The Short Happy Life Of Francis Macomber Sparknotes

Macomber felt utter disgust for Wilson. Every time Wilson spoke, Macomber threw back daggers for words. It annoyed Wilson, for he was unphased by the fact that Macomber knew Wilson had been with his wife. He ignored Macomber’s harsh words so they could go hunting for the buffalo. As they drove out, Macomber spotted three large buffalo. Wilson told him, “We’ll cut them off before they get to the swamp.” They both got their guns ready, where Macomber almost began to shoot from his position in the car before being shouted at by Wilson. They jumped out of the vehicle as it came to a bolting stop, aimed, and began shooting. Macomber struck the first one down, and with the help of Wilson, eventually the other two. Margot was awe-struck, telling Macomber how “marvelous” he had done. “Macomber felt a wild unreasonable happiness that he had never known before” (Hemingway). Meaning, Macomber felt as though he had restored his

(18) Francis is talking about the hunting experience, but ironically, the next thing that is going to happen is Francis’ death. After hunting and wounding a buffalo, Francis and Wilson search for it in the tall grass. Thinking it is dead, the buffalo comes charging at Francis and Wilson. When she sees the buffalo charging at Macomber and Wilson, “Mrs. Macomber, in the car, had shot at the buffalo with the 6.5 Mannlicher as it seemed about to gore Macomber and had hit her husband about two inches up and a little to one side of the base of his skull.” (19) It is never declared whether Margot killed her husband by accident or on purpose, but his death is ultimately caused by his spouse, very much like Louise’s death in “Story of an Hour”, although, it was caused

Wagner-Martin, Linda, Reynolds, David S., and Myerson, Joel, eds. A Historical Guide to Ernest Hemingway. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2000. Print.

       In his novels Ernest Hemingway suggests a code of behavior for his characters to follow: one that demands courage in difficult situations, strength in the face of adversity, and grace under pressure.  Termed the "code hero," this character is driven by the principal ideals of honor, courage, and endurance in a life of stress, misfortune, and pain.  Despite the hero's fight against life in this violent and disorderly world, he is rarely the victor.  The code that the hero follows demands that he act honorably in this uphill battle and find fulfillment by becoming a man and proving his worth.  Hemingway himself lived his life trying to show how strong and unlimited

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

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.

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

The characters in Hemingway’s stories reveal much about how he feels about men and the role they should play in society. Most of Hemingway’s male characters can be split into one of two groups. The first of which is the “Code” Hero. This is the tough, macho guy who chooses to live his life by following a “code of

Examples of the “code” hero in Hemingway’s work include Manuel the bullfighter, in “The Undefeated” he fights with a noble dignity even when he is jeered by the crowd and gored by the bull, along with Wilson, the big game hunter from “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” who shows no fear when confronted with a charging lion. But perhaps the greatest figure of masculinity found in Hemingway’s work is Santiago from The Old Man and the Sea. He keeps his composure and maintains dignity after the fish that he has been fighting is lost to the sharks.

Death is the unavoidable force in the novella, the one fact that no living creature can escape. But death, Hemingway suggests, is never an end in itself: in death there is always the possibility of the most vigorous life. The reader notes that as Santiago slays the marlin, not only is the old man reinvigorated by the battle, but the fish also comes alive “with his death in him.” Life, the possibility of renewal, necessarily follows on the heels of death.

She was very afraid of something” (Hemingway 26). Margot is nervous and scared immediately following Francis’ courageous act of killing the three buffalo from the motor car. She knows that he might have the courage to leave her and find someone else because she no longer has control over him. Margot also shows her terrified nature when the narrator says, “In the car Macomber’s wife sat very white-faced. ‘You were marvellous, darling,’ she said to Macomber” (Hemingway 23).

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

    In his vast collection of masterpieces, Ernest Hemingway uses his own characteristics to set a moral code for his various heroes. This sportsman like code is based on the admiration of the physical virtues of courage and endurance. While not necessary for sustaining society, the code conforms the characters to one set of characteristics (McCaffery 237). One key element of this code is stoic endurance in the face of calamity. Hemingway's code heroes posses a grin-and-bear it attitude even in the most dire of tragedies and bounce back seemingly unaffected (McCaffery 237). Often Hemingway tests the moral of the character in confrontations with death, which frequently directs his

Death did not stop him, because no matter what anyone did or said about him, he had won; he beat his stereotype. Life is the lion to Francis Macomber, the “worst one can do is kill you” and in a way it did (Hemmingway 1587). He was the only one to be physically depraved because of his early death. He, ultimately, was desperate to be a man and desperate to have “no bloody fear” in leaving Margaret (Hemmingway 1587).

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