# Chapter XIII explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Ernest Hemingway.

## What happens

The narrator and Maera witness Luis dancing drunkenly in the street with a procession. The narrator tries to bring him back to the hotel, but Luis refuses. Maera expresses disgust and resignation about having to kill the bulls for Luis and others like him.

## Themes in this chapter

### Masculinity and Sexual Anxiety

Maera's contempt for Luis's drunken, undisciplined behavior reflects anxieties about masculine duty and performance in the bullring.

### The Absurdity of Authority and Religion

The ritualistic dancing and music, combined with Luis's defiance, suggest a mocking of traditional authority and the absurdity of the bullfight's ceremonial order.

## Character check-ins

### Maera

Observes Luis from the balcony, expresses disgust and resignation about killing bulls for drunkards and savages.

### Luis

Drunk and dancing in the street, ignores the narrator's attempts to bring him back before the bullfight.

### Unknown

The first-person narrator who tries to retrieve Luis and discusses the situation with Maera.

## Key lines

> I heard the drums coming down the street and then the fifes and the pipes and then they came around the corner, all dancing.

The narrator hears a musical procession approaching and sees the dancers turn the corner.

_Sets the scene of the festive, chaotic street atmosphere._

> He didn't listen to me, he was listening so hard for the music to start.

Luis ignored the narrator because he was intently focused on the music.

_Highlights Luis's drunken absorption in the dance._

> Yes, we, said Maera. We kill the savage's bulls, and the drunkard's bulls, and the riau-riau dancer's bulls. Yes. We kill them. We kill them all right. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Maera bitterly acknowledges that he and the narrator will have to kill the bulls for all kinds of irresponsible men.

_Expresses Maera's resentment and sense of duty._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_15_se/chapters/chapter-xiii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_15_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_15_se/chapters