Analysis of The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber by Ernest Hemingway

Without Hemingway 's use of Wilson’s inner dialogue readers wouldn’t know what his thoughts on the affair are, neither would they know about his biased and role giving ways. Despite his prior judgments of Francis, near the end of the story Wilson shows a shift in his judgment when Francis, filled with anger, chases down and kills some buffalo. He says that Francis would “Be a damn fire eater now” and that Francis had his “Fear gone like an operation.” Because Francis gains the courage to hunt the buffalo without falter, Wilson believes that he is a “real man” now. This shows the shift in Wilson’s judgment of Francis, as well as how he perceives the role that Francis should fill. He views Francis as a coward who had never truly came of age before the buffalo hunt, which shows that Wilson believes that men should be fearless and able to hunt. Without Wilson’s perspective readers wouldn’t realize the amount of shift Wilson had in his judgment, nor would they have as much insight on Wilson’s ideals and standards. By allowing the readers to view multiple perspectives, the author allows the readers to see the judgmental, self biased, and role giving side of Wilson. He shows the growth of Wilson

Due to the motives she may have because of her husband’s recent revelation, one can also assume that Francis’ death may be the result of foul play on Margot’s part. If this is true, then Margot would not have played the game fairly. In the story it is said that Margot “hit her husband about two inches up and a little to one side of the base of his skull” (Hemingway). The story also states that Margot was firing from the car which was behind Francis. From this information, we can gather that if Margot intentionally shot Francis, then it would have been from behind with no way for Francis to defend himself. This is surely not an honest action and would disqualify Margot from achieving this aspect of the Code Hero.

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

After James discovers the girls have been hiding a photo of Kathleen he takes Francis outside and brutally beats her; “The upbeat grabs her neck till she’s on point, the downbeat thrusts her back against the wall, two eighth-notes of head on wood, knuckles clatter incidentally. In the half-note rest e lights up her pale face with the blue wicks of his eyes, and the lyrics kick in con spirit, ‘What right have you, you have no right, no right to even speak her name, who’s the slut, tell me who’s the slut!’” (MacDonald 262) James later refers to Francis in a negative aspect reflecting on her choices essentially calling her a shell of a person, “He watches her, elbows on the table, humming as she chews. Then he leaves without having laid a hand on her. She’s as beat as she’ll ever be.” (MacDonald 291) There is also sexual abuse that affects Francis, as a young girl she is raped by James: “She’s sitting on Daddy’s lap, sideways facing me. Rocking. He’s rocking her. But it’s not working, she’s wide awake. He doesn’t see me because he’s looking into her hair. His mouth is open a little, an upside-down moon. He’s making a sound.” (MacDonald 375) It is revealed in the novel that Francis becomes a ‘Show Girl’ at a speakeasy, it is possible this stemmed from over sexualization as a child. Being young at the time of the abuse ad trauma, it can easily be confused as a ‘normal’ childhood, “What Francis learns is what

But he ends up having a shift towards the end. The readers can view Mr. Wilson and Macomber beside each other and can tell Macomber is very inexperienced by saying “He was dressed in the same sort of safari clothes that Wilson wore except that his were new” (pg. 2). The readers perspective of Macomber is that he is very inexperience with hunting. He’s clothes he has on shows how he is new to this and how he wants to be more like WIlson with his clothes and have his perspective of the hunting stage. Macomber is very inexperience with hunting and being out in the woods learning new things. But he also has a fear of WIlson telling his secret with the lion. The readers see how much of a coward Macomber is because he keeps asking Wilson, “I’m awfully sorry about that lion business. It doesn’t have to go any further, does it? I mean no one will hear about it, will they?” (pg. 3). Macomber is new to all of the things that Wilson is teaching him with the hunting. The reader's perspective of him is that he has a fear of someone telling on him to his wife, because he wants to feel like a man, and what happens doesn't make him look like a man through the reader's perspective. Mrs. Macomber thinks he is a coward already since they wouldn't let her go on the hunt with them.Macomber was very fearful and new to things in the beginning of the story. But after the intercourse with his wife and Wilson, he suddenly changes

Is there a pattern for life? Maybe not, but in Ernest Hemingway’s short story “A Soldier’s Home”, the main character Harold Krebs finds that he needs to live his life through a series of patterns. In this story, the series of patterns associated to Krebs results in an explanation of his character’s desire for an uncomplicated life. The series of patterns can be found through Krebs’s involvement in college, the Marines, and even in his personal relationships.

The period between World War I and World War II was a very turbulent time in America. Ernest Hemingway most represented this period with his unrestrained lifestyle. This lifestyle brought him many successes, but it eventually destroyed him in the end. His stories are read in classrooms across America, but his semi-autobiographical writings are horrible role models for the students who read them. Hemingway’s lifestyle greatly influenced his writings in many ways.

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

Francis Macomber has to deal with fear of death through his experiences on an African safari with the "white hunter," Robert Wilson. Margot, Macomber's sneering but

Cowardice is one of the major flaws of Francis Macomber. Macomber would to live a happy life knowing that he has been a coward and still is a coward. He backed down from shooting the lion in the first hunt, tried to shoot from the car in the later hunts, and suggested to leave a lion shot in the abdomen to die as slow and painful death or to set the grass on fire and burn it to death. Macomber shows his cowardice when he says “ Can we set the grass on fire?”(Hemingway 8) and when he asks “ Can’t we send in beaters?”(Hemingway 9). He clearly does not want to confront and kill the lion. He attempts to take the easy way out and have someone else do it for him. Mrs. Macomber hated him for it Wilson disliked him because of it. People disliked him because of his cowardice which made his life less

In Hemingway’s short story, The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber, we begin with the married couple, Franics and Margaret Macomber, on a safari in Africa with a man named Robert Wilson. Francis is shown to be a coward when he shoots his first lion twice, but is too afraid to finish it off even though it may be suffering. Margaret is very displeased with her husband’s cowardice and shows her contempt by berating him profusely. Francis is awoken from his sleep late at night after a bad dream to find his wife, Margaret, is gone. When she returns to the tent she claims she was out getting “a breath of air” but Francis knew she had just slept with Robert Wilson. Francis

Ernest Hemingway’s short story, “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber,” chronicles a rich American couple’s safari hunting trip. Francis Macomber, a seemingly perfect man- handsome, wealthy, and athletic- and his wife, Margot Macomber travel to Africa for a hunting trip. The story opens on an afternoon cocktail hour, after a morning of hunting. Quickly, Margot’s frustration towards her husband emerges. She is embarrassed of his cowardness, and torments him. Richard Wilson, their safari guide, listens to the argument. Wilson is brave and athletic, essentially the qualities Macomber lacks. Earlier that morning, Macomber ran away from a lion, leaving Wilson to mercy kill it. Later, in an effort to win back Margot’s admiration, Macomber successfully gunned down three buffalo. However, an injured one charges, leaving Margot to shoot the buffalo, and Macomber. Hemingway’s use of literary elements enhance and deepen the reader’s understanding of the characters. He develops their actions and motivations through a code hero, symbolism, and allusion.

Hemingway repeatedly employs the word “plenty” to replace a description of what it is being described. The question arises, is plenty enough? It reflects themes throughout his stories, through a variety of emotions and descriptions. The lack of description around the word leads up to the question of why it was used, and how Hemingway means to define it.

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

Margot uses her husband Francis Macomber to better her life financially, but when she saw the benefits growing scarce, she took drastic measures against him. Even after all he has given her, she betrayed him once more by kissing the safari guide named Wilson, but Francis was not completely clueless. He figured out her tactics by