A scene that highlights Brett's effect on Jake in The Sun Also Rises occurs as the last of the fiesta approaches in Pamplona. Brett asks to talk with Jake alone, and she asks him if he still loves her. When he says yes, she tells him that she is "mad about the Romero boy". She seems apologetic and says "I've got to do something I really want to do. I've lost my self-respect". Other than the fact that she is manipulating Jake to help her pursue yet another romantic relationship, Brett didn't lose her self-respect because of her hookup with Cohn (Jake's best friend) and the impact it has on Mike, but because she hadn't acted on her feelings for Romero. Jake, being Jake, says yes as always and sets them up for a date where they eventually leave on their own. In class, we discussed how before Brett arrived in Pamplona, Jake was "in his element". This scene is indicative of how Brett brings Jake down, pulling him back into this cycle where he seems to always get hurt. Jake allows this so happen, betraying his own love for Brett and the purity of bullfighting which he is so passionate about. Earlier in the novel, he tells Montoya that Romero getting mixed up with Americans would be detrimental to his bullfighting success. But the moment Brett asks him to help her start a relationship with him, he says yes without much hesitation. It becomes clear that Jake willingly sacrificed the purity of bullfighting to please Brett.
