Is Brett and Jake's emotional relationship enough?

While writing this post, I was compelled to differentiate between Brett and Jake, to play devil's advocate and argue against either of the characters. I wanted to flesh out why, exactly, Jake and Brett's relationship would never work. I eventually surmised that Brett and Jake have very different understandings of what constitutes a successful relationship -- Brett defines a perfect relationship as involving both romantic and physical elements, while Jake views his relationships as purely emotional. I assumed this created a rift between them, a chasm of Brett's promiscuity that Jake simply couldn't fulfill. However, I was gravely mistaken. 

Throughout the novel, Brett relies on Jake for emotional support. She sleeps with other men and gets angry when they act possessive; she returns to Jake when her other relationships go haywire and waxes poetic about how he has never acted as "badly" as her other suitors and how he's the best of them all (Hemingway 187). We see this repeat several times throughout The Sun Also Rises. I blamed this cycle on the assumption that Brett and Jake lost their desires and needs in communication. However, it's clear Brett and Jake view relationships the same way, and Jake would love to be with Brett physically; it's just Jake's injury that keeps their dysfunctional relationship functional, as it completely excludes the physical part. If Jake was able to be with Brett physically, they wouldn't be together emotionally. They wouldn't have the intense emotional connection they do. 

Brett and Jake feel very strongly for each other. Brett turns to Jake for emotional support whenever she's feeling "miserable." She puts on a face in front of others, then breaks down in front of Jake (Hemingway 28). Ironically, Brett is comfortable enough to discuss her various love affairs with the love of her life. She dismisses others, including her other potential suitors, to talk to Jake, saying "'Oh, don’t!' Brett said. 'For God’s sake, go off somewhere. Can’t you see Jake and I want to talk?'” to Cohn when he tries speaking to her (Hemingway 187). Jake, albeit pathetically, says to Brett, "'Oh, Brett, I love you so much'" after she swings by his home with another man (Hemingway 60). Later in the novel, Jake questions why he tends to drop everything and go running to Brett whenever she requires his help: "Send a girl off with one man. Introduce her to another to go off with him. Now go and bring her back. And sign the wire with love" (Hemingway 247). The reason is the same as why Brett comes to Jake after a long night at Parisian bars: they love each other. Jake is the only person within the novel who accepts Brett for who she is, cheating and emotional exploitation and all, all because he knows he doesn't have a chance at a real relationship with her due to his injury. Therefore, he has to take what he can get. 

That doesn't mean that Jake doesn't feel a physical attraction to Brett, and vice versa, though. "'Don't you love me?'" Jake asks Brett on page 29, and Brett responds, "'Love you? I simply turn all to jelly when you touch me'" (Hemingway 29). Jake thinks of Brett similarly, as evidenced by his jealousy upon seeing her with other men on multiple occasions. However, he can never fulfill the part of their relationship that Brett seeks. Brett is looking for no-strings-attached relations with men other than Jake, and she grows quite upset when they try to progress the relationship or develop a bond with her. They "can't believe it [doesn't] mean anything," as she says to Jake (Hemingway 187). She rebukes Cohn for his clinginess after their affair; she dislikes Mike because he simply can't handle seeing her with other men; she leaves Romero because he wants to change her and settle her down for good. Jake is the only man in the novel that Brett consistently stands by, all because he can't put any rules on her. She is liberated, and Jake has no say in that fact. 

Brett thinks it would be different with Jake, but it simply wouldn't. He would be just as possessive and jealous if it wasn't for his injury, and he's more than aware of that, as he says he would be as overbearing as Cohn if he had the ability. Brett can't see that, however, as evidenced by her "We could've been so good together" remark on page 255, because she has no reason to feel tied down by Jake. If Jake was somehow able to consummate their relationship, he would want to be exclusive, and Brett, in her fear of commitment, would run off to a different city. Perhaps the reason they grew so close is Brett knew that it would never be an issue for her. As his nurse, she very well knew his injury. Eliminating the physical portion of a romantic relationship, Brett and Jake were able to truly get to know each other on a deeply personal level, with no looming fear of marriage or commitment. 

The foundation supporting Brett and Jake's relationship is the fact that Jake is unable to exercise control over Brett. She revels in that fact, and, secretly, so does Jake, as long as they get to see and interact with each other. At the end of the novel, it's implied that Brett is going to go back to Mike, while presumably retaining her relationship with Jake. She doesn't even mention it; it's a given. In that way -- if they respect and have a mutual understanding of providing support for one another, if they don't even need to verbally communicate to vocalize their feelings -- is their emotional relationship enough? 

They certainly wish it was. On page 31, Jake asks Brett if she finds being in love enjoyable -- as they've already established that they're in love with each other, emotionally, romantically, and physically. "'No,' she said. 'I think it's hell on earth'" (Hemingway 31).