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Ernest and Pauline Hemingway, Paris, 1927

"Fifty Grand" is a short story by Ernest Hemingway. It was first published in The Atlantic Monthly in 1927, and it appeared later that year in Hemingway's short story collection Men Without Women.

"Fifty Grand" tells the story of Jack Brennan as he trains for and boxes in his fight with challenger Jimmy Walcott. The first part of the story takes place in New Jersey, the second in New York City. It shows Hemingway's love for and knowledge of boxing, and his use of omission and understatement.

Plot

[edit]

Jack Brennan, the current welterweight champion, is at Danny Hogan's New Jersey training camp (called the "health farm" throughout the story) struggling to get in shape for his upcoming fight with favorite Jimmy Walcott. His trainer and friend Jerry Doyle is at the camp with him, and it is Doyle who narrates the story. Jack is not optimistic about the fight and does not adjust to life at the health farm; "He didn't like being away from his wife and the kids and he was sore and grouchy most of the time," Doyle reports.[1] Hogan and Doyle talk briefly about racehorses, and when they ask Jack whether he bets on them, Jack replies that he stopped because he lost money.

Jack asks Doyle what he thinks of the shape he is in. Doyle tries to stall, saying: "Well, you can't tell ... You got a week to get around into form," but Jack asks for a straight answer. Doyle finally tells him, "You're not right," at which point Jack confides that he has been unable to sleep, despite being tired, because he misses his wife. Hogan, seeing Jack's condition a few days later, tells Doyle that Jack has no chance against Walcott. Doyle replies, "Well ... everybody's got to get it sometime."[1]

The day before the fight, Jack lists the things that concern him when he can not sleep: "I worry about property I got up in the Bronx, I worry about property I got in Florida. I worry about the kids. I worry about the wife. Sometimes I think about fights."[1] For the rest of the day Jack is in a foul mood as he tries to loosen up and run through a few rounds of shadowboxing, but even then he does not look good. Jack cannot break a sweat jumping rope and stops working for the day.

That afternoon John Collins, Jack's manager, drives to the health farm with two well-dressed men named Steinfelt and Morgan. They go with Doyle to Jack's room and find him sleeping, but John wakes him up and asks Doyle to leave and tell Hogan the three visitors "want to see him in about half an hour."[1] Hogan tells Doyle that Steinfelt and Morgan are "wise guys" who own a pool-room, describing Steinfelt as a "big operator". Doyle and Hogan wait in the office, knowing the men do not want to be interrupted, until half an hour has elapsed. When they return to Jack's room, Steinfelt proposes having a drink. John, Steinfelt, Morgan, and Hogan all have several drinks; while Jack and Doyle only have one each. When John suggests Jack have another drink, he refuses – saying "I never liked to go to these wakes". The visitors leave. Jack remains quiet through the rest of the day. Later that evening, he drinks heavily and suggests Doyle put money on Walcott, confiding that he himself has bet "fifty grand" on the opposing boxer. He reassures himself of this action's morality, saying, "It ain't crooked. How can I beat him? Why not make money on it?"[1] Jack eventually passes out and Doyle puts him to bed.

Jack and Doyle make the journey to New York City the next morning, during which Jack is stingy with his money. After weighing in, Jack goes with Doyle to the hotel room the two are sharing; though Doyle's brother-in-law lives in the area, Jack wants to get his money's worth out of the double room and asks him to stay. The two play cribbage and, when John comes, they continue playing until Jack has won four and a half dollars. Before dinner, he says they should play another round to decide who will pay for dinner. The cribbage continues after dinner, with Jack winning another two and a half dollars, until the time comes to go to Madison Square Garden.

Entering the ring at the Garden, Jack meets Walcott's cheerful words with cranky abruptness. The fight begins. Doyle reports, "There wasn't anybody ever boxed better than Jack,"[1] and the fight goes well for Jack for several rounds as his left fist repeatedly connects with Walcott's face. By the seventh round, Jack's left arm gets heavy and Walcott begins to gain the upper hand as he pummels Jack's torso. After the eleventh round John Collins tells Jack the fight will go to Walcott, but Jack says he thinks he can last through the twelfth round and goes to meet Walcott and "finish it off right to please himself." Walcott backs Jack up against the ropes and delivers a very low blow; Jack, in obvious pain, stays standing–"if he went down, there go fifty thousand bucks" because he would win on a foul–and tells the referee not to call the foul because it must have been an accident. He walks toward the dumbfounded Walcott and begins swinging, landing several body punches before hitting his opponent twice below the belt. Walcott falls and wins the match on a foul.

Back in the dressing room, Jack comments, "It's funny how fast you can think when it means that much money." John says, "You're some boy, Jack." "No," Jack replies. "It was nothing."[1]

Background and publication history

[edit]

Story

[edit]

Years before writing "Fifty Grand", Hemingway wrote a boxing story which appeared in the April 1916 edition of Oak Park High School's literary magazine Tabula. This story, called "A Matter of Colour", was more obviously comical than "Fifty Grand", but the two bear several similarities, such as a non-protagonist narrator and a "trickster out-tricked" theme.[2] Though authors today seldom write about boxing, stories like "Fifty Grand" were common and popular in the late 19th and early 20th century. For example, George Bernard Shaw's Cashel Byron's Profession, written in 1882 but not popular until about 20 years later, featured a prizefighter as its protagonist (though Shaw said the fight scenes in the novel were supposed to turn the public away from boxing). Jack London's "A Piece of Steak" was published in the Saturday Evening Post in November 1909. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle also wrote several stories about boxing, such as Rodney Stone and The Croxley Master, and made his famous Sherlock Holmes an amateur boxer. Octavus Roy Cohen's "Last Blow", published on 2 October 1926 issue of Colliers,[1][permanent dead link] appeared the year before "Fifty Grand" and P. G. Wodehouse's "The Debut of Battling Billson" found a place in both Strand and Cosmopolitan in 1923, being published on both sides of the Atlantic. "Fifty Grand" thus fit into an established genre.

Weeks writes, "Once The Sun Also Rises was sent off to the publisher, Hemingway wrote in his notebook in early 1926 that he wanted to write short stories 'for four or five months,'" and "Fifty Grand" was one of the results.[2] In its original version, "Fifty Grand" opened with Jack answering a question about how he beat Benny Leonard. Jack says, "Well you see Benny's an awful smart boxer. All the time he's in there he's thinking and all the time he's thinking I was hitting him,"[3] and the subsequent two and a half pages led into the story as it now exists. F. Scott Fitzgerald had urged Hemingway to submit "Fifty Grand" for publication, but the editor at Scribner's requested that Hemingway shorten the story.[4] Hemingway, unable to remove anything from the story, allowed writer Manuel Komroff to cut it for him, but found his efforts unsatisfactory.[4] The story finally appeared in the July 1927 issue of The Atlantic Monthly, under Ellery Sedgwick's owner-editorship, after Fitzgerald persuaded Hemingway to remove the first three pages, arguing that the Britton-Leonard fight they alluded to was too well known.[4] Hemingway later resented Fitzgerald for this advice and scrawled on one of the typescripts of "Fifty Grand": "1st 3 pages of story mutilated by Scott Fitzgerald with his [undecipherable]."[4]

Inspirations

[edit]
Jack Britton

Many scholars have searched for the inspiration behind this story in actual boxing matches Hemingway would have known of or attended. According to Philip G. and Rosemary R. Davies, Hemingway seems to have based the story on the 1 November 1922 welterweight championship fight between Jack Britton and Mickey Walker. Though Hemingway was traveling from Istanbul to Paris when the fight took place, "The use of similar or identical names for the characters and the stress on Brennan's age show the resemblance between the short story and actual circumstances", and Hemingway could have gleaned many of these details from newspapers.[5]

James J. Martine disagrees, however, writing that "the fictional Jack Brennan–Jimmy Walcott fight is an amalgamation of at least two real-life bouts", and arguing that Hemingway was simply "presenting the times" by writing of common occurrences such as fouls and attempted fixes, whatever influence the Britton–Walker fight may have had.[3] He offers another possible influence, the Battling Siki–Georges Carpentier light heavyweight championship match of September 24, 1922. This fight, unlike the Britton–Walker bout, ended with a foul when Siki was clearly about to win the fight, an outcome which "started the hundreds of Americans at ringside to shouting 'robber.'"[3] Martine adds, "If a man standing at ringside in a photo of the knockdown is not Hemingway, one critic has offered to eat the New York Times September 26, 1922, p. 14, and the rest of the paper."[3] Ultimately, he concludes, the events of "Fifty Grand" are representative of common events in the 1920s.

Themes and analysis

[edit]

Themes

[edit]

Many critics place Jack among Hemingway's "code heroes", though there is disagreement as to whether or not he adheres to the code entirely. Fenton noted in 1952 that Jack fits the ideals of a professional, showing the ability to think and commitment to and knowledge of his sport. His skill and craftsmanship in the ring stands in stark contrast to the brute strength and crude force employed by the slower, heavier Walcott. Fenton suggests that the story "clarified the relationship between courage and professionalism."[6] Hemingway never mentions courage by name in "Fifty Grand"; "It is apparent, however, that courage is a part of Brennan's behaviour", and that "Thinking ... is what distinguishes the professional."[6] Martine agrees that "Jack is the consummate professional", but offers the opposite reason: "He is a skilled and trained professional who does not have to think. The code relates to grace under pressure, in pain."[3]

Philip G. and Rosemary R. Davies read Jack as a code hero, whose courage is partly obscured by the facts of the Britton–Walker fight on which they believe Hemingway based the story. "Brennan's courage, while real, cannot reverse the impression created by the bulk of the story", they write, unable to find Jack admirable until the final pages.[5] They argue that Hemingway tried to show Jack's courage by giving him motives other than the obvious monetary one—they cite the statement, "His money was all right and now he wanted to finish it off right to please himself. He didn't want to be knocked out", as evidence of Hemingway's attempt—but conclude of Hemingway stories in general, "The code of the hero can be seen most clearly when the courageous action is performed for its own sake."[5]

Cassandre Meunier notes the emphasis Hemingway places on Jack's silence throughout the story. She writes, "The impression is that Jack finds confidence in private places: it is not necessary to explain to anyone what is good for him and his family; just shutting his eyes and cutting himself off from the external world gives him the confidence that his choice is—and eventually was—the right one."[7] As well as a source of confidence, she says, the boxer's "holding tight" in the early parts of the story prepare him for "holding tight" and finishing the fight in the midst of excruciating pain in the final scenes. "One of the features associated with dignity is control over oneself."[7]

Robert P. Weeks, in his essay, found in Jackson J. Benson's collection of critical essays on Hemingway's works, comments on the machine imagery used during the boxing match itself: "During the first eleven rounds Jack boxes doggedly, mechanically ... Jerry also sees Walcott as a mechanism, but of a lower order."[2] The use of this imagery continues until Walcott fouls Jack. Then, "No longer a machine, Jack is alert, analytical, shrewd ... Walcott remains a machine: he's been signaled to deliver a low blow; he's done it; now he stands there baffled as the man he has fouled insists upon fighting on."[2] Weeks sees a great deal of humor in the story, humor which becomes evident when one takes "Fifty Grand" as the descendant of Hemingway's more obviously comical "A Matter of Colour". Even with the humor at both boxers' expense, he concludes that "Jack has done much more than protect his fifty grand; he has, through his quickwittedness and stoicism, prevailed without loss of his self-respect."[2]

The fix

[edit]

Most critics and readers conclude that Jack agrees to lose the fight during his meeting with John Collins, Morgan, and Steinfelt. Earl Rovit believes that Jack "breaks [Hemingway's moral] code in betting against himself."[8] "There is nothing 'unethical'", Martine counters, "about getting some small consideration for participation in the game" in Hemingway's view.[3] James Tackach, on the other hand, argues that Jack did not agree to lose during the meeting with John Collins, Steinfelt, and Morgan. As evidence he cites Jack's assertion, "It ain't crooked. How can I beat him?",[1] the illogicality for Steinfelt and Morgan to pay the underdog to throw the match, and that "If Jack agreed to lose the fight, he would have accepted a flat payment from Steinfelt and Morgan for the loss, and he would not have to risk his own money by laying a bet."[9] It may also be possible that Steinfelt and Morgan also organized for Walcott to throw the match with the low blow, as John reveals "They certainly tried a nice double-cross."

Reception

[edit]
Ernest Hemingway skiing, Switzerland, 1927

Men Without Women was variously received. Cosmopolitan magazine editor-in-chief Ray Long praised "Fifty Grand", calling it, "one of the best short stories that ever came to my hands...the best prize-fight story I ever read...a remarkable piece of realism."[10] However, some critics—among them Wilson Lee Dodd, whose article entitled "Simple Annals of the Callous" appeared in the Saturday Review of Literature—found Hemingway's subjects lacking. Joseph Wood Krutch called the stories in Men Without Women "Sordid little catastrophes" involving "very vulgar people."[11]

Hemingway responded to the less favorable reviews with a poem published in The Little Review in May 1929:

Valentine
(For a Mr. Lee Wilson Dodd and Any of His Friends Who Want It)

Sing a song of critics
pockets full of lye
four and twenty critics
hope that you will die
hope that you will peter out
hope that you will fail
so they can be the first one
be the first to hail
any happy weakening or sign of quick decay.
(All very much alike, weariness too great,
sordid small catastrophes, stack the cards on fate,
very vulgar people, annals of the callous,
dope fiends, soldiers, prostitutes,
men without a gallus)[12]

Hemingway's style, on the other hand, received much acclaim. In the New York Times Book Review, Percy Hutchinson praised him for "language sheered to the bone, colloquial language expended with the utmost frugality; but it is continuous and the effect is one of continuously gathering power."[13] Even Krutch, writing in the Nation in 1927, said of Men Without Women, "It appears to be the most meticulously literal reporting and yet it reproduces dullness without being dull."[13]

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Fifty Grand

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"Fifty Grand" is a by American author , first published in The Atlantic Monthly in July 1927 and later collected in his anthology Men Without Women that October. The narrative, told from the perspective of an unnamed gambler and friend of the protagonist, centers on , an aging champion preparing for a title defense against the rising contender Jimmy Walcott amid financial pressures from his family obligations. The story unfolds in three main sections: Brennan's grueling training at a health farm, where he confides his plan to throw the fight and bet heavily on Walcott at two-to-one odds; the buildup to the match in New York, marked by Brennan's internal conflict and subtle hints of a potential double-cross; and the climactic bout itself, a 15-round affair ending in Brennan's loss, which reveals layers of deception in the gambling and fixing surrounding . Hemingway drew inspiration from real boxing events, including the career of champion and fixed fights like the 1922 bout between and Mickey Walker, infusing the tale with authentic ring lore and dialogue. Through sparse prose and the iceberg principle—where much lies beneath the surface—the story examines Brennan's stoic endurance, the moral ambiguities of sacrifice for loved ones, and the brutal economics of the sport, cementing its place as a seminal work in Hemingway's exploration of masculinity and grace under pressure.

Plot and Narrative

Plot Summary

The story "Fifty Grand" follows , the reigning champion, as he prepares for and participates in a title defense against the challenger Jimmy Walcott. The narrative begins at Danny Hogan's health farm in , where Brennan undergoes rigorous training under his trainer and narrator, . Brennan struggles with and expresses a longing for his wife and two young daughters, noting the toll his career has taken on family time and stating he'd rather be in town with them. During sessions, Brennan demonstrates resilience despite taking hard shots, stoically dismissing pain by saying, "It's all right, kid," after a particularly rough exchange that leaves his mouth bleeding. A companion soldier at the camp attempts to lighten the mood with banter but eventually departs after Brennan grows irritable from the relentless routine and weight-cutting demands, which reduce him to 175 pounds through sweating and dieting. Two gamblers, referred to as "wise boys," visit the training camp and subtly probe Brennan about the possibility of fixing the upcoming fight, but he rebuffs them curtly. Later, in a private conversation with , Brennan reveals that he has placed a $50,000 wager on Walcott to win at 2-to-1 odds, which would yield him a $25,000 profit if the challenger prevails. He confides that the fight is fixed for him to lose, stating matter-of-factly, "I don't feel too good about it," but urges Doyle to place a similar bet: "Get some money on him, Jerry." To conceal his injuries from his family, Brennan arranges to rent a hotel room immediately after the bout rather than returning home right away. Brennan and Doyle travel to for the match at , checking into the Shelby Hotel. At the weigh-in, Brennan comes in at 143 pounds, giving Walcott a four-pound advantage. The fight, scheduled for fifteen rounds, unfolds with Brennan starting strong in the early rounds, using his left jab to repeatedly cut Walcott's face and control the pace, though the challenger lands punishing body shots. By the seventh round, Brennan begins to fade under the cumulative damage, his endurance tested as Walcott presses forward with heavier blows to the midsection. In the thirteenth round, Walcott delivers a low blow that drops Brennan, but he refuses to call for a disqualification, insisting to the , "It's all right," and urging the fight to continue despite the pain. As the bout resumes, Brennan, bloodied and battered, retaliates in the same round by landing a deliberate low blow on Walcott, resulting in his own disqualification. Walcott is declared the winner and new by foul, preserving Brennan's bet since the outcome aligns with his wager on the challenger. Post-fight, a severely injured Brennan is helped from the ring, his face swollen and body bruised, but he remains composed, apologizing to Walcott: "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to foul you." assists him to the reserved hotel room, where Brennan reflects briefly on the evening before resting, content with the financial windfall despite the physical toll and the end of his career.

Narrative Perspective

"Fifty Grand" employs a perspective delivered by , Jack Brennan's trainer and handler, who serves as an intimate yet almost-reliable observer of the events. Doyle's voice is characterized by its tough, , drawing from the gritty of the world, which immerses readers in the while subtly revealing his biases and loyalties. As an insider, Doyle provides a close-up view of Brennan's preparations and the fight, but his perspective inherently limits the reader's knowledge; for instance, he suspects a fix on the bout but never confirms it outright, leaving ambiguities that heighten the story's tension. Hemingway's storytelling relies heavily on over direct description, embodying his where much of the emotional and motivational depth remains unspoken beneath the surface. Conversations in speakeasies, training camps, and during the match are laden with , using terse, slang-infused exchanges to convey character motivations and conflicts indirectly—such as Brennan's understated hints at his weariness or the opponents' taunts that build psychological pressure—rather than through expository narration. This technique engages readers by demanding active interpretation, mirroring the opacity of real-life interactions in the sports underworld. The narrative structure unfolds as a frame story initiated in a , where recounts the tale to an interlocutor, before delving into flashbacks that trace Brennan's training regimen and culminate in the fight itself. This retrospective framing creates a layered buildup of , as Doyle's present-tense reflections interweave with past events, gradually unveiling the double-cross without rushing to resolution and emphasizing the inexorable march toward the bout's outcome.

Background and Development

Publication History

"Fifty Grand" first appeared in The Atlantic Monthly's July 1927 issue, marking one of Ernest Hemingway's early major publications in a prominent American magazine. The story was submitted at the urging of , who had read an early draft and recommended it to the editor; Fitzgerald also advised Hemingway on revisions, suggesting a cut of about 500 words, but the story was published uncut. This version helped establish Hemingway's reputation for taut, economical prose following the success of his novel the previous year. Later that same year, "Fifty Grand" was included in Hemingway's second short story collection, Men Without Women, published by in October 1927. The collection solidified Hemingway's rising prominence in , with the story's placement emphasizing its significance among the volume's tales of and loss. Subsequent reprints appeared in various compilations, including The Complete Short Stories of : The Edition (1987), a comprehensive posthumous gathering edited by his sons. No major textual variants have been noted across these editions, reflecting the stability of the text established in its initial magazine appearance.

Inspirations and Writing Process

Hemingway's short story "Fifty Grand" drew significant inspiration from two notable matches in 1922: the Jack Britton-Mickey Walker fight on November 1 at and the Battling Siki-Georges Carpentier bout on September 24 in . The Britton-Walker contest featured an aging champion, Britton, who was a 3-1 favorite but lost a 15-round decision to the younger challenger Walker, amid rumors of irregularities that echoed the story's themes of fixed fights and the physical toll on veteran boxers. Similarly, the Siki-Carpentier fight, which Hemingway personally attended, involved widespread suspicions of a fix—Siki, a Senegalese , won after a controversial stoppage, double-crossing expectations and highlighting the brutal realities of the ring, including the exhaustion and moral ambiguities that parallel the protagonist's . The story was composed between 1924 and 1925, primarily during Hemingway's residence in , where he continued to hone his craft amid the expatriate literary scene, though he would relocate to in 1928. This period was shaped by his earlier journalism background, including his work as a foreign for the from 1920 to 1924, during which he filed numerous articles on , such as pieces on heavyweight champion that captured the sport's raw intensity and cultural allure. Hemingway's fascination with , evident in these dispatches, informed the authentic depiction of training camps, fighter banter, and the psychological strain in "Fifty Grand," reflecting his broader interest in athletic contests as metaphors for human endurance. In developing the narrative, Hemingway conducted detailed research into boxing slang, routines, and the insider dynamics of the sport to achieve , drawing on his own experiences with friends like Canadian writer in around 1924—an encounter refereed by that underscored his hands-on engagement with pugilism. He shared an early anecdote about the Britton fight with Fitzgerald before writing, using it to illustrate a champion's tactical mindset, though Fitzgerald later advised revisions to excise an opening reference to boxer as an overused tale, a change Hemingway implemented but later regretted. These edits aligned with Hemingway's writing philosophy, articulated in his memoir , where he described starting each piece with "one true sentence" to build toward unadorned truth, emphasizing concision and precision in revising "Fifty Grand" to strip away excess while preserving the story's taut emotional core.

Themes and Analysis

Major Themes

One of the central themes in "Fifty Grand" is grace under pressure, embodied by the protagonist , who exemplifies Ernest Hemingway's concept of the "code hero"—a figure who maintains courage, professionalism, and dignity in the face of inevitable defeat. Brennan, an aging boxer aware that his championship fight against Jimmy Walcott is fixed against him, continues to train and compete with stoic resolve, refusing to yield prematurely even after sustaining a severe foul blow to the . This endurance highlights his inner strength and moral code, as he strategically loses the fight only after securing a personal financial gain through a side bet, thereby outmaneuvering the corrupt gamblers who orchestrated the fix. Scholars identify Brennan as a quintessential code hero, aligning him with other Hemingway protagonists who confront mortality with unflinching composure. The story employs and to convey themes of inner fortitude and emotional restraint, contrasting Brennan's laconic demeanor with the of secondary characters like his trainer and hangers-on. Through minimal and controlled physicality—such as lying "perfectly still" after the foul—Brennan protects his and psychological equilibrium, adhering to Hemingway's "" where unspoken depths reveal profound resilience. This technique underscores as a survival mechanism in a harsh world, where excessive emotion signals weakness; for instance, Brennan intrusive conversations about women or past losses to focus on the impending bout. Literary critics note that such restraint not only builds narrative tension but also portrays as a dignified response to vulnerability. Corruption in emerges as a key theme, with the fixed fight serving as a critique of and moral ambiguity in the pursuit of financial gain. Brennan's arrangement with gamblers to throw the match exposes the underbelly of , where professionalism clashes with greed, yet his bet against himself on Walcott introduces ironic ambiguity, allowing him to reclaim agency amid deceit. This portrayal reflects broader anxieties about integrity, as Hemingway draws from real boxing scandals to illustrate how systemic erodes trust and exploits athletes. The narrative avoids overt moralizing, instead using Brennan's pragmatic navigation of the fix to highlight the between honor and survival in a tainted arena. Finally, the story explores the physical versus emotional toll of aging in , intertwining bodily decline with on mortality and human endurance. Brennan's waning physical prime—evident in his limited training and awareness of his "busted" body—forces a confrontation with the inexorable passage of time, yet he endures not through denial but through disciplined acceptance, tying personal loss to universal themes of finitude. This dual toll is amplified by his for his , adding emotional layers to his physical sacrifices, and positions as a for life's relentless attrition. Critics emphasize how Brennan's perseverance in the face of these burdens reinforces Hemingway's valorization of resilient against decay.

Symbolism and Motifs

In Ernest Hemingway's "Fifty Grand," is portrayed through mechanical imagery that underscores the dehumanizing aspects of the sport and the inexorable toll it takes on the . Jack Brennan's regimen and in-ring are described with references to machinery, such as when Walcott is observed as "a socking ," emphasizing relentless, automated power over individual artistry or . This motif symbolizes the fighters' transformation into instruments of destruction, highlighting themes of inevitability and loss of personal agency in professional athletics. The motif of the fixed fight emerges subtly through Brennan's conversations and decisions, hinting at compromised in the shadowy world of without overt declaration. Brennan confides to the narrator about betting against himself, stating, "I got to take a beating. Why shouldn’t I make money on it?"—a line that implies a premeditated while preserving about his full intentions. This device represents the erosion of honor under economic pressure, as Brennan navigates the moral gray areas of the sport, ultimately subverting expectations by enduring a low blow and losing the fight on a foul, thereby fulfilling his plan to profit from the loss. Betting and money serve as central symbols of and ironic reversal, with the titular $50,000 wager encapsulating the personal costs borne for financial . Brennan places the bet at two-to-one odds on his opponent, calculating, "Fifty grand at two to one. I’ll get twenty-five thousand bucks," which ties his impending defeat—and potential family support—to monetary gain. This irony intensifies with his to the final round but ultimate loss on a foul, allowing the bet to pay off and underscoring how such stakes commodify human and resilience. The story's landscapes and environments reinforce motifs of isolation and contrast, mirroring the characters' emotional states amid the pursuit of their goals. The serene, hilly in evokes detachment, as Brennan gazes at "the country and the road down below against the woods," symbolizing a temporary escape from urban pressures before the bout. In opposition, the bustling intimacy of during the fight amplifies the raw, enclosed intensity of the confrontation, highlighting the shift from reflective to visceral confrontation.

Reception and Legacy

Critical Reception

Upon its publication in the July 1927 issue of The Atlantic Monthly, "Fifty Grand" received widespread acclaim from contemporary critics for its vivid depiction of the world and Hemingway's economical prose. Cosmopolitan editor Ray Long, who had initially rejected the story, later described it as "one of the best short stories that ever came to my hands" and "the best prize-fight story I ever read," highlighting its "remarkable piece of realism." In the , Percy Hutchison praised the stylistic precision of the stories in Men Without Women, including "Fifty Grand," noting Hemingway's ability to convey intensity through terse, realistic language. However, not all responses were positive; Joseph Wood Krutch, in a review of Men Without Women for , critiqued the collection's tales, including "Fifty Grand," as "sordid little catastrophes" involving "very vulgar people," arguing they lacked deeper emotional resonance. F. Scott Fitzgerald submitted the story to Scribner's Magazine in 1925, where it was conditionally accepted but ultimately rejected after Hemingway refused cuts; it faced further rejections before being published in The Atlantic Monthly in July 1927, elevating Hemingway's profile and contributing to the subsequent success of Men Without Women, selling over 15,000 copies in its first three months. The story's appearance in The Atlantic not only elevated Hemingway's profile but also boosted sales of the collection, as readers sought out the full volume featuring "Fifty Grand" alongside other pieces. In early 20th-century literary analysis, "Fifty Grand" was frequently included in anthologies as an exemplary work of Hemingway's minimalist style and thematic focus on stoic masculinity, appearing in collections like the Prize Stories of 1927 and serving as a model for modern fiction. Scholarship from to the often debated the of the story's central "fix," with critics questioning whether boxer truly intends to throw the fight or if his actions reflect a more complex internal struggle, as explored in analyses by and others who viewed the narrative's understatement as intentional obfuscation of motive. Mid-century criticism further solidified the story's place in Hemingway studies through Philip Young's 1952 framework of the "code hero," which applied to Jack Brennan as a figure embodying grace under pressure, enduring physical and emotional defeat with unyielding dignity despite the fight's outcome. Young's analysis emphasized Brennan's adherence to an implicit , influencing subsequent interpretations of Hemingway's protagonists as resilient in the face of inevitable loss.

Cultural Impact

"Fifty Grand" has significantly shaped depictions of boxing in literature and film, particularly through its unflinching portrayal of corruption and fixed fights within the sport. Joyce Carol Oates references the story in her influential 1987 book On Boxing to exemplify the tragic heroism and moral ambiguities inherent in prizefighting, noting how the aging boxer Jack Brennan's dilemma captures the human cost of professional combat. Similarly, the narrative's exploration of rigged bouts has influenced cinematic treatments, with Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull (1980) drawing on comparable tropes of ethical compromise and betrayal in the ring, as seen in Jake LaMotta's encounters with . Within Hemingway scholarship, "Fifty Grand" holds a prominent place, frequently anthologized in major collections such as The Collected Stories of (1972) and Fifty Great Short Stories (1952), which affirm its enduring literary value. The story has also been central to , especially in 1990s feminist critiques that interrogate its reinforcement of hegemonic . For instance, analyses in works like New Critical Approaches to the Short Stories of (1990) examine how the tale's focus on male and physical endurance reflects and critiques traditional norms in early 20th-century America. The story's themes of and in sports continue to resonate in modern contexts, informing discussions on match-fixing scandals in contemporary combat sports like . Its adaptation for radio broadcasts, including a production by the Columbia Workshop, extended its reach to broader audiences during the mid-20th century. Overall, "Fifty Grand" contributes to Hemingway's tough-guy archetype in , often cited as a touchstone for narratives of resilient, flawed in .

References

  1. https://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/media/img/posts/hemingway-50-grand.pdf
  2. https://www.amazon.com/Men-Without-Women-Ernest-Hemingway/dp/0684825864
  3. https://www.enotes.com/topics/fifty-grand
  4. https://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-ernest-hemingway/chapanal026.html
  5. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/440637
  6. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2923257
  7. https://wholereader.com/fifty-grand_ernest-hemingway/
  8. https://journals.openedition.org/jsse/749?lang=en
  9. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/69683/69683-h/69683-h.htm
  10. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/228648617.pdf
  11. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1927/07/fifty-grand/648941/
  12. https://fitzgerald.narod.ru/bio/donaldson-hemvsfitz03.html
  13. https://www.jfklibrary.org/hemingway/works/short-stories
  14. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69683
  15. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/new-hemingway-studies/textual-hemingway/FB5B5CB21BFF9E07287D4B0A74D7A910
  16. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1992/03/02/Cache-of-Hemingway-articles-found/6540699512400/
  17. http://www.historicjournalism.com/ernest-hemingway-1.html
  18. https://www.nytimes.com/1983/06/27/books/the-man-who-boxed-hemingway-keeps-writing.html
  19. https://niemanstoryboard.org/2013/12/17/annotation-tuesday-lillian-ross-and-ernest-hemingway/
  20. https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/642322-but-sometimes-when-i-was-starting-a-new-story-and
  21. https://repository.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3588&context=gradschool_dissertations
  22. https://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/2244/New-Critical-Approaches-to-the-Short-Stories-of
  23. https://docs.rwu.edu/fcas_fp/6/
  24. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1933/05/scribblers-luck/651112/
  25. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/ernest-hemingway-in-context/popular-cultural-and-historical-contexts/36DAEE335A773293D42916C426D81629
  26. https://www.jstor.org/stable/30053179
  27. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2925652
  28. https://macsphere.mcmaster.ca/bitstream/11375/9654/1/fulltext.pdf
  29. https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/103082/9781136804830.pdf
  30. https://virtualhemingway.hcommons.org/ernest-hemingways-works/
  31. https://crimereads.com/the-classics-of-boxing-literature/
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