Chapter 13

1. Why do Bill and Jake get on so well with Harris, the Englishman they meet while fishing?

2. Jake and Bill have a great time being up in the mountain fishing. Whose absence permits them the freedom to enjoy this time together? (More than one answer—and you may need to read further to answer it! That is, who causes conflict later in the story.)

3. Montoya is the hotel owner and a fellow aficionado. What is an aficionado? Why is Jake accepted into group? Discuss the significance of the quote: “For one who had aficion, he could forgive anything. At once he forgave me all my friends.” This will be more meaningful by time you get to the end of the story. Consider this though: If you went to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, do you think you could get a hotel room at the Royal Senestra on Bourbon Street? That is the equivalent to what Jake did during the Fiesta de San Fermin in Pamplona.

4. When Jake describes to Bill how they will unload the bulls and put steers in with them to keep them calm, Bill comments, “Must be swell being a steer.” Who later makes almost the exact same statement and what happens after he makes it?

5. What war story does Brett ask Mike to relate and why? (page 139)

6. At the unloading Jake shows Brett how the bulls use their horns. What is Jake’s comparison? How is the comparison significant to the story?

7. The bulls are only dangerous when detached from the herd. How is this idea symbolic in the story? Who gets detached from the herd?

8. Why does Mike accuse Robert of being like a steer?

9. Discuss the significance of the following quotes from Mike directed at Robert or to Jake about Robert:

a. “What if Brett did sleep with you. She’s slept with lots of better people than you” (146).

b. “Don’t you know when you’re not wanted? I know when I’m not wanted” (146).

c. “Don’t go. Robert Cohn’s going to buy a drink” (147).

d. “No, listen Jake. Brett’s gone off with men. But they weren’t ever Jews, and they didn’t come and hang about afterward” (148).

10. Discuss Robert’s comparison of Brett to Circe, the enchantress from the Odyssey (page 148).

11. Jake tells Bill, “We’ve got to keep Mike from getting so tight.” What does “tight” mean?