The Death Of Benny Paret Analysis

The fight between Benny Paret and Emile Griffith on March 24, 1962 was a major event in the history of boxing. Paret was one of the few to be killed in the ring. In “The Death of Benny Paret” by Norman Mailer, Mailer portrays Paret as a hero that did not deserve what happened, and Griffith as a malicious villain through the use of reverent tone, animalistic diction, and violent imagery. This creates adoration and sympathy for Paret, and a hatred towards Griffith.
Mailer forms the reader’s respect for Paret with his use of an admiring tone to supply background information on Paret. In the first sentence, Mailer states that Paret was “a proud club fighter who had become welterweight champion because of his unusual ability to take a punch.” This

makes the reader form a respect for Paret and feel that he is very skilled at what he does. People with the title of “champion” are often talented or have worked hard for that title, and the general public will usually form a favoritism towards people that are hardworking and/or talented. Later in the first paragraph, Mailer says that “His style of fighting was to take three punches to the head in order to give back two,” and that “at the end of ten rounds, he would still be bouncing, his opponent would have a headache.” This further deepens the respect the reader has towards Paret. Anyone that can take more punches than his opponent and still fair better than them must be highly skilled. This makes the reader feel that Paret deserves the title of champion. But, in the last sentence, Mailer shifts his tone from respectful to gloomy, foreshadowing the events to come.
Mailer’s portrayal of Griffith as a villain through savage diction and violent imagery makes the reader feel a hatred towards Griffith, and that he intended to harm Paret.

When Mailer describes how Paret was “trapped” in a corner, he states that “Griffith was in like a cat ready to rip the life out of a huge boxed rat.” This makes Griffith sound like a predator that was waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack. The specific phrase “rip the life out of” shows that Griffith really wanted to harm, or even kill, Paret. This evokes many emotions in the reader, particularly an anger towards Griffith. Then, Mailer compares the eighteen punches that Griffith throws to “a piston rod which has broken through the crankcase, or like a baseball bat demolishing a pumpkin.” Griffith’s punches were very fast, very hard, and out-of-control. Griffith is still being portrayed as a lust filled animal with its only goal being to “demolish” Paret. This makes the reader feel some sympathy towards Paret that he had to go through this barrage of punches. This also makes the reader feel even more hatred towards Griffith, because of the fact that he kept punching Paret over and over again. At the end of the paragraph, Mailer says that “If he had been able to break loose from his handlers and the referee, he would have jumped Paret to the floor and whaled on him there.” Once again, Griffith is portrayed as a crazed animal that wants nothing but to attack Paret. This, along with the other

previously stated quotes, bring out a large amount of enmity towards Griffith in the reader. Also, an utter lack of background of Griffith give the reader only Griffith’s actions during the fight to base their opinion on. This makes it seem that Mailer really wanted the reader to form a negative opinion towards Griffith.
In his last paragraph, Mailer arouses more feelings sympathy for Paret when he uses melancholy imagery to describe Paret’s death. Mailer compares Paret to a sinking ship, saying that “his limbs descended beneath him, and he sank slowly to the floor. He went down more slowly than any fighter had ever gone down, he went down like a large ship which turns on end and slides second by second into its grave.” This makes Paret’s death seem like it was long and drawn-out. This could also be an allusion to the RMS Titanic, in which the sinking of the ship was much unexpected, similar to Paret’s unexpected death. This makes the reader feel more sympathy for Paret in the fact that he didn’t deserve a long death, let alone that he didn’t deserve to die at all.
Mailer easily manipulates the reader’s feelings towards Paret and Griffith through his use of reverent tone, savage diction, and violent imagery. The reader forms a respect for Paret in his background, a hatred towards Griffith in his actions during the fight, and a sympathetic feeling for Paret in the events that surround his death.