The Sun Also Rises Topic Tracking: Values

Chapter 2

Values 1: Jake acts detached, commenting that the bar is good because it has a lot of liquor in it. He often notices how practical something is, rather than its' beauty.

Chapter 3

Values 2: Jake takes Georgette out to dinner because he misses having a companion. Romance, which will ruin Robert Cohn, is also important to Jake. He just controls his impulses better.

Values 3: Brett makes fun of Jake for bringing a date. Since he can't have sex with anyone, Brett doesn't think that's fair for him to date. Sex is essential for Brett. Any relationship without it is a waste.

Values 4: Jake leaves some money for Georgette, but he instructs the owner to give it to her only if she asks for him. It is a very unemotional and financial attitude he adopts.

Chapter 4

Values 5: This Italian colonel values the ability to have sex more than life. In his praise for Jake's heroism, he acknowledges his preference for pleasure over existence.

Chapter 6

Values 6: When her relationship with Cohn does not end in marriage, Frances feels cheated. It is not the relationship she values, but the end result of it--safety and marriage.

Chapter 7

Values 7: Jake's concierge finds good breeding or sportsmanship more valuable than anything else.

Values 8: Brett knows the value of money. If she cannot earn respect, she can buy it from people like Jake's concierge.

Values 9: The count is very certain about what he values. You should not risk tainting good wine with emotions. He likes to keep the material world and the emotional world separate.

Values 10: Only by knowing the value of something can the count enjoy it. This allows him to live very fully and happily: "'That is the secret. You must get to know the values.'" Chapter 7, pg. 60

Chapter 8

Values 11: Bill tries to get Jake to buy a stuffed dog. He describes the transaction as simple and unemotional: "'Simple exchange of values. You give them money. They give you a stuffed dog.'" Chapter 8, pg. 72 Both Bill and Jake like this kind of uncomplicated transaction, but Jake turns it down this time.

Chapter 11

Values 12: At the posada Jake tries to tip the barmaid, but she does not understand. In France tipping is expected, but in Spain it is not. Spanish values differ from those in France, and Jake will have to get used to this.

Chapter 14

Values 13: In his typically unemotional way, Jake describes a good life like this: "Enjoying living was learning to get your money's worth and knowing when you had it." Chapter 14, pg. 148 Jake feels that since he is impotent he has little to offer or exchange, so he focuses most on exchanging money for what he wants.

Chapter 15

Values 14: The peasants who have come to the festival do not start out spending lavishly. They still remember how much each drink equals in wages. By the end of the fiesta their value system will be dismantled, and they will pay anything.

Values 15: Bill isn't bothered by the "horse part" of the bull-fight, when the picador rides the horse and tries to spear the bull. The horse is often killed, but that doesn't bother Bill because to him the horse is not important.

Values 16: What makes Romero's work so incredible is its' purity and honesty. There are no tricks, and Romero is always in control of the situation. This is more than most of the group can say for themselves or their lives.

Chapter 16

Values 17: Brett has been having affairs with men she doesn't love, and she doesn't respect herself anymore. To get some of that respect back, she decides to do something she really wants--be with a man she loves. Jake is out of the question, so she goes to Romero.

Chapter 17

Values 18: The ear of the bull, which Romero gives to Brett, is an important symbol and something the Girones' wife would likely have cherished. But Brett hides it in a drawer, and leaves it behind when she goes to Madrid.

Chapter 19

Values 19: Tipping is a common practice in France. Jake likes France because if he needs or wants people to like him, it only requires a small, simple exchange--money. He complains that in Spain, you never know why someone is being nice to you. But in France, money makes everything clear.