“It was the bull that had sprinted out and killed the man in the morning running….When he had finished his work with the muleta and was ready to kill, the crowd made him go on. They did not want the bull killed yet, they did not want it to be over. Romero went on….The bull watched him. Romero spoke to the bull and tapped one of his feet. The bull charged and Romero waited for the charge, the muleta held low, sighting along the blade, his feet firm…The bull tried to go forward, his legs commenced to settle, he swung from side to side, hesitated, then went down on his knees…”
-The Sun Also Rises, p 223-224
I am starting this blog entry by stating that this may be seen as a bit of a stretch, but this is an observation that I made as I was reading this passage the first time. As I was reading the description of the final bullfight, I could not help but think that the bullfight was rather symbolic of Cohn’s struggles. Cohn seems to parallel the bull in several ways. Just as Brett constantly leads Cohn on, so does Romero lead the bull to his death. Yet even though the bull likely realizes to some extent the danger of his charge, it stubbornly plows on in its attempt to get its way. Similarly, Cohn has had several encounters with Mike and others that warn him of the foolishness of his obsession with Brett. Yet Cohn blindly ignores these warnings, charging on.
Finally, just as Romero kills the bull in its final charge, it is in Cohn’s final violent attempt to win Brett that his spirit is ultimately broken. Whether Hemingway intended the final bullfight to be symbolic or not, he draws a strong connection between the bull killed for pure enjoyment and the man whose spirit is broken because his friends enjoy his suffering.
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