Who Killed Benny Paret Analysis

Our society is not what it once was. The number one cause of changes in the world is society. People have become rebellious toward anything that is not exactly what they believe. People keep changing everything as if they are changing their socks. Change is always happening and people do not seem to notice. If people do not change their habits, then society will soon become heartless. The lack of sympathy, concern, and security are three main factors that have led to a divided and sometimes apathetic society.

Most people around the world lack sympathy. Norman Cousins, the author of “Who Killed Benny Paret?” talks about how people become blind to their own actions. The author says, “The time the crowd comes alive is when a man is hit so hard over the heart of the head, when his mouthpiece flies out, when the

blood squirts out of his nose or eyes, when he wobbles under the attack and his pursuer continues to smash at him with pole-axe impact” (342). At the end of the match, the crowd wants to see a man lying in a pool of blood on the mat. The crowd does not think about how fights can affect someone’s life. Norman also says, “I asked Mr. Jacobs if he was speaking literally when he said people came out to see the killer. ‘They don’t come out to see a tea party,’ he said evenly. ‘They come out to see the knockout. They come out to see a man hurt. If they think anything else, they’re kidding themselves’” (341). Crowds influence situations by cheering anytime a fighter gets knocked out.
Society is now heartless and even a little self centered.

Martin Gansberg, who wrote “Thirty-Eight Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call the Police,” talks about how people reacted about not contacting police after a girl was attacked three times. Martin says, “The man explained that he had called the police after much deliberation. He had phoned a friend in Nassau County for advice, and then he had crossed the roof of the building to the apartment of the elderly woman to get her to make the call. ‘I didn’t want to get involved,’ he sheepishly told police” (122). His actions show that the one man who wanted to call the authorities was too scared to call. Norman Cousins talks about how heartless society is when it comes to death. Cousins says, “A young man by the name of Benny Paret was killed in the ring. The killing was seen by millions; it was on television. In the twelfth round, he was hit hard in the head several times, went down, was counted out, and never came out of the coma” (341). Even though it may shock people, it does not stop people from attending the next fight. The lack of concern people have towards death is a cause of the apathetic society we live

in.
The enormous lack of security has led to today’s society. Martin Gansberg’s essay talks about thirty-eight people who witnessed a murder and did not contact the authorities because they were afraid of what might happen. A couple in Gansberg’s story says the reason they decided not call police is, “Frankly, we were afraid” (122). They feared they were getting involved in something they had no business in. Along with the other witnesses, they felt vulnerable. Once people start to feel vulnerable, they begin to rebel. In “Who Killed Benny Paret?” Cousins discusses how people rebel when they do not get their way. In boxing, “The referee who stops a fight too soon from the crowd’s viewpoint can expect to be booed. The crowd wants the knockout; it wants to see a man stretched out on the canvas. This is the supreme moment in boxing,” (341). If society cared about others, there would be more security and less rebellions.
Major events shock people, but only for a short time. No matter how many people act like an event affects them, it will not likely change their ways. A lack of security causes people to feel vulnerable and rebel, a lack of responsibility causes people to become blind to their actions and how they influence situations, and a lack of concern causes people to become emotionless. Our now apathetic and sometimes discontent society is due to changes and if people do not change their ways, then our society will continue to deteriorate.