Thursday, January 26, 2012
Bullfighting: Despicable Sport Suits Despicable Characters
I will admit, I had a hard time reading the bullfighting scenes. I think it is an absolutely abhorrent sport, and sets humans back about 2000 years to the mentality of the Romans (no offense to the Romans). However, I found it fitting that Brett, Jake, Mike, and Robert traveled across the continent to see the bull fights (I will leave Bill out of this discussion because I actually like his character). The excitement Brett was exuding when the cows were getting gored made me even hate her character more. Jake didn't seem overly pleased with the performance, but that was because the bulls were not to his liking. We have already seen that Jake likes to take pleasure in other's pain, so again, not surprising that this dreadful event intrigues him. In fact, he is labeled as an aficionado. Mike and Robert are both pretty pathetic as well, as the only reason they are probably even at the bullfight is because Brett wanted to see it. I feel that this was a real turning point for me on my views of the characters. I was feeling bad for Jake for his injury and suffering he has had to endure because of it, but at least he didn't have a crowd watching him get impaled by bull horns. I'm just waiting for Mike or Robert to actually stand up for themselves, but I think I am holding out hope on that one. And Lady Brett Ashley. Not much of a lady if you ask me. In fact, she acts much more like a man, swapping lovers left and right, and having an extreme blood lust. Anyway, that is enough rambling on about the sickening sport of bullfighting. I am by no means a supporter of PETA, but as an avid sport lover, I hate to see sports that involve cruelty toward animals. I think the novel would be much more entertaining if Lady Brett Ashley and Mike were gored. At least then Brett and Jake could be together happily.
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Your post made me laugh, I like the humor. :) I also like the conclusion, but I'd have to switch it around. I'd want to see Jake and Brett gored together and put them both out of their misery.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the whole concept of bullfighting is just icky, and I'm glad that Hemingway was, as usual, rather sparse in his description of the bull fight. I felt really awful especially when Jake mentioned the horses. It seems like such a waste of animals - they're basically sent into the arena to die. I did like it that I was able to make a connection between the bull fight and another scene - a point that I hope to bring up in class.
ReplyDeleteI will also say that I also find the bullfighting abhorrent, but I realize that is a feeling absolutely colored my by 2012 existence. Our disgust, though, simply wouldn't have made sense to most readers in Hemingway's time or even lots of people today. After all bullfighting still goes on, as do rodeos, which some people see as cruel, along with dog fights (very popular in parts of South America and Mexico, for instance). And quite recently there were big debates in Britain over fox-hunting. So it is, I think, unfair to "hate" these characters more or less based on their participation in this activities.
ReplyDeleteTo me, it's interesting that Ryan is especially bothered by Brett's bloodlust. Why not be equally bothered by the male characters' unwillingness to look away?
Dr. H, trust me, the participation in the bullfighting isn't the only reason I highly dislike the characters lol (except for Bill, he seems like someone I would enjoy having a beer or 10 with). Since Brett is the only character with a social title, you would expect her to not be so overly enthralled in such abhorrent acts as bullfighting. However, since I am not sure of how bullfighting was viewed back then, it could very well be like the women of title in the Roman times who enjoyed gladiator matches and other merciless acts. I guess what I am saying is that I need to research the time period before making a judgment.
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