Ernest Hemingway and the Running of the Bulls

Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises introduced America to el encierro (the Running of the Bulls), part of the Festival of San Fermin in Pamplona. The Sun Also Rises is Hemingway's story of sexual tension amongst American expats, set against a pilgrimage to Pamplona, Spain, to take part in the San Fermin Festival. Pamplona isn't the only place that runs its bulls: other Spanish towns, as well as a few in the south of France, have their own version of el encierro. However, only Pamplona featured in a Hemingway novel, so it gets all the play with tourists.

At the time of publication, The Sun Also Rises was criticized for its portrayal of aimless, promiscuous protagonists, but the book became very popular with younger readers. In this sense, Hemingway was ahead of his time, using fewer words to tell more of a story, and doing so without much physical action from the characters themselves. His curt style went on to influence contemporaries such as JD Salinger, as well as currently-popular writers such as Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club).

The bulls themselves symbolize something that is familiar but uncontrollable, mirroring Jake's, Robert's Michael's, and Bill's desire for Lady Ashley, as well as ostracism of Robert, both for his attitude and behavior and the other characters' subtle and not-so-subtle anti-semitism.

The book's language and tone can seem a bit dated (as well as misogynistic) today, especially the treatment of Brett (Lady Ashley) as a distant, almost non-human) object of desire, but it's also easy to see how it resonated so well with young people.

Adding to the allure was Hemingway's unassailable street cred. He had been shot eleven times, in seven different parts of his body, and had survived more than one plane crash, including an incedent in which a plane crashed into his truck. He even survived several of his own suicide attempts.

The world evoked by The Sun Also Rises, a mysterious yet welcoming Mediterranean, has lured travelers to Pamplona ever since, and each year tourists are injured while trying to get a little too close to the bulls. Since the novel's publication, 13 people have been killed during el encierro.