Jake

I wish I had found the time to write a more extensive post on Jake, since he is one of the more complex characters in the novel. At times, he is one of my favorites; sometimes I cannot stand him. He also has his "disability" to deal with, which is something I must take into account when evaluating his decisions.
Overall, I really respect Jake. We dealt the most with Brett during class discussions, so I will first address his relationship with her. I think that he is just a great guy, who deserves someone better. I suppose that with love, one cannot really choose to like "someone better", since he sees her as ideal. However, he gives her everything she asks for, sans question. If she wants emotional support, he is always there for her. If she is broke, he's there for her. If she wants help hooking up with a new guy, he's there. If she broke and in need of emotional support after breaking up with a guy he helped hook her up with, guess what? He's got her back! What a great guy.
I often wondered as I was reading the book, "What does Jake really feel when Brett associates with other guys in front of him?" Jealousy, because she chooses them over him? Resentment, that they can provide her with something he will never be able to do for her? Acceptance, that they provide somethings, and he others? Or pride, that she will always claim to prefer him over all other men in her life? I can think of plausible arguments for all of these hypotheses, and think that at different times, he feels different emotions. With different people, as well. Perhaps resentment towards Cohn, pride towards Mike, and acceptance towards Romero?
The only thing that I mind about Jake is his attitude regarding Robert Cohn. He seems to string him along, acting like a friend to him, but not truly feeling any compassion for the man--even talking shit about him behind his back. While Jake seems to be for the most part a man worthy of my respect, this treatment of Cohn strikes me as petty and mean. When Mike is going off on Cohn while drunk, Jake says to stop talking like that. By saying that, he is pretty much admitting that he agrees with Mike, just not publicly. If he were a real friend, he would have defended Robert. I think that maybe one reason for this animosity is the fact that Jake considers Cohn unworthy of Brett, so the fact that she sleeps with him (even out of charitableness) offends him.
To wrap up, I think that Jake is generally a great guy, especially when interacting with Brett. However, he is quite harsh to Cohn, something that I find inconsistent with what i had previously thought of him. One could defend this by saying that his injury excuses him from animosity towards Brett's flings, since it would be hard for anyone to not be taken by jealousy in a sumilar situation. While I think that it is still inexcusable, I maintain that Jake is a good "mind husband" to Brett and friend to men such as Bill, who have no connection to his love.