Ernest Hemingway about Bullfighting - Term Paper Example

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Hemingway describes bullfighting in his book, Death in the Afternoon, as "the emotional and spiritual intensity and pure ic beauty that can be produced by a man, an animal, and a piece of scarlet serge draped on a stick." (Hemingway 166). He talks of how bullfighting is more an art than a mere brutal, cruel sport, having more about courage and fear intertwined in it than about blood and bullfighting. Hemingway talks of the magnificence of bullfighting while also delving deep into the nature and intensity of fear and courage, making an impact on the conception of the essence of life. There is no possible alternative to death and fear that would sufficiently and strongly provide meaning and richness to the act of living. Hemingway admits that he began with bullfighting out of curiosity to witness the brutal act of a violent death, which would give him a greater meaning of the essence of life. Of the many ways that a human may contemplate life or the purpose of existence, fear, courage and death are those that give life a stronger and fuller definition. With the contemplation of death and fear comes a different dimension that life and living can be viewed from; described by many authors in a number of books. Ernest Hemingway is one such author who has dissected this psychological aspect through the more common subject of bullfighting. The book both describe clearly and in detail, the terms, techniques and traditional methods involved in the art of bullfighting, making a personal connection to the sport, not merely being an observer or giving a detailed description. “For some of his most assiduous readers it is also the best non-Spanish contemporary writing on the bullfight.” (Calvo 117). Hemingway is seen to have accepted that bullfighting is undoubtedly a cruel sport that calls for immense courage, but at the same time implies that it is the intense fear that brings with it the strength, relating the sport to life. Hemingway tries to make a string-line connection between the two different worlds of bullfighting and human life. Although the connection between real life and a sport may not be quite as obvious, the work of Hemingway trudges deep into the subject. Hemingway begins with talking about how it was the desire to see a violent death that drew him toward learning about the sport of bullfighting which he very clearly despised otherwise and even considered it as a mere brutal sport. However, as he began to plunge into the subject, learning more about Spanish bullfighting over a period of five years, he began to view it as an art, conceptualizing it as a well choreographed balled that required the skill of the matador and the strength of the bull. The critics opine that “Death in the Afternoon as an effort to distance bullfighting from all that is primitive and barbarous, to portray it in all its beauty, and to attract more fans among the English speaking public.” (Bredendick). He recalls that this art brings back to a human spectator, the enthusiasm and will to live, making evident his point that the possibility and potential of death has the strength to revive the richness or meaning of life. Hemingway talks of how the brutal sport of bullfighting is so very closely knitted to the brutal life that is bestowed upon every human, giving the elements of the fight a perverse strength to make one feel alive. Hemingway believes that every true story would certainly lead to and end in death, which is ultimately the spark that is held in the sport of bullfighting. He talks of how the act of death in itself is a form of glorifying life, giving greater depth when the death is revealed instead of being omitted. "All stories, if continued far enough, end in death, and he is no true-story teller who would keep that from you." (Hemingway 100). The fact that a person is subject to the potential or possibility of death is what makes the sport compelling, drawing towards itself the masses that become the spectators of an event where death is always plausible. Hemingway connects to this very idea in his book, from a slightly different angle though, stating that “artist bullfighters and poor bulls do not make interesting fights, for the bullfighter who has ability to do extraordinary things with the bull which are capable of producing the intensest degree of emotion in the spectator but will not attempt them with a bull which he cannot depend on to charge”. (Hemingway 19). He talks of how the death dance that locks the matador and the bull together is what matters, as it is the key element in bringing upon the spectators the intense emotion of fear, excitement and enthusiasm. If the risk of death were not great, or if the matador were not skillful in his/her fight, there would be no real emotion derived from it. If the bull were not good, there would not be great risk, meaning it is the ingredient of death which is the hair raiser for spectators. However, if the matador were not skilled, he would face his death, still bringing upon a strong emotion amongst the spectators. Through this argument, he gives readers an insight into the nature of courage and fear and the effects it can have. He talks of how the perverse human nature tends to retrieve pleasure from the potential death faced by another. “Hemingway seems to despise modern bullfighting, elaborates what should be a small element integrated into a larger framework of tragedy into the end itself, so that the whole art form loses its tragic focus and suffers from enervating excesses.” (Thurston) Hemmingway shares his enthusiasm for the bullfighting sport, equally indulgent in the terms, traditions, techniques and the ritualized practices, while talking of the psychological implications. Hemingway seems to lose himself to the fascination that he developed toward the sport over the years that he spent learning about it and is seen to give very detailed accounts of the bullfights that he has witnessed. The work that he produced shows that he has indeed made a clear and deep analysis of the sport, commenting that “Bullfighting is the only art in which the artist is in danger of death and in which the degree of brilliance in the performance is left to the fighters honor.” (Hemingway 77). He connects very clearly and directly, the possible impending death of the matador to the degree of brilliance of the performance, making evident the fact that the skill acquired by a matador is driven by fear and transforms into courage to overcome the fear and to make a decision that can be life saving in the fraction of a second. He talks of this aspect, stating, “the great artist when he comes, uses everything that has been discovered or known about his art up to that point, being able to accept or reject in a time so short it seems that the knowledge was born with him,”. (Hemingway 84). In this statement he implies the strength of the emotional effect that fear; the fear of death can have upon a mind, a strong and intense emotion that cannot be replaced by another. An understanding of the psychological implications in the work Death in the Afternoon by Hemingway, brings to readers the world of bullfighting stripped to its basic elements, fear, courage and the emotional and spiritual impact of death in the context. One understand the connection that the author has provided between bullfighting and the emotional and spiritual life of people, talking of how one’s life is greatly determined by the element of fear, the emotion being so strong; and that of death, being stronger, inflicting upon its viewers the passion to live. The connection between death and fascination, fear and life, and creativity and self-destruction has been analyzed in this paper through the work of Hemingway on the subject of bullfighting. The common view that fear and death are the ultimate two elements that makes the sport so much more an art, bringing with it more than just brutality, but an opportunity to raise one’s essence of living, while also contemplating fear and courage. Works Cited Bredendick, Nancy. “Death in the Afternoon as Seen by Tomas Orts-Ramos (Uno Al Sesgo).” The Hemingway Review, 24. 2 (2005). Calvo, Micaela Muñoz. “A Companion to Hemingway’s Death in the Afternoon.” Miscelánea: a Journal of English and American studies. 32 (2005): 117-128. Hemingway, Ernest. Death in the Afternoon. Scribner, 1999. Thurston, Michael. “Genre, Gender, and Truth in Death in the Afternoon.” The Hemingway Review, 17. 2 (1998). Read More