The Short Happy Life Of Francis Macomber

turning a blind eye to the feelings of Mr. Wilson and only concentrating on finding a new source

Margot Macomber as the Hemingway Code Hero in “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”

Francis reveals his lack of self-confidence and control over the situation. ?If he had been better with women she would probably have started to worry about him getting another new, beautiful wife but she knew too much about him to worry? (Hemingway). His lack of self-confidence has given her all the power in the relationship and it was a major contributing factor in her infidelity. Later on in the story, the growth of Francis?s confidence during the buffalo hunt and Margot?s displeasure with it is the final clue in determination of the death of Francis Macomber. The buffalo hunt gives Francis a new found sense of ?happiness?. This ?new wealth? of confidence is powerful for Francis and devastating for Margot . ?Fear gone like an operation. Something else grew in its place. Main thing a man had. Made him into man. Women knew it too. No bloody fear? (Hemingway). Margot knew at this point that if Francis survives the trip, he might possess enough personal strength and finally leave her, and that is what encourages her decision to kill him. At the end of the story Wilson confirms the reader?s suspicion when he reacts to the shooting by saying to Margot, ?That was a pretty thing to do? (Hemindway). That statement reinforces the belief that Margot was indeed taking advantage of the opportunity to ensure her long-term wealth and eliminate the possibility of being

Women in Hemingway’s stories are portrayed to be heavily sensitive and emotional, and unable to deal with the realities of life. They do not seem to understand how life is not necessarily always going to be a picture perfect world. In “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”, Margot Macomber is shown as a very emotional women in many circumstances, as if she is not able to deal with obstacles that life will throw at her. One instance of this is when the two men are having a discussion about killing the lion. At one point, she is making jokes and seeming perfectly fine, then the next thing she starts to cry. Her husband, Francis, and Wilson even acknowledge this as well. They describe how they “both saw

In Ernest Hemingway’s short story “ The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber,,” Hemingway uses the author’s craft of perspective along with dialogue and internal dialogue to create a multi-part claim that develops an overall negative characterization of the story’s characters. Hemingway develops the characterization of Margaret, one of the main protagonists, by using multiple perspectives to assure on her character traits of cruel, manipulative, and fearful.

Benson, Jackson, J. The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway Critical Essays. Durham: Duke University Press, 1975. Print.

Ernest Hemingway, a literary icon of the early twentieth century, challenged the typical lengthy and detailed prose of authors before him by pioneering a stylistic revolution centered around heavy dialogue and minimalistic details. More specifically, “Hemingway used a journalistic style and unadorned prose to capture the everyday lives of men and women caught up in history’s most momentous events,” without wasting pages establishing the setting or background within a work like most authors of the nineteenth century (The Letters… 442). Often, the mood, setting, and emotion within Hemingway’s stories are established through symbolism and constant dialogue. Hemingway expertly implements his unconventional and unique authorial style to convey the disparity in gender communication and perspectives and its effects on relationships in his 1927 short story, Hills Like White Elephants.

Finally, the conflict and the rising action of Hemingway’s story leads to the climax. This occurs when Wilson, Macomber, and his wife take their final journey into the wild. As a result of the sheer anger Macomber has for Wilson and his wife, his fear is drowned by adrenaline. Macomber instantly takes on the characteristics of Wilson as he takes out two buffalo on the journey. At this point, Wilson respects this

Scholars and critics often use this short story as a jumping off point when exploring the development of Hemingway's approach to writing and his narrative style. The characters, Jim and Liz, are like many of Hemingway's characters in that they are disinclined to philosophize, are prone to action, learn from experience, and avoid abstract

Richard Wilson is a man’s man, and embodies Hemingway’s fascination with living life on the edge. The “white hunter,” Wilson, lives the life according to Hemingway values. Hemingway believes in the importance of physical activities and outdoorsmanship. Wilson has an attractive ruggedness, and embodies many of Hemingway’s code hero traits. Hemingway uses an allusion to a famous Shakespeare line to strengthen the character of Wilson.

“The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber” also contains the theme of arduous moral situations for the characters. Margot, the wife of Francis, is challenged by the temptation to have relations with their tour guide. Eventually, she commits the crime of adultery, and her husband finds out about her crime and is deeply shaken. “‘Well, why doesn’t he keep his wife where she belongs? What does he think I am, a bloody plaster saint? Let him keep her where she belongs. It’s his own fault’” (Hemingway 13). By the tone of Wilson thoughts, it is inferred that he is not able to find fault in himself and decides to blame it on the most vulnerable person, Francis. In spite of Wilson being the only man to blame for this whole incident, Margot can also take part of the blame. She appears to be a faithful and caring wife, but her actions do not justify this statement.

For my Written Task I decided to write journal entries from Francis Macomber, one of the main characters of Ernest Hemingway’s The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber. The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber is one of the texts that we read and I found it the most appealing to use for my Written Task. The narrator of the original story is mostly Wilson, but the story is about Macomber, so I decided to write something from Macomber’s perspective. I felt a Journal would best represent Macomber’s side of the story because it would be what he thought was important. It goes day by day and is purposely split up into sections within the days. These sections are each chunks of time in which Macomber does something but has space after, and would

In the story he plays the guide and is an experienced safari goer and hunter. He, as described, is “[...]about middle middle height with sandy hair, a stubby mustache, a very red face and extremely cold blue eyes[...]”(The Short Happy... Pg. 01) Throughout the story, Wilson is the person we most hear the thoughts of, scattered through the narrative are his opinions and comments, presented mentally, and although minor, lead to important understandings in the story. Wilson, in his experience, has probably learned to keep his own affairs private, and as well, to keep out of others. He does a commendable job of trying to help Francis forget about his blunder against the lion, and remove strain in situations involving both Mr. and Mrs. Macomber. He is a diplomat, though as the story will prove, not a very consistent one. He holds a lukewarm contempt for women, especially American women, whom he deems “cruel” (and perhaps, once we look at Margot, this is not without merit). He is socially introverted, and as so tries to keep away from the personal affairs of the Macombers, but in the end fails and sleeps with Margot Macomber after her many flirtations and a late night seduction in his tent. Wilson is strikes as a person of regret and self abasement. He seems to truly love what he does, hunting for sport, but is known, as the story tells, to break a few of the tenets of

Theodore L. Gaillard, Jr. argues in his journal article, “The Critical Menagerie of “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber””, that he believes that Hemingway used an “animal menagerie as a standard against which to measure and evaluate his human actors” (Gaillard 31-32). In Gaillard’s journal article. He says the foil Hemingway used in “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”, are the different animals that are mentioned in his short story. Before getting to Africa, Francis Macomber only had experience in spending money, fishing and hunting small animals (Gaillard 32). Francis is described as a rabbit-hare towards the beginning of the story by himself, his wife and Wilson, the hunter. “I bolted like a rabbit” Francis says in “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” (Hemingway 4). Francis uses the rabbit to describe his cowardice when running from the lion he supposed to be hunting. “More specific than this implicitly negative criticism of Macomber is

In the short story “The Short Life of Francis Macomber," Hemingway portrays many emotions and motivating forces behind the characters’ intentions. Ernest Hemingway experienced many historical events in his lifetime. Throughout these experiences, he endured humiliation and disappointment from wanting to join the military, but unable to due to a health condition. Hemingway also underwent a divorce four times. These experiences help influence Hemingway’s writing style, especially in “The Short Life of Francis Macomber” when he demonstrates the challenges the characters undergo throughout the short story. This story is about the experience of an American married couple who go on an adventure in Africa. This adventure focuses on the big game hunt. If Francis were to kill the lion he would enter into his manhood. When things do go as planned for Francis he faces his wife Margot who is extremely judgmental of him. She never lets him forget about how humiliating he was to her. This couple argues and manipulate each other. In Hemingway’s “The Short Life of Francis Macomber," the use of interchanging personalities of Margot Macomber’s reveal her true intentions in her marriage between her and Francis.