Robert Cohn sickens me as a character. I try to feel sympathy for him--really, I do--but Jake doesn’t make it easy for the reader. Frankly though, I think that even if Cohn were the protagonist of this story, I still wouldn’t like him. He’s selfish, socially inept, and overly emotional. I’m not saying that emotions are a bad thing; I’d take emotions over apathy any day. The problem with Cohn’s emotional state is that he uses his emotions to manipulate those he calls his friends. The combination of these flaws creates a person I can’t imagine anyone would enjoy being around. Maybe he should come with a “does not play well with others” sign.
I think the source of Cohn’s problems is his selfishness. Everything he does is for the good of himself, without stopping to think about the others involved. For example, when Cohn is about to leave Bill and Jake to go back for Brett and Mike, he “confides” in Bill and Jake. However, his sharing is not for the purpose of strengthening his relationship with either of them, but is instead to make him feel better. Jake describes that “He was being confidential now and it was giving him pleasure to be able to talk with the understanding that I knew there was something between him and Brett” (106). The whole previous scene had been leading to this, with Cohn on the edge of his seat (“I have never seen a man in civil life as nervous as Robert Cohn--nor as eager” [104]) just waiting for the moment he could flaunt his excursions under the guise of confidentiality.
The most frustrating part is that Robert Cohn is perfectly capable of changing. His pride isn’t some character trait he’s stuck with for life; he’s clearly able to be a nice, reasonable person. After he’s left. Jake and Bill discuss the puzzle of Cohn’s character.
“The funny thing is he’s nice, too. I like him. But he’s just so awful.”
“He can be damn nice.”
“I know it. That’s the terrible part.” (107)
Both characters recognize that Cohn is not inherently a bad person. He chooses to act obnoxiously selfish, while he is completely aware of how to act politely. These aren’t just improper, undeveloped social skills; these are choices he makes to behave badly.
I don’t think I’m picking on Robert Cohn too unfairly here. These flaws are all things he can see in himself and change, except maybe his lack of social skills. But even his social skills would improve if he only improved on his other issues. Because Cohn is so focused inward on his own wants and his own motives, he is ignorant to the feelings of those around him unless they are laid out forcefully and blatantly as they were with Mike. If he would only pay attention to the social cues of his friends and focus at least a little bit on their well-being, I think everyone would like him more.
I definitely agree that Cohn is selfish. However, I have to question the first paragraph, where you claim Cohn "manipulates" his companions. I don't really see evidence of Cohn manipulating anyone; I feel that he's too inept for that. If anything, his selfishness and social ineptness make him a target of manipulation. Could you maybe point out a passage where Cohn manipulates someone? I might just be missing it.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you about how Cohn is selfish, socially inept, and over-emotional. He's one of my least favorite characters from this book. He just keeps making the same social mistakes over and over. At least he finally figures out at the end that he just doesn't fit in with the group and never will.
ReplyDeleteAlso I find it interesting that the sentence "Because Cohn is so focused inward on his own wants and his own motives, he is ignorant to the feelings of those around him unless they are laid out forcefully and blatantly as they were with Mike" might also apply to Brett. Brett doesn't care all too much about how Jake feels. she also holds the feelings of the other men in her life with little regard. I think back to one part of the book where Jake tells her "You've made a new one there," in reference to Cohn's flirting with Brett, and accuses her of liking to "add them [men who flirt with her] up." To which Brett responds "Oh, well. What if I do?" She also doesn't realize men's intentions towards her until later. Like with Romero who wanted her to become his wife and become a "proper" woman, and Cohn who also wanted to marry Brett and was then mad when she ignored him by going off with other men.
This disregard for others that both Brett and Cohn exhibit in this book is probably what makes them my least favorite characters in the novel.
Cohn just annoys me in general, so I whole-heartedly agree with everything here! He IS capable of being nice and getting Frances and Brett and those writer girls back in America, yet he chooses to act like an (excuse me) ass all the time, flaunting anything he thinks makes him look better to those around him that he calls friends. He says that "Oh Jake you're my only friend" at one point, which from Jake's perspective is really funny, but someone who REALLY sees someone as a true friend doesn't constantly talk about themselves in a pretentious manner, so perhaps there is more to Cohn than we would like to see.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to tell if Cohn is *bad* or simply clueless. Mostly he seems clueless. Is there just something about certain people that seems to bring out the worst in others? I'm struck when Jake refers to how Cohn makes him act cruelly, and he regrets it later. It's telling that his "niceness" just makes "it worse."
ReplyDeleteI do think Cohn is a bit of a scapegoat, a dog to kick that serves as an outlet for lots of displaced jealousy and insecurity in this book. Take Jake, for example: he's got a whole complicated mess of emotional problems and self-esteem issues and so on, and he starts the novel by deflecting our attention onto poor old Cohn. And yeah, Cohn is hard to take, but he's probably the least of Jake's problems. He's simply the easiest target in sight.