A Short Happy Life Of Francis Macomber Critical Analysis

[the old waiter] as well as many of Hemingway’s other fictional heroes discover that by not thinking they can avoid the emotional pain associated with those thoughts” (1996:203); that is why the man needs a café open late at night. “A Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” is described as a tale which definitely questions morality. There is Francis who is actually the weakest from the characters. His wife is the one who want to dictate rules. Their marriage is a perfect example of a relation-ship without proper communication. It is not clearly stated in the text, but it is very likely that their sexuality, in terms of marriage, is also impaired. Margot decided to have sex with a safari guide, which underlines that there are serious problems

The first one presents the complete collapse of communication and intimacy between a husband and a wife. The American wife lacks almost everything – care, attention and love. The husband seems to be unable to show something more than cold impatience with his wife’s desires. In this short story she is very lonely. The couple sits together in a hotel room but they are very distant. The atmosphere of gloom is intensified by rain, a symbol frequently used by Hemingway which stands for sadness. “Hills Like White Elephants” touches upon the issue of abortion. A very interesting parallel between those two can be made. There are many interpretations that the cat in the first one stands for a baby. In the second short story an American woman is being con-vinced to get rid of her baby. In both cases there is the impression of losing or lacking something and sadness of failure. It can be assumed that the loss of happiness is the most important issue in those two short stories. The third one, however, is mostly concentrated with pain. “Up in Michigan” is about sexual abuse, therefore it makes a subtle connection with “Hills Like White Elephants”, because both concern physical aspects of a relationship and its consequences. Both these stories also share the motif of ambivalence. In the first story Jig is resentful toward her partner but still she wants

There are signs that, for example, Nick Adams one day will be able to face his painful memories, and that in the end he came to peace with the memories about his father. Some interpretations also put forward a thesis that the American Wife form “Cat in the Rain” will finally receive a baby she wants but maybe George will not be the father. Jig from “Hills Like White Elephants” maybe will sustain her relationship but she will be marked by the terrible loss and a reader cannot be sure if the man will not leave her after the abortion. Krebs form “Soldier’s Home” wanted to flee from his hometown. Maybe to work or maybe to avoid consequences. Nevertheless he is a war veteran and his traumatic experiences, nausea and emotional desolation will haunt him probably until the end. However, it seem that there are no hope for Mrs. Ma-comber because her marriage has collapsed and she appeared to be under Wilson’s complete control. A reader will also be unable to follow the further fate of Liz but it is beyond doubt that her images about romantic love and man-woman relationship were shattered. Finally, there is also no hope for the old waiter. In contrast to Nick Adams, he probably will not be able to cope with his memories. It is not stated explicitly but one day maybe he will follow the ‘late guest’ from the café who tried to commit