Francis Macomber Themes

An impactful and thoughtful work, The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber packs a punch by addressing many important and powerful themes, which are often observed in Hemingway’s writing. Among these, the concepts of manliness, as well as death, are explored thoroughly.

Manliness, what it means, and the urge to prove and demonstrate it plays a very important role in The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber. An observatory reader can perceive the upbringing that Hemingway was raised with, as it shows itself in his writing. Born into a very traditional family, Hemingway grew up hunting, fishing, and with a father, all this eventually grew into Ernest’s mindset that masculinity is a very important and valiant trait. It is ultimately the essence
His characters, in particular Francis and Wilson, find themselves in a competition of manliness, neither wanting to show fear or weakness to the other members of the group. However, Wilson is clearly the more rugged outdoorsmen, as killing animals even when other hunters would cower is “what [he’s] hired for, you know. That’s why [he’s] so expensive.” (page 9) The third main character, Margot, is clearly created by an author who cares greatly about manliness, as she is the only woman in the story and portrayed as caring immensely about the trait. Francis’s show of cowardice through being unable to kill the lion impacts Margot greatly, causing her to make numerous passive aggressive comments, lose her composure, and eventually cheat on her husband with their safari guide. Ernest portrays this extreme repulsion to a lack of perceived manliness as acceptable or normal, after all, “how should a woman act when she discovers her husband is a bloody coward?” (page 5) It is clear that manliness is a driving force for all
Macomber spends the story hunting African animals that belong to the Big Five; the five animals most likely to kill hunters that are hunting them. Being able to bravely shoot these animals is seen as desirable and manly, as it is the act of defying death. It is important to note, however, that Hemingway goes to great effort to describe these animals as worthy and majestic. The argument can be made, in fact, that Ernest puts more passion into describing these creatures than he does his human characters, who are for the most part only briefly and ambivalently described. Hemingway describes how “ the lion looked huge, silhouetted on the rise of bank in the gray morning light, his shoulders heavy, his barrel of a body bulking smoothly,” (page 7) however describes Wilson as “a stubby mustache, a very red face and extremely cold blue eyes.” (page 1) The animals these men are hunting aren’t just targets, they are strong, handsome symbols of strength and power. As such their killings are very powerful, as it is how Macomber gains his strength and bravery. The killing of the buffalo changed Francis into the man nobody thought he could be, and brought with it “a wild unreasonable happiness that he had never known before.” (page 17) Nihilistic themes that are in many ways connected to death are often seen in Hemingway’s works, including this one. After