bill and Mike have already gone to the stadium. When Jake arrives, he finds that a man is killed during the release of the bulls, he is gored in the back. Jake goes to a cafe, after being sick from the fight, where he talks to a waiter about the dead man. The waiter does not see the sense in bullfighting. A man died. Jake goes back to bed early, but Bill and Mike knock on the door waking him up. Jake learns that Robert found Brett and Romero together. Robert had apparently hit Romero over and over, but Romero kept getting up and attacking. Finally, Robert said he would not hit Romero again, and Romero hit him as hard as he could before collapsing. Robert tearfully begged Romero to shake hands, but when he offered his hand, Romero hit him again. Later, Mike told Brett how he felt about her affairs with Jews and bullfighters. She told him that the British aristocracy has made her miserable and she needs something new and different. Mike very angry, walked away from Brett not saying anything to her for the rest of the night. As Bill left, Jake asks if he has heard about the man that was killed and Bill replies that he has not heard a word about it.

Chapters 16 & 17 Personal Comments

I felt that the book has been great to read and that these two chapters had made it even better. I think that in chapter 17 the climax was reached, when Robert hits Jake out cold. I believe that in chapter 16, Brett has no respect for one man. She makes them heartbroken and watches them suffer. I think that Romero was a nice guy and that he did not know that Brett was such a bad women. In chapter 17 I feel that it was a fast read and that I was able to understand everything that was explained about what had progressively happened throughout the book. I loved reading these two chapters I think that they made the book become a better book to read. I feel that Hemingway had put a lot of emotion in the novel and I think that it can show through the characters. By far chapters 16 & 17 were amazing to read and two of my favorite to read.