Jake Barnes

Jake Barnes is an American journalist living as an expatriate in post-World War I Paris. He has a large number of friends and casual acquaintances there, many of them fellow writers and expatriates, and he is a member of the so-called "cafe society," spending a great deal of time in the city's cafes and bars.

Jake is in love with Lady Brett Ashley, an English nurse he met while recuperating from injuries suffered during the war. However, his injuries have left him impotent so their relationship is now simply a friendship although both wish it could be more.

Although he lives in a modern urban area, Jake's passions are fishing and bullfighting, and he indulges in them as often as possible. He also is a keen observer of the world and people around him. Despite his grief over his love for Brett and the injury that keeps...