a simple bitch when first drawn to the teenage bullfighter does not stop her from going after him, does not stop her from telling herself and Jake that she "can't help" herself (Hemingway 187), even though "I've never felt such a bitch" (Hemingway 188). She knows she only wants Romero for sex, that nothing will come of it, that only Romero will be hurt by it, that for her the lust will fade when the complexities of a real relationship set in. Tellingly, those complexities turn out to be physical beatings for both Cohn and the bullfighter, along with broken hearts for both Cohn and the bullfighter, and the decision by Brett to end the relationship in order not to "ruin" Romero. She might not have ruined Romero by the time she makes her heroic decision, but she certainly has not done him much good either, except for teaching him the lesson that women are much more dangerous and vicious than any bull in the ring.
Hemingway and Jake portray Romero as a pure being compared to the defiled Brett. Brett may save herself by deciding not to ruin Romero, but Romero is shown to be, at least at this early stage of hid life, immune to ruin. He is pure in his fighting and in his relationship with Brett, perhaps his first relationship of any significance with a woman. As Hemingway has Jake tell it, the relationship with Brett is good for Romero for one reason--it makes him a better bullfighter:
Pedro Romero had the greatness. He loved bull-fighting, and I think he loved the bulls, and I think he loved Brett. . . . Never once did he look up. He made it stronger that way, and did it for himself, too, as well as for her. Because he did not look up to ask if it pleased he did it all for himself inside, and it strengthened him, and yet he did it for her, too. But he did not do it for her at any loss to himself. He gained by it all through the afternoon (Hemingway 220).
Brett understands that Romero is an undef
...