The Short Happy Life Of Margot Macomber
The Emotional Breakdown of Margot Macomber
In Ernest Hemingway’s “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”, many have wondered – even debated – if the death of Francis Macomber was accidental or intentional when his wife, Margot, shot him in his skull on a hunting expedition in Africa. The mystery of this dilemma lies in the fact that Margot’s narrative voice in the story is suppressed and this leaves room for questionable motives on her part. Robert Wilson (the couples safari guide) and Francis are brought to life through an omniscient point of view while Margot is only given an objective point of view of narration. Therefore, one can only guess her thoughts and feelings throughout the story by what she says when she is speaking or what …show more content…
Hemingway portrayed Margot as an attractive, smart, and cruel “five letter word” who represented the essence of all American women. These characteristics are interpreted through the opinions of Wilson: “They are, he thought, the hardest in the world; the hardest, the cruelest, the most predatory and the most attractive and their men have softened or gone to pieces nervously as they have hardened. Or is it that they pick men they can handle? They can’t know that much at the age they marry, he thought. He was grateful that he had gone through his education on American women before now because this was a very attractive one.” Margot was a woman who clearly wore the pants in her marriage and once that power began to slip away she experienced an emotional outburst which led her to frantically …show more content…
"Feminist Perspective: 'Actually, I Felt Sorry for the Lion. '." New Critical Approaches to the Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. Ed. Jackson J. Benson. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1990. 112-120. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 137. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Literature Resource Center. Web. 1 May 2013.
Cheatham, George. "Margot Macomber 's Voice in Hemingway 's 'The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber. '." Soundings 83.3-4 (2000): 739-764. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 137. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Literature Resource Center. Web. 1 May 2013.
Gaillard, Theodore L., Jr. "Hemingway 's 'The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber. '." Explicator 47.3 (Spring 1989): 44-47. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 137. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Literature Resource Center. Web. 1 May 2013.
Harris, Susan K. "Vicious Binaries: Gender and Authorial Paranoia in Dreiser 's 'Second Choice, ' Howells 's 'Editha, ' and Hemingway 's 'The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber. '." College Literature 20.2 (June 1993): 70-82. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 137. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Literature Resource Center. Web. 1 May
In Ernest Hemingway’s “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”, many have wondered – even debated – if the death of Francis Macomber was accidental or intentional when his wife, Margot, shot him in his skull on a hunting expedition in Africa. The mystery of this dilemma lies in the fact that Margot’s narrative voice in the story is suppressed and this leaves room for questionable motives on her part. Robert Wilson (the couples safari guide) and Francis are brought to life through an omniscient point of view while Margot is only given an objective point of view of narration. Therefore, one can only guess her thoughts and feelings throughout the story by what she says when she is speaking or what …show more content…
Hemingway portrayed Margot as an attractive, smart, and cruel “five letter word” who represented the essence of all American women. These characteristics are interpreted through the opinions of Wilson: “They are, he thought, the hardest in the world; the hardest, the cruelest, the most predatory and the most attractive and their men have softened or gone to pieces nervously as they have hardened. Or is it that they pick men they can handle? They can’t know that much at the age they marry, he thought. He was grateful that he had gone through his education on American women before now because this was a very attractive one.” Margot was a woman who clearly wore the pants in her marriage and once that power began to slip away she experienced an emotional outburst which led her to frantically …show more content…
"Feminist Perspective: 'Actually, I Felt Sorry for the Lion. '." New Critical Approaches to the Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. Ed. Jackson J. Benson. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1990. 112-120. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 137. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Literature Resource Center. Web. 1 May 2013.
Cheatham, George. "Margot Macomber 's Voice in Hemingway 's 'The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber. '." Soundings 83.3-4 (2000): 739-764. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 137. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Literature Resource Center. Web. 1 May 2013.
Gaillard, Theodore L., Jr. "Hemingway 's 'The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber. '." Explicator 47.3 (Spring 1989): 44-47. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 137. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Literature Resource Center. Web. 1 May 2013.
Harris, Susan K. "Vicious Binaries: Gender and Authorial Paranoia in Dreiser 's 'Second Choice, ' Howells 's 'Editha, ' and Hemingway 's 'The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber. '." College Literature 20.2 (June 1993): 70-82. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 137. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Literature Resource Center. Web. 1 May