Chapter 12

1. How does Bill respond when Jake tells him to “go to hell.”

2. As Bill and Jake banter, Bill tells him to say something pitiful. His answer: “Robert Cohn.” What does this answer indicate?

3. What does Bill and Jake’s banter about he expatriate movement reveal about Jake?

4. When Bill slips and mentions impotency, Jake narrates, “I was afraid he thought he had hurt me with the crack about being impotent. I wanted to start him up again.” What does this show about Jake and Bill’s relationship? (Also, the joke they refer to about the tricycle accident and how a tricycle is similar to an airplane, how Jake was hurt, refers to a joke about a man losing his genitals in a tricycle accident.)

5. Discuss Bill’s statement: You’re a hell of a good guy and I’m fonder of you than anybody on earth. I couldn’t tell you that in New York. It’d mean I was a faggot.” Remember the homophobic scene with Jake in the bar when Brett enters?

6. When Bill discovers Jake has brought only two bottles of wine, he accuses Jake of being in the pay of the Anti-Saloon league. “The Saloon must go, and I will take it with me” (128). What historical matter does this exchange present?

7. Jake reads a romantic novel (page 125). How does this compare to Cohn’s earlier romantic readings?