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

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.

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

(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

When she agrees to go to the cinema with Francis she transforms him. She offers him attention and affection that he has lack in his life so far. She enjoys his company and teases him playfully because he is so shy.

Wilson’s judgmental, self-virtuous nature is displayed when he converses with Francis over proceeding to kill the wounded lion. On page 12, Wilson says, “You don’t have to go in, of course,” he said. “that’s what I’m hired for, you know.” As Wilson speaks with Francis over killing the lion, his statement verifies that he retains a judgmental persona. By saying “You don’t have to go in, of course,” it is apparent that Wilson views Francis as very childish and cowardly. It also reveals that Wilson is prone to judging people based on first impressions.Although Wilson’s character has been primarily described as hyper-critical and condemnatory, there is certain evidence which expresses unseen compassionate emotions toward Francis Macomber. Following Francis’ death, Robert expresses a positive sentiment to Margaret regarding Francis. On page 26, Wilson says, “I was a little angry. I’d begun to like your

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.

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

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

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

In “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” there is very much evidence that Francis Macomber did not lead a happy life. He and his wife constantly fought throughout the story. His wife was clearly not happy with him but she relied on him to live a rich lifestyle. Macomber was only married to her because of her beauty and she made him look good. She was clearly not happy with him as she slept with Robert Wilson. When Margot returns to the tent Macomber

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

Francis, intentionally, or if she accidentally shoots him, because she tries to save his life. There are many points that could be argued for both conclusions, but my observations have led me to believe that Margot did indeed shoot her husband intentionally, however, without pre-meditation.

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.

Even after the miserable start to the trip, Macomber still is dealing with the restlessness and the shame from the lion. Hemingway describes "but more than shame he felt cold, hollow fear in him" (11). Hemingway uses metaphor to compare fear to the coldness of a "hollow." Ironically the name Francis is known to be a weak and cowardly name, which seems to be a perfect fit for Macomber. In Short Story Criticism, they comment sarcastically about the manner Margot is perceiving her husband: "As we all know, good wives admire nothing in a husband except his capacity to deal with lions, so we can sympathize with the poor women in her trouble." Francis knows with certainty that as long as he possesses this fear his wife possesses a controlling power over him.