Ernest Hemingway Abolism Essay

Set on an African Safari in the early 1900s, Ernest Hemingway’s “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” tells the story of a young man and wife, Francis and Margot Macomber, and their English guide, Robert Wilson, on a hunting trip gone awry. This essay will show how Hemingway’s character tied into the story itself.

In hemingway's short story, “Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber”, Hemingway uses the writer's craft of perspective to develop the characterization of the three main protagonist. Wilson, Margaret, and Macomber’s characterization is developed through multiple perspectives which creates a negative tone throughout the story.

Lions, and impala, and buffalo, oh my! While on safari in Africa, novice hunter Francis Macomber embodies the cowardice within mankind, on the other hand his professional guide, Robert Wilson, represents a force of masculinity. Such character foils are especially prevalent when Macomber chooses to flee when coming face to face with a lion, while Wilson chooses to stand his ground and fight. Thus in Ernest Hemingway's “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”, the notion that everybody is afraid of something, but not everybody is a coward is highlighted through the thoughts, appearance, and actions of the two main male characters.

Margaret gets frustrated when Macomber shows through his actions that he lacks knowledge or wisdom when it comes to being masculine, which seemingly gives her permission to disrespect him. Secondly, Mr. Robert Wilson, the hunting guide, notices Macomber's cowardly nature when there is an accident on the hunt. In this moment, the narrator's internal dialogue gives insight on Wilson's feelings of disappointment towards Macomber by expressing, ¨while two black men and a white man looked back at him in contempt¨ (page 14) . Through the example, Hemingway's craft of perspective relates to characterization. As Macomber is hunting, his fear and inexperience overpowers his actions leading him to look bad through Wilson's judgmental eyes. Lastly, Through the perspective of a third person narrator, readers are allowed to see how Macomber's actions can affect the view of others. An example of Macomber's behavior is explained in the quote, ¨The next thing he knew he was running; running wildly,

In addition to the conflict in the story, there are scenes of rising action. One example of rising action occurs when Wilson and Macomber return to the wild to hunt for a lion once again. Macomber is able to get a shot off but only able to wound the lion before it runs away. As Wilson and Macomber search for the wounded lion to finish it off, he inevitably runs away frightened for a second time. Hemingway writes Macomber, “was running; running wildly, in panic in the open, running toward the stream.” As a result of this instance, Macomber’s wife takes a thriving interest in Wilson. Hemingway writes, “Once he had reached over to take his wife’s hand . . . she had removed her hand from his . . . his wife had reached forward and put her hand on Wilson’s shoulder . . . and kissed him on the mouth.” Later, Macomber’s wife sleeps with Wilson, which will completely change Macomber’s persona for the rest of the story. Macomber is so overcome with anger, his character quickly changes from cowardly to courageous.

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.

Ernest Hemingway has long been known for his two “heroes” in his writing. The hero who is a weak, pathetic individual who is often lost physically and mentally, and the code hero who usually shows “grace under pressure” and helps the Hemingway hero find his place. These two heroes often come together in a relationship where the code hero is the teacher who initiates the Hemingway hero into the code. Ernest Hemingway’s short story, “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber,” is the quintessential example of Hemingway’s heroes.

In many of Hemingway’s short stories the oppressors attempts to prevent the oppressed from gaining knowledge in order to further their own goals. In the short story The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber, Margot Macomber insults and uses mind games to

In the short story, “Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”, by Ernest Hemingway, the reader can see the life and characteristic changes of Francis Macomber through various perspectives of other characters. Francis displays three main characteristics in his development of Macomber as shamefulness, cowardice, and confidence throughout different sections of the story through the perspectives of Mr. Wilson, Margaret Macomber, the gun-bearers, and himself.

The way he defines conventional masculinity is totally changed at this point. The ideal man should not be afraid to hunt. Francis did not display the heroic traits, but Robert stepped up and proves he has what it takes. To Hemingway, courage and masculinity are addressed together. Men must be courageous and prove themselves through activities like hunting, boxing, fishing, and fighting. Then here comes rich, handsome Francis Macomber, who has never had to prove himself. Once he is finally forced to prove himself, suddenly his marriage and his life are in jeopardy. His money and success was no longer a factor that determined his happiness. Courage is what is important to Margot. Macomber not only acts shamefully by running from the hunt, but he also humiliates himself by continuing to talk on the fact that he is not courageous. (Shmoop Editorial Team).

The other male character used often by Hemingway is the coward or the “messy man”. This is the man who follows no code and has no honor or bravery. He is often dominated by a woman, by far the most humiliating condition according to Hemingway. In The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway writes “Cowardess is the worst kind of luck any man could ever have” showing his despicable view towards any man lacking masculine qualities. One of the best examples of the coward is portrayed in “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” by Francis. He is dominated by his wife and looked down upon by manly hunter Wilson. But as the story goes on, Macomber overcomes his cowardliness and becomes the sought after “code” hero for the short while before his death. The hunting expedition serves as an

Ernest Hemingway's WWI classic, A Farewell to Arms is a story of initiation in which the growth of the protagonist, Frederic Henry, is recounted. Frederic is initially a naïve and unreflective boy who cannot grasp the meaning of the war in which he is so dedicated, nor the significance of his lover's predictions about his future. He cannot place himself amidst the turmoil that surrounds him and therefore, is unable to fully justify a world of death and destruction. Ultimately, his distinction between his failed relationship with Catherine Barkley and the devastation of the war allows him to mature and arrive at the resolution that the only thing one can be sure of in the course of life is death

Throughout the short story, “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber,” Ernest Hemingway recalls the controversial events that took place when a group of three individuals venture out on an Africa Safari. Francis Macomber, Margot Macomber and Wilson are placed in several awkward situations and endure many questionable conversations that reveal the true personalities of each character. Wilson, the tour guide, is initially viewed as the stereotypical hero and macho man. Francis Macomber is initially seen as a coward and, in effect, Margot Macomber views her husband as a weakling which has a negative effect on their relationship in the future. As seen throughout the short story, each character is not who they appear to be and as time goes

“Hemingway’s greatness is in his short stories, which rival any other master of the form”(Bloom 1). The Old Man and the Sea is the most popular of his later works (1). The themes represented in this book are religion (Gurko 13-14), heroism (Brenner 31-32), and character symbolism (28). These themes combine to create a book that won Hemingway a Pulitzer Prize in 1953 and contributed to his Nobel Prize for literature in 1954 (3).

Ernest Hemingway the winner of the Nobel Peace prize lived a troubled life over his Sixty-two years of life and experienced many struggles. He went through a few marriages, different faiths and in the end, he lost his battle with depression. However, though all of this he made an impact on the world with the style and theme of American literature he wrote and is a significant influence to many authors and readers alike. During his life, there were many things that were an influence and help shape his writing into what it is today. Hemingway heavily focused on the theme of war during his career and was a topic of several of his novels one of those novels being “For whom the bell tolls” (Hemingway) The recognizable effects of Hemingway’s influence on literature is still witnessed around the world in the many tributes to him to this day.