Masculinity In Ernest Hemingway's Raging Bull

What makes a man a man, and how does a man keep his alpha role? A male’s masculinity is elusive as it is undefinable throughout the changing ages of society and the cultures within. It is a tedious societal process that is taught to boys from a young age that to be a man, they need to act the part of one. Whether it be through the way how they dress to the toys they play with as children, men have been placed into a role that separates them not only from their female counterparts but from society as a whole. To reinforce this image of masculinity, aggression plays on a frontal defensive mechanism to ensure distance from a male’s emotional identity, but also putting a boundary around themselves where the assistance needed to have a normal and …show more content…
Jake’s masculinity is a shield and a reason to show aggression without care and expecting it to be accepted in his culture. Even when dealing with his family, Jake willingly and without thought actively brings his boxing matches home on a mental level that sucks the joy and peace from every environment he is in and turning it volatile and full of turmoil. Jake effectively ruins his relationship in every form and degrades his image through his violence in an attempt to preserve his image. The truth is that Jake is not confident in keeping his masculinity as shown in his fights with his wives and his distrust of his family. Rather, he takes action by his own means and destroys what he has to keep this image of his ego alive and to ensure his respect. His jealousy and paranoia has taken control over his life and when threatened, he lashes out to order to contain the problem and fix it in his manner, boxing it down. Jake’s masculinity is a constant threat more so than the people and the situations he fears, but a threat to his life and his mentality as a whole that will finally consume him and leave a husk of the man he once