16. Extended Metaphor

"'Here.' I put one hand on the small of my back and the other on my chest, where it looked as though the horn must have come through...'Badly cogido,' he said. 'All for sport. All for pleasure'" (pg 201, Hemingway). I find this extended metaphor rather ambiguous in that is it referring to Cohn and Brett, or Jake and Brett? Cohn believes that he and Brett are meant to be after their get together in San Sebastian, but Brett spends her time with her fiance, Mike, stabbing Cohn in the back. Yet, Jake has been through this with Brett all along. They're in love, but Brett even with Jake's knowledge has been involved with other men to satisfy her wants, and is supposed to be getting married. Both men have been hurt by Brett, both stabbed in the back, like a bull, and have felt the pain in their heart. Jake understands the pain Cohn has been through but refuses to emphasize with him. However, Cohn has no idea about Jake's feelings for Brett as shown through this excerpt:
"'I just couldn't stand it about Brett. I've been through hell, Jake. It's been simply hell. When I met her down here Brett treated me as though I were a perfect stranger. I just couldn't stand it. We lived together at San Sebastian. I suppose you know it. I can't stand it anymore'" (pg 198, Hemingway). Jake had to have wanted to angrily tell Cohn that he fully understood what he meant, yet that he had no idea what he had been through with Brett, perhaps years of this same treatment. Yet, once again, the 'Lost Generation' hardly ever expresses their true feelings.