The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber

Summary The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber 

The story begins with Francis Macomber, Margot Macomber, and Robert Wilson having lunch together. At lunch everyone is pretending nothing happened that day. Francis who looks athletic, seemed to be a coward to kill a lion on a hunting adventure. Everyone knows he’s a coward. Francis’ wife had seen the whole hunting adventure and feels humiliated about her husband’s failure. Francis cannot stop thinking about his failure on the hunting adventure, he is afraid of what other people might think. Francis decides he wants to hunt a buffalo to show he’s not a coward. The next day they go hunting on buffalos. Francis hits the buffalo, he is thrilled and feels brave again. Wilson and Francis discover that he buffalo is not dead yet. They decide to kill the buffalo. When they find the buffalo, it runs towards Francis. Francis hits the buffalo just on time. At the same moment Margot shoots from the car and hits Francis, which kills him. Wilson thinks Margot killed Francis on purpose (Cliffnotes, 2010).

 

Analysis

The beginning of the story ‘’the Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber’’ seems to be a quite simple story with no further meaning. Hemingway is misleading his readers, as the story has a lot of mystery. With the mystery the reader wonders what will happen at the end of the story, Hemingway leaves a lot open for imagination. At the end of the story Margot Macomber kills her husband, the question remains at the end did she kill her husband by accident or was it intentionally. Hemingway gives the reader clues and a  motive why Margot Macomber would kill her husband. During the story Hemingway misleads his readers. After finishing reading the story, there are many clues that support the idea that Margot Macomber killed her husband intentionally (Cliffnotes, 2010).

 

The first clue supporting that Margot killed her husband intentionally can be seen in the following quote, ‘’Margot was too beautiful for Macomber to divorce her and Macomber had too much money for Margot ever to leave him’’ (Hemingway, p. 13). The quote indicates that they were dependent on each other, this is what made the relationship strong. Margot and Francis are two very different persons, with different personalities. Margot is a controlling person, Margot needs to have control over her husband in order to keep their marriage together and at an equilibrium. With the information above the motive starts to take form (Cliffnotes, 2010).

 

Margot witnessed her husband being a coward while hunting a lion, she is humiliated but she still has control over her husband. When she witnessed her husband becoming a hero with killing the buffalo, she knows she has lost control over her husband and relationship. The following statement of Francis shows that something changed in him, ‘’You know I don’t think I’d ever be afraid of anything again… Something happened in me after we saw the buff and started after him. Like a dam bursting. It was pure excitement’’ (Hemingway, p. 20). If indeed Francis lost all his fears, he could easily afford to get rid of Margot. He could find a new wife. Margot did not like a Francis without fear. Francis asked Margot after he killed the buffalo, ‘’Wasn’t it marvelous, Margot?, she replied, ‘’I hated it,… I loathed it’’ (Hemingway, p. 20). Margot saw the control she had over her husband and relationship disappear, which was essential for their relationship to stay at the equilibrium (Cliffnotes, 2010).

 

Wilson gives another clue about their relationship, as he says the following, ‘’She’s worried about it already, he thought’’ (Hemingway, p. 21). Wilson was correct about their relationship and at the end of the story he gives the reader more clues to believe the motive that Margot killed Francis intentionally. Wilson gives the reader the most detailed description of their relationship, which indicates that he thinks she might be capable of killing Francis. Wilson says ‘’How should a women act when she discovers her husband is a bloody coward? She’s damned cruel but they’re all cruel. They govern, of course, and to govern one has to be cruel sometimes. Still I’ve seen enough  of their damn terrorism’’(Hemingway, p. 5). The description of Margot indicates that Margot could do cruel things as she governed over her husband. The failure of her husband with the hunt adventure on the lion humiliated Margot, but then she still had control over her husband (Cliffnotes, 2010).

 

With the hunting on the buffalo Margot hopes that Francis will lose his feeling of being brave and triumphant. She states, ‘’Then it’s going to be just like the lion’, full of anticipation’’ (Hemingway, p. 19). She is excited as she expects her husband to be a coward again, which would mean that she would gain control again over their relationship. What she expects to happen, did not happen. Before Wilson and Francis go to kill the buffalo, Margot says, ‘’You’ve gotten awfully brave, awfully suddenly’’, Francis responds, ‘’You know I have’’, ‘’I really have’’, Margot answers bitterly ‘’Isn’t  it sort of late?’’ (Hemingway, p. 21). This quote shows that Margot has lost her position and control in their relationship, she has become expendable. Margot did not like the idea of losing control and being expendable (Cliffnotes, 2010).

 

After Margot shots and kills Francis, Wilson gives more clues that support the motive Margot killing Francis intentionally. Wilson says, ‘’That was a pretty thing to do… He would have left you too’’ (Hemingway, p. 22). Wilson was right that she would be capable of killing Francis. In the end Margot does not deny that she killed Francis intentionally. With all the clues and quotes above the readers can assume Margot did indeed kill Francis intentionally (Cliffnotes, 2010).

 

Literary work

The short story ‘’The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber’’ is often used in literature courses. Hemingway is one of the first writers in the United States who started to write and publish short stories. In the short story, ‘’The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber’’, Hemingway creates complex characters. Hemingway removes himself from being just the narrator, most of his stories are written in dialogue. The readers who read Hemingway’s short stories need to have imagination in order to understand the short stories. Hemingway has contributed to the American literature with writing short stories, as Hemingway is one of the first who started writing short stories (Cliffnotes, 2010).

 

‘’The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber’’ is one of Hemingway’s best written achievements. The characters and their motivations are complex. Hemingway expects the reader to have a good imagination, he leaves open if Margot did kill Francis intentionally or accidentally. Hemingway gives readers clues for both motives. Many writers have used Hemingway’s writing styles. Hemingway used the ‘’art of fiction’’ and mystery in his short stories. The short stories of Hemingway only show the surface, a lot is open to imagination of the reader. The reader has to look deeper in the story to find the meaning of the story. The short story ‘’The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber’’ has contributed to American Literature (Cliffnotes, 2010).