The death of benny paret norman mailer tone

The infamous "Brawl for It All" between Benny Paret and Emile Griffith on March 24, 1962, at the Fifth Avenue Gym in New York City. Norman Mailer's account of the event, "The Fight," is a classic of sports writing and a masterclass in capturing the tone and atmosphere of a brutal and tragic fight.

Here's a passage that sets the tone:

"The crowd was a mixture of the old and the new, the rich and the poor, the high and the low, the black and the white, the Puerto Rican and the American, the Jew and the Gentile, the Catholic and the Protestant, the agnostic and the believer. It was a crowd that had come to witness a fight, but it was also a crowd that had come to witness something more, something that would be remembered for a long time, something that would be talked about for years to come."

Mailer's tone is one of gritty realism, capturing the raw energy and brutality of the fight. He describes the fighters as "two men who had been trained to kill, two men who had been trained to destroy, two men who had been trained to be the best, two men who had been trained to be the greatest."

As the fight unfolds, Mailer's prose becomes more frenetic and intense, capturing the chaos and violence of the bout:

"The crowd was on its feet, screaming and shouting, as the two men fought on, their faces twisted with pain and exhaustion, their bodies battered and bruised. The air was thick with sweat and blood, the smell of the ring was heavy with the stench of defeat, and the sound of the crowd was like a never-ending roar, a roar that seemed to shake the very foundations of the building."

But beneath the surface of the fight, Mailer senses a deeper tragedy unfolding. He writes about the psychological toll the fight takes on both fighters, particularly Paret, who is haunted by the fear of losing and the shame of defeat:

"Paret was a man who had been destroyed by his own fears, a man who had been consumed by his own doubts, a man who had been crushed by his own insecurities. He was a man who had been driven to the brink of madness by the pressure of the fight, a man who had been pushed to the edge of despair by the fear of losing."

The tone of Mailer's account is one of stark realism, unflinching in its portrayal of the brutality and tragedy of the fight. He captures the raw emotion and intensity of the event, but also the deeper psychological and emotional toll it takes on the fighters. The result is a masterpiece of sports writing that continues to be celebrated and studied to this day.