Why do the crowds shout insults at belmonte

Chapter 1. The following morning, once Bill and Jake have arrived in Burguete, they hike up to the Irati River to fish for trout.

While he knows Brett has affairs — she tells him — he finds Cohn overly pathetic. Belmonte, one of the three bullfighters, has come out of retirement to fight. His reputation for working dangerously close to the bull is legendary. The crowd thus expects more from him than he could ever achieve, even at the height of his career.

The crowd jeers at him and insults him. The arenas consisted of a circle of farm carts. He did not pay any more if he returned it ripped here and there, because he was considered to have already paid for it with his blood. He looked like a small boy, with great dark eyes, gentle manners and quiet speech. With his managers, banderilleros, picadors and others, plus his family, he was also the sole support of some 40 people.

He established his father and brothers on a ranch, where they raise cattle and olives and make a good living at it. The comments on his progress were ecstatic during his first year, often caustic in , generally admiring the year after that, then mounted to almost unprecedented heights of rapturous praise during his Mexican trip SI, April 15, He was also gored often, most seriously at Bilbao in , when the femoral artery was severed and he nearly died.

In good years or bad, however, it was his artistry that dazzled his admirers. His overall command of his art, from the first pass to the end, was what awed them, rather than a single spectacular feat performed better than anyone else. A faena when Camino was at his best was phenomenal, as he suavely moved the bull wherever he pleased, making the bull charge and follow the muleta held directly in front of the horns , first to the right—the derechazos—and then to the left—the naturales.

With his left hand brilliantly measuring the charge and the horns never touching the muleta, his naturales seemed to last an eternity. But it was a rare and subtle performance whose qualities were far from obvious. When the great Mexican bullfighter Rodolfo Gaona was asked about Camino he said, "Nobody can fight with the left hand as Camino does. The nearest Camino approached becoming a legend was when he married.

At his Mexican debut a year-old beauty, Norma Gaona, was present. The daughter of Dr. But Dr. Gaona objected to Camino, the young people were separated, and Camino returned sadly to Spain. There he rallied enough to earn another half a million dollars, and made a down payment on a beautiful house in Madrid, with a spacious garage for his ivory-colored Mercedes and other cars. The deal was subject to Norma's approval: if he married her, and if she liked the house, he would buy it.

There was, however, already a small cloud on the horizon of Camino's great success. The youngest of five children, he was orphaned in the Spanish Civil War, and was brought up by his sister Angela. Unlike Camino, who devoted his youth to fighting bulls, Manuel spent his farming and poaching and bricklaying.

On rare occasions he waved a red rag at a bull in a village fiesta to convince himself of his bravery. Not until he was 19 did he encounter a real bull in a real arena.

Belmonte the bullfighter is a symbol of the entire Lost Generation. He has no purpose in his current time and place, and his important accomplishments are behind him. He achieved great fame in his younger days, and many consider him among the greatest bullfighters.

When he retired, the legends about his prowess and bravery grew. When he comes out of retirement, however, the same legends work against him.

He can never live up to the image that has sprung up around him. Thus, the crowd turns on him, and he becomes bitter and indifferent in the ring. His plight shares many similarities with that of Jake and his circle of friends, people who all seem to be passing time until the ends of their lives rather than living with any sense of purpose. The Lost Generation feels a similar kind of bitterness and indifference for much the same reason—the same cultures and nations its members served in the World War I have now abandoned them.

SparkTeach Teacher's Handbook. Themes Motifs Symbols. Mini Essays Suggested Essay Topics. Page 1 Page 2. He was ashamed of her at first and wanted her to grow her hair so she would look more like a woman. He wanted to marry her so that she would never leave him. But she forced Romero to leave because she did not want to ruin him. Brett is a strong, largely independent woman.

She exerts great power over the men around her, as her beauty and charisma seem to charm everyone she meets. Moreover, she refuses to commit to any one man, preferring ultimate independence. Cohn has spent his entire life feeling like an outsider because he is Jewish. These feelings of otherness and inadequacy may explain his irrational attachment to Brett—he is so terrified of rejection that, when it happens, he refuses to accept it.

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