Dream A Little Dream

Chapter XIV contains no dialogue, which is odd for this book. It is simply the internal musings and reflections of a highly intoxicated Jake while he is attempting to fall asleep. In his thoughts, Jake has several deep thoughts while fighting his insomnia, which all occur on page 152. The individual, of course, who inspires him to say these things is Brett Ashley. The first major thought is "in the first place, you had to be in love with a woman to have a basis of friendship." This seems to me to be a very large statement the author is actually trying to make; Hemingway clearly must have certain views on women. And since I am not a guy, I don't know if this is the case in all the minds of men. Moving on to the next statement, Hemingway composes a series of thoughts. Jake says, "You gave up something and got something else. Or you worked for something. You paid in some way for everything that was good...Either you paid by learning about them, or by experiences, or by taking chances, or by money." I personally believe that this is a very valid statement. It's somewhat comparable to karma; in order to have something good happen, one must pay for it in some way. I know I, as well as many others, have witnessed or experienced what Jake (or Hemingway) is saying. For his final thought, Jake ponders, "That was morality; things that made you disgusted afterward. No, that must be immorality." He is struggling with morality. We all question the boundaries and limits of morals and rules in our world, and Jake/Hemingway is no exception. This question is a difficult one to think about, and Jake struggles with finding an answer to satisfy himself. After these thought-provoking musings, Jake quickly attempts to move on to lighter topics, leaving the reader with questions of his or her own.