The Short And Happy Life Of Francis Macomber

As described in the Encyclopedia of World Biography, Ernest “Hemingway now ranks among America's great writers. His critical stature rests solidly upon a small body of exceptional writing, distinguished for its stylistic purity, emotional veracity, moral integrity, and dramatic intensity of vision”( 274, vol.2). In fact, within a remarkable feat of dialogue-driven narrative prose, Ernest Hemingway rewarded the 1930s with an outstanding masterpiece : “The Short and Happy Life of Francis Macomber”. This short story that took place in Africa, merges within a myriad of themes; it interconnects between dishonesty, courage, cowardice, guilt and even self-betrayal. Throughout “The Short and Happy Life of Francis Macomber”, Ernest Hemingway undermined feminism through conflicts and symbolism; in the middle of the Safari, the protagonist Francis Macomber faces Margot’s infidelity and Wilson’s wild confidence in order to attain his self-realization as a man.

In opposition to Francis Macomber, both Margot and Wilson share strong traits and qualities; while he is a coward guy, the couple is determined and strong.

He is, in other words, courageous, daring, and never fearful from dangerous situations. For instance, he insists on searching for the injured beast to completely kill it without any hesitation. In an book called “Short Stories for Students”, Wilson is identified as “the epitome of a manhood that Francis Macomber lacks but Margaret Macomber desires” (214). On the other hand, Margot is, in the eyes of Wilson, an attractive American woman whose man “have softened or gone to pieces nervously as” she has “hardened” (Hemingway,14). Consequently, Margot’s beauty, power and strength constitute the primary attributes that Francis Macomber lacks and had to face. In fact her beauty, hence adultery, triggered his hidden