When the character of Bill Gorton is first introduced to the plot in Hemingways' novel The Sun Also Rises, you might not be sure what of make of him. He's brash, unapologetic, and often says things that can scratch someone's ego. What others call racism, he defines as irony, he he isn't afraid of flaunting his ironic talents no matter where he may be. For example, he uses the n word on a regular basis. However, unlike Jake, who uses it in a very negative way to depict people of African descent with whom he has quibbles, Bill is jovial in his use of the word, describing a boxer as "a very noble-looking n--". The use of the word alone is enough to strike a nerve with some people, but personally I think that it just emphasizes aspects of his character: being an ironic but playful and frankly hilarious jerk. He contradicts himself, by using a slanderous term and a compliment to describe the same person, and in a way it takes some of the punch away from the potency of the word. Ultimately I think you have to be a bit forgiving considering not only the time period in which the novel takes place, but also the personality of the character speaking.
Bill can really have his moments. There was a scene in Spain, in which he was ragging on Cohn for insulting the bullfighting. Robert Cohn had proclaimed that he was afraid of being bored at the bullfights. After they had all gotten back from a thrilling show, he insisted on continuously nagging Cohn. "You weren't bored were you?" "I hope that wasn't too boring for you, was it Robert?" That sort of thing. In this scene I felt myself subconsciously rooting for Bill. Cohn seems to be the guy that everyone loves to-(not hate, but closer to be-annoyed-by-frequently). There's something about him that irks people and makes him easy to tease. Bill, of course, takes full advantage of this and not only teases him about his comment, but about getting sick when one of the bulls spears a horse with its horn. No one does anything to stand up for Cohn, because they seem to see him as towards the pathetic end of the spectrum. Bill seems to dislike Cohn more than others though, and blames it on Cohn's being Jewish. His anti-Semitic feelings lead him to make some nasty comments about Cohn that are undeserved.
Bill makes other border-line offensive comments throughout the book, such as making a joke about the Ku Klux Klan in front of a Catholic priest he just met. These are usually made just in the nature of good fun, but it's sometimes hard to see them this way. However, these get balanced out (at least in my book) by his hilarity. When Bill drinks, he becomes this lively, energetic, and witty character who can really make the scene. His spiel about taxidermy, for example. Bill, being a taxidermist, of course notices a store window displaying stuffed dogs, and mentions over and over how much Jake would enjoy the company of "a nice stuffed dog". A few lines later he considers stuffing the cab-horses, and then debates giving an engaged couple a couple of nice stuffed race-horses as a wedding present. The absurdity of what he's saying and the way Hemingway writes the dialogue just makes you appreciate Bill's humor and disregard some things he has said in the past.
I suppose that every reader of The Sun Also Rises will have to determine their opinion of Bill individually, but I find that I enjoy his presence in this novel.
1 comment:
But note also that, for all his seemingly reflexive dislike of Cohn, Bill is the one who walks off with him when he's upset at Mike and wants to fight. (This might support your idea of Bill being mostly talk, in his "offensive" qualities; when it comes down to it, he's willing to talk Cohn down, calm him down some.)
(Also, I don't think Bill actually *is* a taxidermist. I think he's just taken by the utter surrealism of such a storefront--it makes for a great comedic opportunity!)
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