Ernest Hemingway’s “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” is a tale of greed, lust, and self-realization. The story is rife with foreshadowing starting with the title of the short story. The reader can already venture a guess as to what happens at the end of the story, but what leads to the end of Francis Macomber is his own development from the man-boy he once was to the brave hunter he longed to become. From the start of the story, the only thing Francis has going for him is his wealth and the amount of trophies he’s collected over the years, which is why he’s on a safari to begin with. An ironic quality of the story is that his wife, Margot, was also considered a trophy, but I will reveal how both of the Macombers are afraid of change and how change lead to their undoing.
Francis Macomber is the first character that the reader notices change in. Over the course of the story, he’s noted by his cowardice and maltreatment from Margot, yet he has the wealth and assets to support such a wife. Despite how unhappy Macomber and Margot are with their marriage, they will not leave each other. Their reasons for not breaking off the marriage were because Margot was too beautiful for Macomber to divorce her and Macomber had too much money for Margot ever to leave him (Hemingway, 18). Macomber’s change occurred during the buffalo hunt. Margot noticed this and even commented based on her observations saying, “You’ve gotten awfully brave, awfully suddenly” (26). However, there was more to Margot than what we were to believe in the beginning.
Margot is a typical trophy wife: young, beautiful, and quite the opportunist. Her beauty was enticing enough to sell cosmetics that she didn’t even wear (6), so long as her face was associated with the name. She had wealth and financial stability as long as she remained with Macomber. Despite these perks, she had a weakness for the brave, strapping, and red-faced Robert Wilson. This weakness evolved into a sexual tension and she ended up in his bed for two hours following the second lion hunt. Based on the conversation between Margot and her husband, the reader can draw the conclusion that her infidelity was not new to him. This is revealed in the quote, “You said if we made this trip that there would be none of that. You promised” (19). This is one of the many ways she has been in control of the marriage for eleven years. But despite Margot being a trophy wife, among all the fish and game that he’s hunted over the years, Macomber himself would be the latest trophy among a trophy in his own collection.
As Macomber found his happiness on the buffalo hunt, it was short-lived when Margot “accidentally” shot Francis in the head from the car. Throughout the short story, Francis wanted to change to become the brave man he idolized in his heart, yet was afraid of both lion hunts in the pursuit of that change. Unfortunately, that change resulted in his death. Margot was happy with Francis right where he was before he made his transition. As he continued to develop, she figured out that Francis had found the courage to leave her. If he did so, then she would no longer have access to his wealth or have the ability to belittle him for the many years to come. She was losing control as her husband developed and continued to transform. She felt threatened and could not bear the thought of going on further with someone like the new Francis Macomber in control, so she shot him from the car. A trophy claims a trophy, but the claim comes with a price.
Margot was observant during the pursuit of the buffalo, so much to question the legality of chasing animals with motorized vehicles. She gained the upper hand on Robert Wilson since he could have lost his license over an incident like that, but ended up losing the advantage once she shot her husband in the head. There’s no question on what Robert Wilson’s testimony will be worth to her, along with the gunbearers’ silence. Margot’s actions are debatable on whether or not it was an accident, but Wilson confirms the reader’s suspicions in the end (Ganter). When Wilson says to Margot, “That was pretty thing for you to do, he would have left you too,” (Hemingway 28) this reveals that Wilson is paying as much attention to the situation between Macomber and Margot as he is to the hunt at hand. Unbeknownst to Margot earlier on, her desire to keep things from changing could have possibly changed them for the worst in her case. By having such a large number of witnesses, she might possibly spend the rest of her life indebted to these men. In conclusion, no matter her course of action, she is still at a loss because of the change in Macomber.
Works Cited
Hemingway, Ernest. “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” The Complete Short Stories
of Ernest Hemingway: The Finca Vigia Edition. New York: Scribner, 1987. pg. 5-28.
Ganter, Ben. “Analysis of The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” Wrytestuff. 05 July 2006.
web. 25 January 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment