The Sun Also Rises Chapter 17 Summary
Aftermath and Gossip
Jake, Bill and Mike drink and trade gossip about Cohn's visit to Brett and the bull-fighter, describing a violent scene in Romero's room.
Summary
Jake and Bill sit in their hotel room with Mike drinking and recounting what happened the previous night after Cohn hit Mike. The men trade stories brought to them by Brett and others: Cohn went to find Brett and the bull-fighter (the young man they call the bull-fighter fellow) in the bull-fighter's room; there was a rough fight in which the bull-fighter is knocked down repeatedly and finally strikes Cohn in the face when Cohn refuses to hit back. Brett intervenes, rebukes Cohn, and Cohn breaks down crying and seeks reconciliation, but the bull-fighter continues to strike him until he is left helpless on the floor. The account emphasizes the physical humiliation of Cohn and the bull-fighter's relentlessness.
The conversation shifts to Brett herself — her tendency to care for and look after people, her past with an Ashley who mistreated her, and how she came to be with Mike, Brett's role in calming or holding people — while Mike alternates between amusement and embarrassment. The men pour more beer, bicker affectionately, and Mike reveals he scolded Brett for her choice of companions; Brett's reported quip about her “happy life with the British aristocracy” provides a bitter, comic counterpoint. The scene ends with the men preparing to sleep after a sleepless fiesta night and an offhand mention of injuries at the bull-ring and an unrelated death outside the ring, which punctuates the casualness with which serious violence is discussed.
Key events
- Mike, Bill and Jake sit drinking in their hotel room and trade news.
- Mike recounts Brett's version of Cohn going to Romero's room and being beaten.
- Brett reportedly holds and scolds the bull-fighter as the fight continues.
- Cohn breaks down crying, offers to shake hands, and is struck again in the face.
- Conversation turns to Brett's past and her tendency to care for others.
- Men arrange more drinks and decide to get some sleep; mention of injuries and a death outside the ring.
Analysis
This short chapter functions largely as an informal report of off-stage violence and as a character snapshot conveyed through gossip. The narrative technique — secondhand recounting by Mike, with Bill and Jake responding — creates distance from the physical event while emphasizing its social consequences: humiliation, shifting loyalties, and the clash between ideals of honor and brute force. Brett appears through others' words, reinforcing her role as a catalyst whose actions ripple outward; she both admonishes and tends to people, combining moral bluntness with caretaking. Cohn's breakdown and inability or unwillingness to retaliate underline themes of emasculation and social isolation, while the bull-fighter's stubborn aggressiveness marks him as a different kind of masculine force than the expatriate men. Symbols (the repeated beers, the hospitalities of rooms, the act of shaking hands) stand in for ritualized attempts at reconciliation that fail in the face of violence.
The chapter also shows Hemingway's economical dialogue-driven style: character is revealed in talk rather than explicit narration, and humor sits beside discomfort, producing a tone of resigned irony. Foreshadowing is subtle — the casual mention of serious injury and death and the focus on sleep and nerves hint at the emotional and physical toll of the fiestas. Structurally, this episode keeps the action moving by reporting consequences of prior confrontations and by deepening tensions among characters without needing a direct scene, maintaining momentum through conversational fragments.
Important quotes
“So the bull-fighter fellow hit him just as hard as he could in the face, and then sat down on the floor. He couldn’t get up, Brett said.”
Mike CampbellMike's direct report of the climactic moment when the bull-fighter again strikes Cohn, emphasizing Cohn's humiliation.
“‘Yes. I’ve had such a hell of a happy life with the British aristocracy!’”
Brett (quoted by Mike)Brett's bitter, ironic remark about her past, used by Mike to illustrate her complicated history and humor amid hard times.
“He ruined Cohn,”
Mike CampbellMike's blunt assessment summarizing the effect of the bull-fighter's actions on Cohn's spirit.
Characters in Chapter 17
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