Summary of The Capital of the World
A Synopsis of Hemingway’s Story of a Boy Whose Illusions Never Die
Aug 15, 2009
“The Capital of the World” by Ernest Hemingway is a story of universal appeal that focuses on personal illusions and disillusions. The title and the opening joke expose the universal nature of the very personal stories that Hemingway tells in his well-crafted narrative.
A Joke
According to the narrator, Madrid is full of boys named Paco (a nickname for Francisco). A popular joke is about a father “who came to Madrid and inserted an advertisement in the personal columns of El Liberal which said: PACO MEET ME AT HOTEL MONTANA NOON TUESDAY ALL IS FORGIVEN PAPA and how the police had to disperse the eight hundred young men who answered the advertisement.”
The everyman nature of the protagonist Paco is clearly defined in these opening lines. The every-civilization designation given Madrid is indicated by the title of the short story.
Paco: the Everyman
Paco is a waiter at the motel Luarca. He got the job through his two sisters who work there. The village where Paco and his sisters are from is poor and primitive. Paco is a handsome boy who works hard and loves his sisters, Madrid, and his work which all seem sophisticated and romantic to him.
Eight to a dozen people live at the motel where Paco works. However Paco is only interested in the bullfighters.
The Bullfighters at the Motel Luarca
The narrator relates that second-rate matadors like to stay at the Luarca because the address is on a good street and the amenities are good for a cheap motel. These details are important because a bullfighter must keep up appearances. Appearances are even more important than courage.
There are three full matadors staying at Luarca. One is a coward, one is ill, and one has become unfashionable. The coward was once brave and skillful until he received a particularly bad horn wound. The sick matador tries to deny his illness and keep up appearances but he fails. The third matador is a serious man whose most interesting trait was his diminutive stature but his old-fashioned style has caused people to lose interest in him.
There are two picadors staying at Luarca. A picador is a horseman whose job is to prepare the bull for the matador. He does this by jabbing to bull with a lance. One of the picadors is a heavy drinker and likes to wear cattlemen’s boots. He spends much of his time staring at women. The second picador is a good-looking dark-haired man who is reputed to be quarrelsome.
There is also a banderillero at Luarca. A banderillero places small barbed flags in the bull’s shoulders. Unlike the picador who is on back, the banderillero does his work on foot. The narrator describes the banderillero as looking like fairly prosperous gray-haired businessman. He has retained his foot speed despite the fact that he has reached middle age.
Other Boarders at Luarca
In addition to the bullfighters at the Luarca, the narrator describes an auctioneer and two priests. The auctioneer has a birthmark on his face and drinks too much. The two priests drink an adequate amount but avoid over-indulging.
Employees at Luarca
Paco is the youngest of three waiters at Luarca. There is a tall waiter who belongs to the Anarcho-Syndicalist movement (an anarchist group interested in the labor movement). The third waiter is a man of fifty who has worked all his life and plans to continue working because work is normal.
Paco’s two older sisters work at Luarca as chambermaids. A young man named Enrique is the dishwasher. In addition, there is the woman who owns the motel.
The Lives of People
All the people who live or work at the motel lead normal lives. After supper, everyone leaves the motel to get on with their lives leaving Paco, the old waiter, and Enrique to finish cleaning up.
The coward chases women. First he pursues one of Paco’s sisters then he goes to a bar and pursues a hooker. The priests spend their evening in priestly discussions and pursuits. The alcoholic matador and auctioneer drink too much. The sick matador tries to cope with his illness. Paco’s sisters avoid the attempts of drunks and womanizer’s to bed them and leave to see a Greta Garbo film. The owner of Luarca is in bed asleep.
Paco’s Illusions
When the bullfighters are gone. Paco shows off his fledgling matadorial skills using a napkin. Enrique finds it repulsive. When asked why it disgusts him, he shows off his beautiful matador moves. He ends by saying “Look at that…and I wash dishes.”
Enrique tells Paco that fear is why he doesn’t fight and fear is why Paco will never fight. According to Enrique, everyone is afraid. The difference between a bullfighter and everyone else is that a bullfighter controls his fear.
Paco is not convinced. Enrique suggests a mock bullfight with knives tied to a chair for horns. He is sure that Paco will succumb to fear. Paco is game. However, Enrique hesitates, not sure it is a good idea, and tries to back out. During their discussion and subsequent preparations, the narrator pans out and reveals the other characters in their pursuits.
Enrique tries again to dissuade Paco but Paco insists. Enrique lifts the chair to his head and makes the first pass. It is successful but on the second pass Paco is skewered on a knife.
Enrique runs for help while Paco’s life flows away with the blood that empties out of his femoral artery. Paco tried to recite an act of contrition but he dies before he finishes. The narrator mentions what others are doing when Paco dies.
In the last paragraph of Hemingway's story “The Capital of the World," the narrator lists all that Paco will never know about the people who had surrounded him. He had no idea how they really lived or ended. He died “full of illusions. He had not had time in his life to lose any of them.”
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