In
Chapter 17, Jake describes a scene prior to the bullfight: a man is stabbed by
a bull’s horn through his back and then stampeded by a crowd of people. Following
this incident, Jake goes to a café for a second cup of coffee and causally
converses with the waiter about it. After a few short remarks are made, the waiter
says, “‘You hear? Muerto. Dead. He’s dead. With a horn through him. All for
morning fun.’” (Hemingway 178). Jake simply replies with, “‘It’s bad.’”
(Hemingway 179). Even as an in-person witness, Jake can only demonstrate indifference
to the horrific incident that just occurred. The carrying tone of their conversation
is similar to that of how one might discuss the weather. In other words, the dialogue
shows both the waiter and Jake expressing little to no reaction to the gruesome
death of Vicente Girones, the man that was killed.
I think
this scene displays an excellent example of how the Lost Generation dealt with
their acceptance of violence. The Great War was an atrocity where masses of
people fought each other with the debilitating addition of advanced weaponry. As
traditional heroism and emphasis on individual ambition dissipated along with millions
of lives, people were at a loss on how to deal with their overwhelming
experience with bloodshed. At the time, illnesses, such as PTSD and shell shock,
weren’t even diagnosed disorders. As a result of the war, many faced pain by ignoring
their psychological response to violence.
In the moment
of Girones’s slaughter, Jake narrates the scene quickly and objectively; the
intensity (or lack thereof) that Jake describes the incident does not match the
emotions one should feel when witnessing a gored man stampeded by a crowd. The
narrative pace is set almost too casually. In addition, Jake’s own emotional
reaction to the event is not shared with the reader. I think Hemingway
purposely wrote it this way to reflect Jake’s tendencies on how he responds to
overwhelming circumstances: numbing of the emotions.
