Fal$e Friend$

Bill put it best when he called Mike 'Old Mike the spender." Mike claims on page 141 that his debt came in two ways, "gradually and then suddenly." He admits to having a lot of false friends, friends that may have multiplied because of his money. Life is simple for Mike because he borrows money and eventually pays it back. In another instance, Hemingway makes a point to bring up again the 'friends' one can make due to spending money. Jake over tips to make friends, saying "[France] is the simplest country to live in. No one makes things complicated by becoming your friend for any obscure reason. If you want people to like you you have to spend a little money" (pg. 237). The dark humor here stands out like a sore thumb: Practically buying friends, like Jake does by over tipping waiters, is an obscure reason to become someone's friend!Hemingway is telling us that we can't buy friends, nor can we buy happiness. No matter how many people Jake tips or how many places he ventures too, he's never going to be really happy. His friends will be false and he has no real place to call home in the end.