Characters and point of view

[Judine]

At the beginning of chapter one, the narrator goes through a lot of trouble to describe Robert Cohn. What do you think is the purpose of that?

[Jen]

I've only read chapters one and two, so I don't know what details about Cohn will become important as the story progresses, but Hemingway gives us a fairly complete characterization of Cohn. This may help us understand his actions as the book progresses. I also believe that the narrator's description reveals aspects of his character as well. He is casually racist against Jews, which was typical for the time period. He is distrustful -- he checks up on Cohn's story about being a boxing champion. This may tell us something about the narrator's past experiences, which seem to have made him a bit cynical. His description of Cohn's wife and Frances also show him to be cynical about women.