Benny “the Kid” Paret was a much-respected boxer who had a particularly flavorful and tension filled rivalry with Emile Griffith. They had a hypnotic dynamic that would captivate any audience in which none of the two ever had the upper hand- the advantage would always shift- alternating between Griffith being on top and then a single fight later, however, Paret would be victorious. However, in a devastating match in which tension was at an all-time high because Paret accused Griffith of being a “fag” (an accusation that could be detrimental to Griffith’s career), Griffith took Paret’s life in the ring in an act of frenzied rage. Mailer illustrates Paret as an adored prey, Griffith as an awe inspiring beast, and the audience as twisted entranced spectators to make the reader feel guilty for enjoying the brutal desolation of a man’s life. Paret is viewed as the favored competitor, but is then portrayed as weak and as hunted prey which causes the reader to feel confliction and guilt. Mailer initially casts Paret in a positive light to make him seem like the favored competitor which makes the effect of his death much greater. Paret is seen as a “champion” and a “proud fighter” who has earned his reputation as a noteworthy boxer through his “unusual ability to take a punch.” Even after long rounds of taking what would seem to be a beating, Paret is told to always “still be bouncing.” Using words with positive connotations to describe Paret gives the reader an initial sense that he is the “good guy.” It causes the reader to take an initial liking to him which later would enhance the effect on the reader’s guilt when he was killed. Paret is portrayed as a weak prey in order to make him seem like a doomed target. While Paret and Griffith were in the ring, at one point he “took three disgusted steps” in which he showed his “hindquarters” Hindquarters is a word that would normally be used to describe animals, which makes Paret appear as a pursued rabbit might has its back turned from a predator. Mailer changes the initial illustration of Paret from hero to weakened prey in order to conflict the reader’s existing opinion of Paret. The reader becomes confused by the fact that the depiction of Paret rapidly transitions from adored champion to a weak fighter who is beginning to “wilt. “His efforts to “duck away,” were of course futile, and it was not long until Paret “had got trapped in a corner.” The way that Mailer makes Paret seem that he is trying to run away provides a contradiction to what the reader already knows about Paret. The reader’s first thought was that Paret was a proud champion who never stopped bouncing, but now, Paret seemed like a weak, hopeless animal cowering beneath a greater beast. Even though Paret seems weak, the reader can sympathize for Paret as one might for a rabbit that is about to be devoured by a wolf. Mailer describes Paret’s death in a vivid and almost overly dramatic way which highlights the fall of the great champion Paret. He is seen as a great ship going down as his “limbs descended beneath him “and