The Sun Also Rises · Chapter
Chapter IV explained
Jake and Brett share a taxi ride, then join friends at a bar where Brett meets Count Mippipopolous.
What happens
Jake and Brett share a taxi ride, then join friends at a bar where Brett meets Count Mippipopolous. Jake leaves, goes home, and later Brett visits him late at night, drunk, after the count brought her. They talk briefly, she leaves, and Jake lies awake brooding over his war wound and his feelings for Brett.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Sexual Frustration
Jake's unfulfilled desire for Brett is central: their brief kiss in the taxi, Brett's declaration of love, and Jake's sleepless anguish over his wound and their impossible relationship.
Alcohol and Hedonism
Heavy drinking throughout: champagne at the bar, brandy at Jake's, and Brett's drunken late-night visit, reflecting the escapist lifestyle of the characters.
Expatriation and Alienation
Jake's isolation in his Paris flat, his detachment from the social scene, and his reflection on being a foreigner wounded in the Italian army highlight his sense of displacement.
Characters to notice
- Jake Barnes
Narrator; rides with Brett, leaves the bar, goes home, receives Brett late at night, and lies awake reflecting on his wound and relationship with Brett.
- Lady Brett Ashley
Rides with Jake, meets Count Mippipopolous at the bar, later visits Jake drunk after the count brought her, then leaves in a limousine.
- Count Mippipopolous
Introduced to Brett at the bar; buys champagne, offers Brett money to travel with him, and later drives her to Jake's apartment.
- Zizi
Little Greek portrait-painter who introduces Brett to Count Mippipopolous at the bar.
- Braddocks
Calls Jake to a table at the bar and mentions Cohn went home with Frances.
Key passages
“It is awfully easy to be hard-boiled about everything in the daytime, but at night it is another thing.”
Being tough and unemotional is easy during the day, but at night it becomes much harder.
Jake reflects on his emotional vulnerability after Brett leaves.
“I suppose she only wanted what she couldn't have. Well, people were that way. To hell with people.”
I think she only desired what was unattainable. That's just how people are. Forget them.
Jake's bitter thoughts about Brett's motivations and his general disillusionment with people.