1. Manliness. What is manliness? Who is manly? Only men? Can women be manly? Who displays more manliness throughout the novel, Brett or Jake? Is manliness just a state of mind, just a label that gets tossed around? Is it a stereotype, an expectation, a way of life? What is manliness? What is manliness?

2. Jake- “ I suppose you like to add them up ” Brett- ” Don ’ t talk like a fool. ” Jake- “ You do. ” Brett- “ Oh, well. What if I do? ” Brett likes to have many admirers and many options for lovers. She loves to be the center of attention and flirt with anyone and everyone. She is promiscuous and completely uninhibited. She has a fiance, Michael, yet she takes a romantic trip with Cohn, and claims to be “ in love ” with Jake. All of these behaviors are typically male behaviors …

3. “She pulled her man’s felt hat down and started in for the bar” Brett wears man ’ s clothes, parades around alone in bars, and can out-drink almost anyone in Paris. Brett is a beautiful woman, but she continually defies gender roles and dismisses the so called “ rules ” or being a proper woman. So, do you have to be a man to be manly?

4. Georgette- “ It ’ s a shame you ’ re sick. We get on well. What ’ s the matter with you, anyway? ” Jake- “ I got hurt in the war ” Jake has lost his physical manliness. He feels as if he doesn’t have the ability to make up for his loss. Jakes injury has destroyed his self esteem and has caused his manliness to be destroyed as well. He feels as if he has let Georgette down, a feeling that would occur more commonly in a female.

5. Brett-“ I say, you are slow on the up-take’ Jake-“I had only sipped my brandy and soda. I took a long drink.” Brett-“That’s better” The concept of manliness has flipped between these two characters. Brett is drinking rapidly and excessively, while Jake is “sipping” his drink. Has the war confused these characters roles in society? Is this why the generation is known as “ The Lost Generation”?

6. Count- “ Why don’t you get married, you two?” Jake- “ We want to lead our own lives” Jake feels impotent and worthless. He doesn’t want to spoil Brett’s future on account of his lack of “manliness.” What makes us manly? Can Jake be judged based on his physical appearance, or is it his actions that prove him to be unmanly? When it comes down to it, everyone is just lost. No one knows what they want and they have been confused by their struggles in the past.

7. WHAT IS MANLINESS?