“The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”

Beginning is slow

Sets up the characters and their relationships

Wilson—all-around, master hunter, British

White—red-faced: drinking whiskey (drinking customers’

alcohol), being out in the open much of his life—smokes a pipe (typical of the English adventurer, like in Jumanji)

Relationship to the natives of the place—in violation of law (whips rather than deducts from pay)—setting himself up in a master-servant relationship, sees himself as beyond the law—language barrier? Paternalistic: acts like it’s in their best interest; colonialist, imperialist attitude

Better than clients because he’s the professional; clients may see him as demanding, exercising more authority than he’s entitled to; takes advantage of Francis’ youth, inexperience, honesty. Some resentment of class difference because of wealth differential, because he sees Francis as less of a man

Wilson sees Francis as coward.

Margot wears the pants! She’s stimulated sexually by danger, by evidence

of physical courage, of authority (expertise, knowledge, experience).

Francis—sheltered, taken care of by his wealth his whole life; develops

through course of story—learns more of the culture that he’s becoming

part of (big-game hunting), learns from the professional, the expert—gains some courage—is a good shot—seems younger than he is because of the newness of his circumstances, because of the way his wife treats him (would she have comforted him when the lion roared during the night? She may also have wanted new experience, would be excited by it.)

Alliance between Wilson and Mrs. Macomber comes from their shared knowledge of the meaning of a dollar—they’ve had to work, not have things handed to them. Does a “trophy wife” have to work?

First part of the story raises questions in the reader—what happened?

Retrospective of lion as a threatening nearby presence—suspense

Meaning of title? Ironic? The last moment of his life?

Sympathies with the lion . . . bringing today’s ecological awareness to a situation deemed more respectable in the past

Relevant Links:

Hemingway Chronology, showing date of safari Hemingway took and date of publication of two stories about Africa

Online biographies of Hemingway

Online literary criticism of Hemingway

In his essay “Hemingway and the Beasts,” Jens Bjørneboe lists these major themes:

· Dread of life and death; overcoming that dread.

· Big-game hunting.  (War. )

· Bullfighting. 

· Fishing. 

· A fixation on the Mediterranean region.