Jake Barnes Character Analysis

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Jake Barnes, a man damaged by the war who is trying to keep a grip on his religion as much as he is his manliness. Scared by the war, both physically, and mentally, he blames what happened to him on God himself. While he still classifies himself as a Catholic he does not consider himself to be a good one. Blaming God for the things that happened to him his prayers are misguided and he does not participate as much, thus why he calls himself a “Rotten Catholic”. Jake is a theist but he is on the verge of becoming an atheist. This is from his desire to belong to the church. Jake does not reject the church as he begins to pursue religion lightly, although he doesn't want to be very close to the church just yet. Although he is not happy for the injury God has given him, he seeks religion as a lifestyle as he seeks for a way to live in a society while he is looked down upon …show more content…

Jake responded “Technically”, he feels guilty of claiming to be a full member of the group if he does not participate. But he still identifies as a catholic. With this we can indicate his desire to belong to the religion. His struggle to be a good Catholic continues in chapter 14 as he feels guilty for his feelings towards how he enjoyed watching Mike hurt Cohn. While he feels guilty, he also feels confused about his feelings, as Robert Cohn once called Jake his best friend. He is conflicted as he does not know if his feeling of shame makes him a good or bad person: “That was morality; things that made you disgusted afterward. No, that must be immorality.” Although most of the things Jake does make it seem as he is not really religious there are some parts where he proves to be a religious Catholic. On chapter 15, on the first day of the fiesta he attends mass by himself as his friends are still asleep or doing other things. He refuses to ask anyone if they wanted to join him as he would rather go

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