"All for Sport, All for Pleasure"

The fact that the primary characters of the novel, minus Cohn, are war veterans has not been ignored in our class's discussion. In fact, we were recently discussing the different reactions to the bull fighting among the characters. What I have noticed in this novel is that up until these bull fights begin there is not much violence or discussion of violence (even war violence) in the novel. Considering the background of the characters, as well as the novel being labeled as a "masculine" novel, one would think that there would be a little more violence. I, at least, was a bit surprised to find that the novel was centered mostly around romance, feelings, and affairs as opposed to maybe reminiscence on the war or more "manly" action. However, with that statement I will say that I realized in the reading for this weekend that there seems to be increasingly more violence. There were a few specific points concerning the violence that I found particularly interesting. 

One area where I noticed more blood was in the bull fighting. At first they were not highly detailed; however, they moved from a horse being gored, to people coming too close to comfort (their screams being described by Jake), finally to a man being gored by a bull in the streets: ". . . one shot ahead, caught a man in the running crowd in the back and lifted him in the air." Of course, nothing like a man being gored or trampled has popped up in the novel yet, and while it is certainly worth noting its sudden appearance what I find more interesting about this element is the characters' reactions to it. They seem not to be phased by this blood and gore: "'I didn't see it all. One man was badly cogido.' 'Where?' 'Here'."Jake seems completely casual as he describes the incident, nor is be phased by what he just witnessed. I do not doubt that his numbness to the event is due to his years in the war. Of course, while it is understandable that the characters that were in the war are not necessarily affected by the bull fighting as Cohn is, what is not quiet understandable is Brett's fascination with it. Being a nurse in the war she is obviously not a squeamish woman, yet, Brett seems to, almost, enjoy the bloodshed in the bull fights. For instance, she gladly accepts the bull ear Romero gives her. Personally, I do not care if she loves him or not, why does she feel the need to KEEP the bloody bull ear? However, the bull fighting is not the only violence I wish to point out. The other particular moment of violence I found interesting was when Cohn, the great boxer, finally swung a punch.

All through the novel readers have known that Cohn was an able bodied boxer. However, he is has never proven his boxing skills. Yet, Cohn finally snaps and when he does, he knocks Jake out cold easily: "He hit me and I sat down on the pavement." He does not stop with Jake though, he goes to find Romero and Brett; once he finds them, Cohn beats Romero almost mercilessly for him moving in on Brett.  

Now, I made all of those points mostly to pose a few questions. I began to wonder, as I read, why the violence has suddenly shown up in the novel. Why has Cohn gone from hating boxing to beating a man to a pulp? Why do the characters, particularly Brett, find themselves fascinated or accepting of the violence in the bull-fights? Why does the violence subside just as quickly as it approached? 

I found the line, "All for sport, all for pleasure," rather interesting, especially with all of the rising violence and was wondering what you all thought. Is the violence simply a way that the characters feel alive? Is the violence important to the novel on a larger scale perhaps? Then finally, what do you make of the line: "All for sport, all for pleasure"?