The Sun Also Rises Chapter 6 Summary
Afternoon at the Select
Jake waits for Brett, drinks at the Café Select, meets Harvey, Cohn and Frances, and watches the tense social jostling before leaving for home.
Summary
Jake arrives at the Hotel Crillon at five expecting Brett, but she does not appear; he writes letters, has a drink, then takes a taxi to the Café Select in Montparnasse. He observes Parisian details on the way—barges on the Seine, the statue at the Boulevard Raspail—and reflects on the city and on Robert Cohn’s peculiarities as he goes.
At the Select Jake finds Harvey Stone, who confides in Jake that he has had no food for five days and is short of money; Jake offers help and they drink together. Robert Cohn arrives and Harvey needles him with questions and insults, while Jake tries to smooth things. Frances Clyne joins them and gives a lengthy, theatrical account of her broken engagement and her plans to go to England with money Robert will give her; she taunts Robert and talks about his motives for leaving her, while Robert takes her barbs without visible retaliation. Jake watches the scene, feels the awkwardness and cruelty directed at Cohn, and after a short interval goes out to the Boulevard Raspail and takes a taxi home.
Key events
- Jake waits at the Hotel Crillon for Brett, writes letters, leaves for Café Select.
- On the taxi ride Jake notices Parisian sights and reflects on boredom and Cohn.
- At the Select Jake meets Harvey Stone, who reveals he hasn’t eaten for five days.
- Harvey taunts Robert Cohn; Jake intervenes with offers and conversation.
- Frances Clyne arrives, complains about her failed engagement and mocks Cohn.
- Frances announces she is going to England funded by Cohn; she continues to needle him.
- Jake leaves after watching Frances and Cohn, goes home by taxi.
Analysis
This chapter functions as a social tableau that deepens the novel’s interpersonal tensions and clarifies character dynamics through casual talk and public humiliation. Hemingway uses a restrained, observational narrator—Jake—to record exchanges that reveal how the expatriate circle polishes cruelty with wit. The scene contrasts surface gaiety (cafés, jokes, Frances’s upbeat chatter) with private discomfort (Harvey’s desperation, Cohn’s subdued humiliation), reinforcing recurring themes of emotional dislocation and damaged masculinity. Cohn’s outsider status is emphasized: he endures mockery without retaliating, and Jake’s interior commentary tries to account for Cohn without fully defending him, which complicates the reader’s sympathy.
Symbolically, the cafés and the boulevard act as stages where personal defeats are displayed as entertainment; crossing bridges and the taxi ride imagery underline movement without resolution—characters travel but do not progress emotionally. Hemingway’s dialogue-driven technique compresses character development into brief exchanges and offhand remarks (Harvey’s nihilism, Frances’s performative brightness), showing rather than telling. Foreshadowing here is subtle: the cruelty toward Cohn and Jake’s passive observation signal future tensions among them. Structurally the chapter links earlier mentions of Brett and Cohn’s feelings to immediate social consequences, keeping focus tight on character interaction rather than plot events.
Important quotes
“At five o’clock I was in the Hotel Crillon waiting for Brett.”
NarratorOpening line sets the scene: Jake is expecting Brett, establishing the chapter’s starting point and his restlessness.
“I haven’t had anything to eat for five days.”
Harvey StoneHarvey’s confession reveals his desperation and creates sympathy, contrasting with the café’s frivolous atmosphere.
“You’re awfully funny, Harvey," Cohn said.”
Robert CohnA brief line showing Cohn’s uneasy, almost stunned politeness in the face of Harvey’s provocations.
Characters in Chapter 6
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