The exchange closes The Sun Also Rises with Brett imagining the happiness that she and Jake might have shared. Jake’s reply acknowledges the appeal of that imagined life while also distancing himself from it. His use of “pretty” suggests that the possibility is attractive precisely because it remains hypothetical, rather than something they can realistically recover.

The moment brings together love, regret and resignation. Jake and Brett care deeply for one another, but their relationship has been constrained by circumstances, including Jake’s wartime injury and Brett’s own choices. The sudden movement of the car briefly presses Brett against Jake, creating a physical closeness that cannot become a lasting solution. Jake’s final response therefore resists romanticising an alternative past. It recognises that people often construct appealing versions of what might have been, even when those possibilities were never fully attainable. The line is commonly read as a concise statement about lost chances and the limits of wishful thinking.