User:JBrown/sandbox: Difference between revisions

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The boxing ring also enacts, and thus mostly contains, another conflict that Mailer saw as fundamental to American culture of ''our time'', one between blacks and whites (''Time'' x). Again, the challenge is to foreground and disrupt familiar stereotypical dichotomies: between whites, who are civilized, sophisticated, cerebral, literate, and literary; and blacks, who are primitive, illiterate, attuned to the pleasures of the body, and fluent in its language (''Advertisements'' 341). James Baldwin (and many others) complained about Mailer’s tendency to see “''us as goddam romantic black symbols''” (''Weatherby'' 78). But Mailer saw everyone and everything symbolically. For Patterson vs. Liston, therefore, read Art vs. Magic, Love vs. Sex, God vs. the Devil.

'''HEMINGWAY AND ALI: EXISTENTIAL EGO''' “I think there is a wonderful study to be made about the similarities between Ernest Hemingway and Muhammad Ali,” Mailer told Michael Lennon in 1980, making a start himself. Both men, he argued, “''come out of that same American urgency to be the only planet in existence''. ''To be the sun''”—and at the heart of each was a dialectical struggle that was somehow both personal and national (''Pontifications'' 161–162). The fact that “''the mightiest victim of injustice in America''” was also “the mightiest narcissist in the land,” he observed of Ali in 1971, proved that “''the twentieth century was nothing if not a tangle of opposition''” (''Existential'' 28).

'''HEMINGWAY AND ALI: EXISTENTIAL EGO''' “I think there is a wonderful study to be made about the similarities between Ernest Hemingway and Muhammad Ali,” Mailer told Michael Lennon in 1980, making a start himself. Both men, he argued, “''come out of that same American urgency to be the only planet in existence''. ''To be the sun''”—and at the heart of each was a dialectical struggle that was somehow both personal and national (''Pontifications'' 161–162). The fact that “''the mightiest victim of injustice in America''” was also “the mightiest narcissist in the land,” he observed of Ali in 1971, proved that “''the twentieth century was nothing if not a tangle of opposition''” (''Existential'' 28). “''Ego''” (later renamed “''King of the Hill''”), an account of Ali’s comeback fight against Joe Frazier, is not only about a “''dialogue between bodies''” (''Norman'' 19) but about a dialogue within Ali himself. For Mailer, the triumph of the fight’s end is that Ali has somehow managed to reconcile his two ''sides''—he could dance, displaying ''exquisite'' grace, figured as black and feminine (86)—but he could also ''stand'', revealing, for the first time, qualities of endurance to ''moral and physical torture'', figured as white and masculine (93).

“''~~Ego~~''” ~~(later renamed “~~''~~King of the Hill~~''”), an account of Ali’s ~~comeback fight against Joe Frazier~~, is ~~not only about~~ a “''~~dialogue between bodies~~''” (''~~Norman~~'' 19) ~~but about a dialogue within Ali himself~~. ~~For~~ Mailer, the ~~triumph~~ of the ~~fight’s end is that Ali has somehow managed to reconcile his two~~ ''~~sides~~''~~—he could dance~~, ~~displaying~~ ''~~exquisite~~'' ~~grace~~, ~~figured as black and feminine~~ (86)~~—but he could also~~ ''~~stand~~'', ~~revealing~~, for the ~~first time~~, ~~qualities~~ of ~~endurance~~ to ''~~moral and physical torture~~'', ~~figured~~ as ~~white~~ and ~~masculine (93)~~.

Troublesome ''contradictions'' also “''[fall] away''” in ''The Fight'' (1974), an account of Ali’s “''Rumble in the Jungle''” with George Foreman. Once again, the issue is survival as much as victory. Mailer models his essay on Hazlitt’s 1821 piece of the same name. As Hazlitt’s narrator-protagonist begins by announcing his desire to escape the sentimental complications of daily life, Mailer declares his disappointing love affair with himself. As Hazlitt travels companionably to the heart of the country, discussing Cobbett and Rousseau en route, Mailer flies Pan Am to Conrad’s “''Heart of Darkness''” in Vachel Lindsay’s “''Congo'',” and on the return journey, plays dice with the air stewardess. Both men experience a “''restoration of being''” through journeys to watch boxing (''The Fight'' 239). But while Hazlitt ends by simply acknowledging the ephemeral achievement of both the boxing match and his own essay, Mailer wants more—nothing less, in fact, than the restoration of the title “''champ among writers''” (33). The book plays with various versions of magical thinking, but all are designed to the same end: “''the powers of regeneration in an artist''” (162). Ali works magic on Mailer by showing him that regeneration is possible; and set against his example is that of Hemingway, whose suicide fourteen years earlier haunts the book (123, 162). Ali, in other words, is both Hemingway and a kind of anti-Hemingway.

'''BOXING WITH HEMINGWAY'''

So what does it mean to box with another writer? For Hemingway, at least in his youth, the analogy expressed the inevitability of succession. Once a great boxer or writer had lost his crown, there was no reclaiming it. The old must give way to the new. So in 1924 he complained to Ezra Pound that the writers Ford Madox Ford was selecting for transatlantic review were the literary equivalents of Great White Hope Jim Jeffries, dragged out of retirement for one last fight: “''The thing to do with Ford is to kill him.... I am fond of Ford. This ain’t personal. It’s literary''” (''Ernest'' 116). Killing is also what Hemingway envisaged for Sherwood Anderson, reimagined as the has-been heavyweight Ole Andreson in “''The Killers''”; “''a sock on the jaw''” was not enough to settle the score.In an early draft of the story, the fighter was called Nerone; Hemingway changed the name to Anderson and then, finally, to Andreson.

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 The boxing ring also enacts, and thus mostly contains, another conflict that Mailer saw as fundamental to American culture of ''our time'', one between blacks and whites (''Time'' x). Again, the challenge is to foreground and disrupt familiar stereotypical dichotomies: between whites, who are civilized, sophisticated, cerebral, literate, and literary; and blacks, who are primitive, illiterate, attuned to the pleasures of the body, and fluent in its language (''Advertisements'' 341). James Baldwin (and many others) complained about Mailer’s tendency to see “''us as goddam romantic black symbols''” (''Weatherby'' 78). But Mailer saw everyone and everything symbolically. For Patterson vs. Liston, therefore, read Art vs. Magic, Love vs. Sex, God vs. the Devil.
-'''HEMINGWAY AND ALI: EXISTENTIAL EGO''' “I think there is a wonderful study to be made about the similarities between Ernest Hemingway and Muhammad Ali,” Mailer told Michael Lennon in 1980, making a start himself. Both men, he argued, “''come out of that same American urgency to be the only planet in existence''. ''To be the sun''”—and at the heart of each was a dialectical struggle that was somehow both personal and national (''Pontifications'' 161–162). The fact that “''the mightiest victim of injustice in America''” was also “the mightiest narcissist in the land,” he observed of Ali in 1971, proved that “''the twentieth century was nothing if not a tangle of opposition''” (''Existential'' 28).
+'''HEMINGWAY AND ALI: EXISTENTIAL EGO''' “I think there is a wonderful study to be made about the similarities between Ernest Hemingway and Muhammad Ali,” Mailer told Michael Lennon in 1980, making a start himself. Both men, he argued, “''come out of that same American urgency to be the only planet in existence''. ''To be the sun''”—and at the heart of each was a dialectical struggle that was somehow both personal and national (''Pontifications'' 161–162). The fact that “''the mightiest victim of injustice in America''” was also “the mightiest narcissist in the land,” he observed of Ali in 1971, proved that “''the twentieth century was nothing if not a tangle of opposition''” (''Existential'' 28). “''Ego''” (later renamed “''King of the Hill''”), an account of Ali’s comeback fight against Joe Frazier, is not only about a “''dialogue between bodies''” (''Norman'' 19) but about a dialogue within Ali himself. For Mailer, the triumph of the fight’s end is that Ali has somehow managed to reconcile his two ''sides''—he could dance, displaying ''exquisite'' grace, figured as black and feminine (86)—but he could also ''stand'', revealing, for the first time, qualities of endurance to ''moral and physical torture'', figured as white and masculine (93).
-“''Ego''” (later renamed “''King of the Hill''”), an account of Ali’s comeback fight against Joe Frazier, is not only about a “''dialogue between bodies''” (''Norman'' 19) but about a dialogue within Ali himself. For Mailer, the triumph of the fight’s end is that Ali has somehow managed to reconcile his two ''sides''—he could dance, displaying ''exquisite'' grace, figured as black and feminine (86)—but he could also ''stand'', revealing, for the first time, qualities of endurance to ''moral and physical torture'', figured as white and masculine (93).
+Troublesome ''contradictions'' also “''[fall] away''” in ''The Fight'' (1974), an account of Ali’s “''Rumble in the Jungle''” with George Foreman. Once again, the issue is survival as much as victory. Mailer models his essay on Hazlitt’s 1821 piece of the same name. As Hazlitt’s narrator-protagonist begins by announcing his desire to escape the sentimental complications of daily life, Mailer declares his disappointing love affair with himself. As Hazlitt travels companionably to the heart of the country, discussing Cobbett and Rousseau en route, Mailer flies Pan Am to Conrad’s “''Heart of Darkness''” in Vachel Lindsay’s “''Congo'',” and on the return journey, plays dice with the air stewardess. Both men experience a “''restoration of being''” through journeys to watch boxing (''The Fight'' 239). But while Hazlitt ends by simply acknowledging the ephemeral achievement of both the boxing match and his own essay, Mailer wants more—nothing less, in fact, than the restoration of the title “''champ among writers''” (33). The book plays with various versions of magical thinking, but all are designed to the same end: “''the powers of regeneration in an artist''” (162). Ali works magic on Mailer by showing him that regeneration is possible; and set against his example is that of Hemingway, whose suicide fourteen years earlier haunts the book (123, 162). Ali, in other words, is both Hemingway and a kind of anti-Hemingway.
+'''BOXING WITH HEMINGWAY'''
+So what does it mean to box with another writer? For Hemingway, at least in his youth, the analogy expressed the inevitability of succession. Once a great boxer or writer had lost his crown, there was no reclaiming it. The old must give way to the new. So in 1924 he complained to Ezra Pound that the writers Ford Madox Ford was selecting for transatlantic review were the literary equivalents of Great White Hope Jim Jeffries, dragged out of retirement for one last fight: “''The thing to do with Ford is to kill him.... I am fond of Ford. This ain’t personal. It’s literary''” (''Ernest'' 116). Killing is also what Hemingway envisaged for Sherwood Anderson, reimagined as the has-been heavyweight Ole Andreson in “''The Killers''”; “''a sock on the jaw''” was not enough to settle the score.In an early draft of the story, the fighter was called Nerone; Hemingway changed the name to Anderson and then, finally, to Andreson.