`The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber`

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Analysis of Ernest Hemingway 's The Happy Short Life of Francis Macomber

Ernest Hemingway has become one of the most revered of all time . He had become one of the greatest because of the gripping effect of his stories . But of course , his status as one of the greatest owes much from his exquisite writing . One of his works reveals to us Hemingway at his best . The story The Short Happy life of Francis Macomber ' is regarded as one of Hemingway 's masterpieces . The

story had exemplified high aesthetic consideration for the characters , themes , and literary styles to be used . Moreover , the story is light-years away from being clichy . Unlike most of the popular stories being read by the public , this particular work of Hemingway is in some sense devoid of love

From the beginning of the story you can gather that the relationship of Macomber and Margaret share is without love . As the plot develops , more evidences appear that supports the assumption that their marriage is cold . As the plot begins to unveil itself as the readers are brought to the near end of the story . In the ending we discover that Margaret had shot and killed her husband . It would be easier to digest that the fateful of Macomber was just a fateful accident . However , there are many facts and events in the text that support that this was done intentionally

Brief recap of the text

Basically , the story is centrifugal to the relationship of Francis Macomber and his wife Margaret . It would be interesting to note that Margaret is being referred to by Francis Macomber as Margot Initially in the story , Macomber is depicted as a beta-male . There was an exchange of dialogue wherein the characters were discussing the cowardice of Macomber when a lion had charged after him . Macomber had even described his cowardly act through the words I bolted like a rabbit (Hemmingway 8 )And of course if there is a beta-male , the alpha-male is represented by Robert Wilson . Wilson is a professional hunter who guides the rich couple in their hunt . Later in the story Macomber had become somewhat empowered by the act of hunting . However unbeknownst to Macomber , his wife Magaret had slept with Wilson . The tension of the story heightens during their hunt for a wounded buffalo The wounded and enraged beast had charged towards Macomber . He tried several shots but he only hit the horn of the buffalo , which was beautifully described by the author as .splintering and chipping like hitting a slate roof (28 . Margaret had grabbed a gun , supposedly to shoot the charging beast , she had shot Macomber and killed him instead . It was not clarified in the text whether Margaret had intentionally shot Macomber or it was all just a fateful accident

The theme of Marriage

Of course , one of the most visible themes in the story is marriage . As mentioned earlier , the story had revolved around the relationship of...