Juxtaposition

On page 221, Hemingway has a strange way of depicting the bull-fight. "It was as though he were rocking the bull to sleep." How can you go to a bull-fight and think of the word sleep? Bull-fights are all about excitement and energy and danger! The author portrays a picture of Romero doing his job so perfectly that the bull actually becomes tired. Bulls are aggressive animals and want to kill. The statement adds humor to the novel. Readers who have ever attended a bull-fight will soon realize that it is contrasting. Bull-fighting and sleeping would never go together!