ipl-logo

The Short Happy Life Of Francis Macomber Analysis

832 Words4 Pages
Throughout the short story "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" written by Ernest Hemingway, my emotions were everywhere. At certain moments I genuinely felt confused, indignant, and joyful. This story is truly a roller coaster. This story takes place in Africa and concentrates on three main characters, Francis Macomber, Margot Macomber, and Robert Wilson. Francis is a rich man whom, by society, considered a coward. Margot Macomber, the wife of Francis Macomber, is a gold digger who despises her husband due to his lack of heroism and is embarrassed to be married to him. Robert Wilson, the guide for their African safari is a womanizer who sleeps with the wives of his clients. Margot and Francis are only together because they need each other, not by love “They had a sound basis of union; Margot was too beautiful for Macomber to divorce her and Macomber had too much money for Margot to leave him.”(Hemingway, 11) Through my extensive reading of this story revelations of point of view, conflict, and symbolism are present to reveal the recondite meaning of each element held in this story.
Although this story is not real, Hemingway did such a meticulous job with writing this story that I felt as though I was being betrayed; I felt as if I was Francis.. Along with the other characters, Hemingway had each character 's point of view when their thoughts were important in that text. The preponderance of this story focused in on Francis’ emotions and how he endured the whole
Show More
Related
1312 Words | 6 Pages

The narrator distanced his path of finding his own voice even more when he imitated Hemingway’s stories. Rather than expressing his own voice and identity into his stories, the narrator “typed out Hemingway’s stories” (Wolff 110) causing his search to find his voice much longer. It is clear that Hemingway’s contributions to the school’s literacy contest motivated the narrator erroneously by discouraging the narrator from finding his own

Read More
1008 Words | 5 Pages

In his novel, Hemingway characterises his main protagonist, Frederic Henry, as having a very stoic and indifferent attitude towards the war, when he claims that the war does “not have anything to do with me”3. When asked why he joined the war, Henry replies, “I was in Italy… and I spoke Italian”4, which reveals that he did not have a strong belief in its cause, nor was he pursuing glory. Hemingway juxtaposes Henry’s highly unpatriotic attitude with the young patriot, Gino. On the ruined Bainsizza, the two have a conversation in which Gino expresses his belief that his homeland is sacred and he conveys his patriotic pride in protecting it.

Read More
739 Words | 3 Pages

In the short story “Hills Like White Elephants,” by Ernest Hemingway, there is a relationship unfolding, a complex relationship difficult to understand. The relationship is revealed by a conversation between a man and a woman, a topic of conversation that people rarely discussed in the period that the story was set. After researching interpretations, it is consistently said “She is pregnant, and he wants her to have an abortion” (Weeks 76), to which I agree that this conversation is about abortion. With the man seemingly pushing the topic and the girl hesitant and questionable, it is unsure as to the result of their conversation. However, it is my belief that she chose to follow her heart and not get the abortion.

Read More
510 Words | 3 Pages

Life Meeker’s opinion on Sam staying home and being loyal to the King, was correct. Their family needed Sam’s help around the farm. Life knew that war can and will turn men into beasts. He also knew, that if Sam came out of the war, he would never be the same.

Read More
813 Words | 4 Pages

The relationship between the American and the girl in “Hills Like White Elephants.” In the 1900s, there was a distinct relationship between a man and a woman, with each having their own traits. During this time, Ernest Hemingway also had his own idea of this relationship which he portrays in his story, “Hills Like White Elephants”. Within this story, the relationship between the two characters, the American and the girl, is portrayed as strained and distanced by their constant avoidance of the “elephant in the room”.

Read More
1382 Words | 6 Pages

It revolves around the flight of the princess to escape the awful marriage to his father (Perrault, 1977). Charles Perrault uses the princess’ character to reveal the major themes of overcoming evil, child abuse and incest in the story. Perrault also brings out the moral that it is better to encounter awful challenges in life than to fail in one’s duty. He shows that although the virtue may seem unrealistic, it can always triumph. The author uses various literary devices to reveal the various morals of the story.

Read More
853 Words | 4 Pages

The struggles presented between these two characters bring to light issues in human relationships that weigh into everyday life. Hemingway’s short story reveals to readers how relationships affect communication, decision

Read More
684 Words | 3 Pages

Ernest Hemingway’s story, “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”, is about a wealthy couple who travels to Africa on a Safari. On their journey, they are escorted by a hunter named Robert Wilson, who acts as a foil character to Macomber, highlighting how he is not a real man.. Macomber has the opportunity to kill a lion, but he runs away. This makes his character stray away from the story’s idea of what a real man is. A real man in this story is portrayed as courageous, prideful, and he must also have a beautiful woman at his side.

Read More
2016 Words | 9 Pages

If taken literally, Hemingway’s story is one in which very little happens. The story takes place in a train station in Spain where a couple argue about a vague event over drinks. From the very start of the short story, there is an overbearing uneasiness felt in the text as the unnamed male and the girl, Jig, hold what seems to be—on the surface—an innocent conversation. By using a limiting third person point of view that consists mostly of dialogue, Hemingway creates an obstacle in the way of understanding as there is no clear insight to what is going on inside of either party’s head. The conflict that the pair seem to be discussing is never named and it becomes the metaphorical elephant in the room much like the white elephants that Jig sees in the mountains.

Read More
987 Words | 4 Pages

Ernest Hemingway’s characters are frequently tested in their faith, beliefs, and ideas. To Hemingway’s characters, things that appear to be grounded in reality and unmovable facts frequently are not, revealing themselves to be hollow, personal mythologies. Hemingway shakes his characters out of their comfortable ignorance through traumatic events that usually cause a certain sense of disillusionment with characters mythologies, moving them to change their way of life. His characters usually, after becoming disillusioned, respond with depression, suicide, and nihilism. However, this is not always the case.

Read More
744 Words | 3 Pages

They begin discussing the old man’s attempt at suicide. The story which seems to start off about the old man really becomes about the fear the old waiter has of becoming like the old man. The importance of the characters, setting, and symbolism of the story all help Hemingway to express the hopelessness and loneliness of the old man and the older waiter. The story’s characters consist of the young waiter who is confident but seems to be a bit naïve about what life is really about.

Read More
184 Words | 1 Pages

In this excerpt of Ernest Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants, Hemingway establishes an attitude of detachment in a young girl named Jig. She travels with an American man on a train through the Ebro River valley in Spain, having a terse discussion. The man, the father of Jig’s child, tries to persuade her into getting an abortion, but his words roll off her shoulders she gazes at the white hills in the distance. Jig’s aloofness is conveyed through her lack of interest in conversing with the man.

Read More
793 Words | 4 Pages

A Very Short Story Ernest Hemingway is considered one of the most significant fiction writers of the 20th century. He is famous for his specific style of writing, the so called iceberg theory, which is clearly seen in his short stories and novels. Undoubtedly the unique thing that makes his short stories so special is the fact that after you read them you get the main idea but there are many things that remain unspoken or have a deeper meaning. You have to reread the text and use your imagination to get the whole picture of the text.

Read More
1138 Words | 5 Pages

The novel, The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway, describes the life of some people from the Lost Generation in post-World War I Europe, but mostly in Paris, France and Pamplona, Spain. This novel rotates around Jacob, or Jake, Barnes’, the narrator’s, life; which mostly includes drinking with his friends, Robert Cohn, a Jewish man who is often verbally abused by his “friends”, Ashley Brett, an attractive woman who Jake is in love with, Bill Gorton, a good friend of Jake’s, and a couple others. Their life in dull Paris seems to revolve around spending money and drinking, but when they go to colorful Pamplona, Spain, they have an amazing time during the fun-filled fiesta. Ernest Hemingway uses the “iceberg theory” when he presents Jake Barnes to the reader; he does not directly tell you a lot about Jake, but through Jake’s thoughts and emotions, one can tell that he was injured in the war, he is not a very religious person, he would rather do what he loves, instead of what he must, and he does not like to be honest with himself, despite the fact that he is one of the more honest characters in the novel. Ernest Hemingway does not directly let the reader know that Jake is injured in a special place; he allows the reader to interpret that from Jake’s thoughts and memories.

Read More
840 Words | 4 Pages

Hemingway presents the elements of failure and suffering in The Old Man and the Sea by depicting several instances of suffering and failure which the Old Man, Santiago, has to go through throughout the course of the novel. According to Hemingway, life is just one big struggle. In the beginning of the novel itself, The Old Man, is presented as a somewhat frail old man who is still struggling with his life as well as his past failures. His skiff even had a sail which bore great resemblance to “the flag of permanent defeat”, with its multiple patches all over.

Read More

More about The Short Happy Life Of Francis Macomber Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document