In Our Time

Chapter XIII

Summary

The first-person narrator hears the music coming down the street. Maera sees Luis among them. He is dancing along with the crowd, drunk. Maera tells the narrator to go get him. He tries to get Luis to come with him, because Luis has to fight bulls in the afternoon, but he would not listen. He tells the narrator to leave him alone because the narrator is not his father. Back at the hotel, Maera is disgusted that the narrator did not bring him back. The narrator calls Luis an "ignorant Mexican savage." Maera asks who will kill Luis's bulls. The narrator guesses that he and Maera will. Maera agrees, bitterly.

Commentary

In Luis, we see masculinity going wild. He will not stop dancing, drinking, and partying, even though he has to fight bulls in the afternoon. The other men at least show a disciplined masculinity.