Brett's Decision to Leave Pedro Romero: Noble or Selfish?
Throughout The Sun Also Rises, Brett starts affairs with many men, but we as readers have a mutual understanding that all of the relationships will eventually come to an end. However, in the case of Pedro Romero, I was convinced that the relationship might have potential to last longer. After all, Brett doesn't have the same strong connection to the other men in the book (besides Jake) as she does to Pedro Romero. She dramatically claims that she is in love with Pedro Romero and asks for Jake's helping in setting the two of them up.
Nonetheless, much like Brett's other relationships, she ends up breaking up with Pedro Romero and telling him to leave. When Pedro Romero asks for Brett's hand in marriage, she immediately tells him that the relationship is over and makes him leave the hotel. She confides in Jake, telling him, "You know I'd have lived with him if I hadn't seen it was bad for him. We got along damned well." In this quote, she is explaining that she ended her relationship with Pedro Romero because she felt she was hurting him. She implies that she was hurting Pedro Romero's career as a bullfight and distracting him from his true passion. To some extent, this makes sense. Like Jake, Brett genuinely appreciated the art of bullfighting, which would explain why she wouldn't want to detract from a natural prodigy like Romero. Therefore, she nobly breaks up with him, setting him free without Brett to hold him back from realizing his true potential.
However, Brett's decision to leave Pedro Romero could also be attributed to selfishness. Pedro Romero was a young man with only two prior relationships who had a very traditional idea of love and marriage. He believed in being in a loyal and committed relationship with someone that represents society's ideal image of a woman (long hair). To start, Brett does not want to change her physical appearance for any man. She is a woman who is self-confident in her choices, and she would feel restrained by someone who wants to change her. Secondly, I think part of Brett knows that she was not the type of woman Pedro Romero was looking for in a wife. All of her past relationships were open, and she knows that she would not find happiness in a fully monogamous relationship. As soon as she understands that, she decides to leave Romero and go back to her life of freedom.
Like much of this book, Brett's true intentions are left up to the interpretations of the readers. Personally, when I was reading the book, I felt that Brett's actions were both noble and selfish at the same time. As soon as Pedro Romero mentioned marriage, she realized she would not be happy living such a life and ends the relationship. Instead of willing to try to keep a stable relationship, she simply leaves, which was selfish of her. However, we know that Brett has gotten married and engaged before, so I interpreted her decision to leave Romero instead of stringing him along as a show of nobility. While the novel implies that Brett was thinking about Romero's career when she told him to leave, I think her nobility is rooted in a deeper empathy for Romero, as she knew Romero would be deeply hurt by her lifestyle choices if they had gotten married.
This is a great analysis of Brett's actions! I agree that she would not fit his traditional idea of a wife, but I also think she knows that she wouldn't be happy with him long term either. I wonder if Brett knew it wouldn't work out with Pedro long before she actually broke up with him. I think part of her wanted to be in a relationship with him to distract herself from Jake.
ReplyDeleteNice post! I think that Brett made a good choice. If she had chosen to stay I think their relationship would sour eventually because of their different takes on multiple issues. They weren't together for very long and were already experiences bumps in their relationship. I think Brett would have felt very trapped in a marriage with Romero that might have been both physically and emotionally constricting. In a way her decision was the best one for both of them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you! I was definitely confused why Brett decided to leave him, but I think it was for the best. She understands that the two of them had completely different ideals and she didn't want to feel held back because of it. Also, given her pattern with affairs, I feel that it was also bound to happen eventually.
ReplyDeleteI think Brett was right to leave Romero due to clashing beliefs in a relationship. However, I think it would have been nicer if Brett and Romero actually got to know each other more before dating but Brett is just very impulsive and a do whatever kind of person. Essentially what I'm saying is that I think this situation could have been entirely avoided if Brett just slowed down a little. Or maybe jumping into a relationship with some guy you barely know and moving internationally was the norm back then, who knows.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Yeah, Brett's perception of relationships is so different from Romero's. He's much younger and has had fewer experiences. My interpretation is that Brett left Romero because she knew wouldn't do well with that kind of commitment. Due to traumatizing experience in her first marriage she probably has negative feelings surrounding monogamy. It's also very possible that she realizes her life is chaotic and being with him made that really clear to her. Brett is so complicated!
ReplyDeleteI think the Romero situation is a good example of Brett's ambiguity as a character: she is driven by a mix of intentions. She has empathy, and doesn't like to do harm. But then she wants to live life outside of the restrictions imposed by marriage. And the two seem to be inherently in conflict. Brett realizes she causes pain, and doesn't want to, but at the same time changing her behaviors that cause others pain would mean sacrificing her own happiness. It's a tough situation for Brett I think. Great post!
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