How is bull-fighting represented and why is it a major theme in The Sun Also Rises?

Bull-fighting could be considered the ultra-macho sport (Hemingway certainly seems to think so, along with boxing), and the characters of The Sun Also Rises all spend most of their time on manly pursuits. The men constantly pursue their various sexual interests, and they find that bull-fighting is also a great lure of women as well. The fights in Pamploma seem to bring out the worst traits in them all--men and women--and the animals (and the matadors) themselves become a symbol of power and virility. Jake may not be able to satisfy women, particularly Lady Ashley, but the fights make him feel more like a man--and arouse Brett as well.

What symbolic possibilities does the bullfighting passage in The Sun Also Rises offer, and how does it develop the novel's main themes and Hemingway's idea of a hero?

The bullfighting passage in The Sun Also Rises clearly has symbolic possibilities. For Hemingway, bullfighting is both an art form and an approach to life, perhaps the best approach he can imagine. The bullfight is essentially tragic, as life is, and the matador approaches this tragedy with courage and grace.

It is no accident that Romero, the young matador, is the most idealized figure in the novel: pure, honorable, and beautiful. Hemingway also passes moral judgment on the characters as he describes how they react to the bullfighting. Jake's heroism is confirmed, as he is the only character who shows true afición, understanding and appreciating the spirit of the contest just as the Spanish characters do.

Meanwhile, Robert Cohn's boredom and indifference show his essential shallowness, and Brett Ashley's exploitation of the sexual opportunities the situation affords demonstrates her hedonism. If the bullfighting passage does not advance the plot, it clearly does contribute to the development of character and of the novel's major themes: authenticity and the most courageous and graceful way to face the tragedy of life.