Robert Cohn

In the first chapter of The Sun Also Rises, the author introduces Robert Cohn and his background characteristics. To me, it seems that Hemingway incorporates both direct and indirect characterization of Cohn. On page 11, the author describes Cohn's boxing career at Princeton and quotes, "...he never fought except in the gym." This reveals to the audience that Cohn wasn't truly a fighter, only an athlete who knew when the appropriate time was to practice his skill. This acts as a form of indirect characterization. A few lines down on that same page the author quotes, "He was really very fast.", a form of direct characterization. On pages 12 and 13 Hemingway continues to describe Cohn using direct characterization. "He was a nice boy, a friendly boy, and very shy.." (page 12) "He was fairly happy.." (page 13)