The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber by Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway’s “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” addresses several themes, including immorality and the initiation of men from cowards into brave men. At the beginning of the story, Macomber is a long-suffering husband to Margot Macomber, his promiscuous wife. He is also very cowardly and is under the psychological control of his cruel wife. As the story further unfolds, it becomes clear that the couple is a mismatch. While Macomber loves his wife for her beauty and is not willing to leave her despite her unfaithfulness, Margot is with her husband because of his wealth and also refuses to leave him despite her contempt for him. Before their safari, Macomber had asked his wife not to be promiscuous during their trip. When Margot returns to their tent after sleeping with Wilson, the tour guide, he reminds her of her promise: “There wasn’t going to be any of that. You promised there wouldn’t be” (Hemingway 12). The conversation between the couple reveals just how troubled their marriage is.
In addition, Macomber points out the extent of the disrespect his wife shows him by bitterly telling her, “You think that I’ll take anything,” to which his proud, contemptuous wife replies, “I know you will, sweet” (Hemingway 12). On the other hand, Macomber also has to deal with the problem of his cowardice. The fact that he ran from the wounded lion they were supposed to kill makes everybody despise him. Even his wife openly kisses Wilson on the mouth because she feels ashamed of him, and seeing that she has an advantage, takes the chance to shame him further publicly. Her actions are part of her plan to control her husband completely- she even threatens to leave him if he makes a scene about her infidelity.
Therefore, Macomber is forced to overcome two main things that have, up to the safari, made his life miserable-his toxic marriage and his cowardice. Even though Wilson makes no effort to be a “plaster saint,” in reference to his eagerness to sleep with his clients, he helps Macomber gather the courage to be a better hunter (Hemingway 12). Wilson himself is a carefree man who specializes in both hunting game and hunting female clientele who desire sexual services too. As Hemingway points out, Wilson “had hunted for a certain clientele, the international, fast, sporting set, where the women did not feel they were getting their money’s worth unless they had shared that cot with the white hunter” (Hemingway 14). Thus, Hemingway uses Wilson’s lack of morals to highlight the innocence in Macomber, who is mostly a principled man that Wilson considers odd.
The day after Margot sleeps with Wilson, Macomber loses all fear. All he has left is hatred for Wilson. He shoots at buffalos like a professional hunter. After managing to kill buffaloes without any sense of cowardice, Hemingway notes of Macomber that “in his life, he had never felt so good” (Hemingway 15). However, this change is not welcome by his wife, who suddenly comes “white-faced” (Hemingway 15). Hunting the bulls gives Macomber “wild, unreasonable happiness that he had never known before” (Hemingway 17). Nonetheless, because his wife acknowledges that she no longer has any role in Macomber’s life and that he had found the courage to leave her, shoots him in the head. The tragic end to Macomber’s life comes when he has discovered himself as a courageous hunter and has overcome the cruel psychological grip of his wife to become happy.