"That's too complicated, "Bill said. "Don't you ever detach me from the heard, Mike."
When I first started reading this chapter, I knew Hemingway wouldn't have included it into the novel just for the purpose of entertainment, for there had to be an alternative reason as well. After reading a couple of the lines over again to try to understand and take a grasp of the whole thing, I think I may have come up with the metaphorical language of the chapter. Here is my proposition as to what each character represents in this conceit Brett is the steer at the end of the arena that simply teases all the steers when the exit their cages. Like Brett, the steer has no physical power, but has the mental power to minipulate the bulls and force them to charge him by simply standing and looking "pretty". The first time a bull enters the arena and is by himself, he is all wigged out and does not know what to do since he is separated from the rest of his herd. Like each of the men- Robert, Jake, Mike, and Bill, they are very volatile and aggressive (not physically abusive) toward Brett in order to gain her love. Because of this, the steer receives all the attention, but end the end dies because he just can not measure up. However, once the whole heard is together in the arena at the same time, they are harmless toward the steer and are more complacent because they are back in their comfort zone. Like the crew of men in the novel, no one is trying to make a move on Brett while everyone is together, for that would be socially unacceptable!
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