Jake Barnes Timeline and Summary

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• Jake describes Cohn, then, over some midday drinking, is harassed by Cohn about going to South America.
• He does a little work at his newspaper office.
• He has a drink with a prostitute named Georgette before meeting friends including Cohn, Frances, and a couple named Mr. and Mrs. Braddocks at one of their favorite cafés.
• Brett shows up with a group of gay male friends at the bar where the gang’s dancing and Jake feels annoyed and sick. He ditches Georgette and goes off with Brett.
• Jake and Brett discuss the complications of their relationship. He takes her to Café Select, where they encounter Duke Zizi and Count Mippipopolous (best name ever). He starts feeling lousy again and heads home.
• After finally falling asleep, Jake wakes up to the noise of a fight. He discovers Brett arguing with the concierge, and he lets Brett upstairs. They chat and within a few minutes she leaves to meet the count.
• Cohn meets up with Jake at the newspaper office. They go to lunch and almost get into a fight over Brett.
• The following day, Brett misses her engagement with Jake and he decides to take out his bad feelings on Paris, as in the "city of," which didn’t do anything last time we checked.
• Jake runs into a friend named Harvey Stone and they drink. Cohn shows up and drives Harvey off.
• Jake can’t stand listening to Frances humiliate Cohn so he leaves. He goes home and showers and then sees that Brett and the count have shown up. He gets dressed but feels depressed, so he talks privately with Brett. They talk about their love for each other but agree again that things can’t work out.
• The trio heads to dinner and dancing. Jake takes Brett, who isn’t feeling well, home.
• Jake meets up with his friend Bill and they plan a trip to Spain for fishing. They go out for drinks and they run into Brett just home from her trip. She joins them briefly before going home to bathe.
• Brett informs Jake she’s had an affair with Cohn.
• Jake takes the train to Spain with Bill where they meet Cohn.
• Jake, Bill, and Cohn drive to Bayonne where they intend to fish. During dinner, Cohn and Bill go to the train station to see if Mike and Brett have arrived. They haven’t. He receives a telegram from Mike saying they’re coming late but doesn’t show it to Bill and Cohn.
• The following morning, once Bill and Jake have arrived in Burguete, the hike up to the Irati River to fish for trout. They drink lots of wine and have a pleasant time. They stay for about a week and in the evenings hang out with a cool British guy named Harris.
• Jake learns that Mike, Brett, and Cohn plan to meet him and Bill in Pamplona. Everyone meets and drinks voraciously.
• Jake, Brett, and Cohn check out the bulls while Mike and Bill hang out at a café.
• The following day the fiesta has begun with a bang. Jake is shoved into a huge crowd. He purchases leather wine vessels for the festivities.
• Jake parties hard, loses his room key, and crashes on Cohn’s hotel room floor.
• A few days later, after having been introduced to Romero and seen a few bull-fights, Jake runs into Romero at a café. They have some drinks and chat. Jake introduces Romero to Brett.
• Jake intervenes in a fight right before Mike has the opportunity to hit Cohn.
• Jake listens to Brett whine about Cohn. Brett asks Jake if he still loves her. He says yes. Then she announces she’s in love with Romero and begs Jake to help her find him. He does. Brett and Romero hook up and Jake gets ditched.
• Jake finds Mike and Bill with a girl named Edna. They’ve been thrown out of a bar.
• Cohn shows up and demands to know where Brett is. Jake won’t tell him, so Cohn knocks him and Mike out. Cohn then begs for forgiveness. Jake grants it because he simply can’t be bothered not to. He goes to bed.
• The following day, Jake, Bill, and Brett go to see the final bull-fight. Jake shows his aficion in his impassioned description of the three matadors, Marcial, Belmonte, and Romero.
• The following day Jake drops off Mike and Bill and heads for San Sebastian. He plans to rest, detox, swim, and read.
• Quickly, however, he receives word from Brett asking for help. He meets her in Madrid and learns she has sent Romero off and plans to return to Mike. She’s emotional and he comforts her.
• The pair reflects one last time that their love was a nice idea but could never have worked.