But the legend of the rent was way past due!

"Outside the Bar Milano I found Bill and Mike and Edna." pg. 192

Wait. Who's Edna?

"Edna was the girl's name." pg. 192

Oh.

"I swung at him and he ducked. I saw his face duck sideways in the light. He hit me and I sat down on the pavement. As I started to get on my feet he hit me twice. I went down backward under a table. I tried to get up and felt I did not have any legs. I felt I must get on my feet and try and hit him. Mike helped me up. Some one poured a carafe of water on my head. Mike had an arm around me, and I found I was sitting on a chair. Mike was pulling at my ears." pg. 195

So, did we not spend two fake-out chapters at the very beginning of this book describing how Robert Cohn was some super-boxer with crazy Jewish powers to knock anybody's lights out? And then Jake swings at him. Personally, I just got angry and frustrated at the characters which is really a pitiful thing to do considering in the end, they're all just figments of my imagination. This just leads me to get angry at Hemingway, and trust me, he didn't need any help. But I guess if I was to be mature about this situation, I might point out that maybe Hemingway was showing the stupidity in both sides in the heated situation, thus calling this generation of lax morals to a higher standard, yada, yada, yada.

"'I gave Brett what for, you know. I said if she would go about with Jews and bull-fighters and such people, she must expect trouble.' He leaned forward. 'I say, Jake, do you mind if I drink that bottle of yours? She'll bring you another one.'" pg. 207

Also dealing with some pretty raw emotions is our dear old Mike. I can definitely sympathize with his situation. It's not easy when a women to whom you're engaged looks at a nineteen-year-old and says "Hmm, I want THAT one now." This is like Desperate Housewives: Roaring Twenties Edition.

Bayum!