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What Is Hemingway's View Of Bullfighting

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In Ernest Hemingway’s The Dangerous Summer, Hemingway follows the exploits of the two greatest bullfighters of the time, as they travel the country of Spain bullfighting during the summer of 1959. In this memoir, Hemingway watches the mano a mano fights between Antonio Ordóñez and Luis Miguel Dominguín. Throughout the story, Hemingway describes him as an avid lover of bullfighting and offers his analysis and commentary on the action taking place in the ring. It is through this analysis that he is able to deliver his message of the importance of keeping with tradition and that the loss of sacred values through progressivism is detrimental to society. Hemingway’s novel details the experiences of two bullfighters named, Antonio Ordóñez and Luis…show more content…
Before the fight, Ernest meets Ordóñez in the fighter’s chambers. Upon seeing Antonio fight, Hemingway is captivated by Antonio’s incredible skill in the ring. After the fight, Ernest travels to visit Luis Miguel at his ranch in the countryside. Miguel is retired from bullfighting at this point; however, he is considering coming out of retirement and have a few more fights. Hemingway watches the fighter’s training with bulls and is not enamored with Dominguín’s fighting style. The writer then leaves the country promising to return next summer to watch Antonio fight throughout the bullfighting season. When Ernest returns to Spain in the summer of 1959, he watches Antonio fighting in a series of battles and sees that Antonio is even better than before. Hemingway begins to believe that Antonio may be one of the greatest fighters of all time, but before he can truly stake a claim at that title, he must fight Luis Miguel in a mano a mano bullfight. In the leadup to the duo’s first fight, Antonio fights using the tricks and stunt passes of the new age of bullfighting, in order to prove a point to the audience that he is a superior fighter than his opponent. During a pass where Antonio is fighting backwards, the bull
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