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The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber
"The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" is a short story by Ernest Hemingway. Set in Africa, it was published in the September 1936 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. The story was eventually adapted to the screen as the Zoltan Korda film The Macomber Affair (1947).
"The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" is a third-person limited omniscient narrative with moments of unreliable interior monologue presented mainly through the points of view of the two leading male characters, Francis Macomber and Robert Wilson. There are also occasional insights from the big game themselves.
Francis Macomber and his wife Margot are on a big-game safari In Africa. It is learned from the white, professional hunter and guide, Robert Wilson, that the "gun-bearers" and "personal boys" speak Swahili and sometimes receive illegal lashings. Earlier, Francis had panicked when a wounded lion charged him, and Margot mocks Macomber for his cowardice. Wilson is critical of Macomber, presented in interior monologue, but outwardly tries to shepherd Macomber toward a more accepted "code" practiced by experienced hunters. This is Francis' thirty-five-year-old "coming of age" story.
In a flash-back, Francis runs from his wounded and charging lion, dispatched by a scornful Wilson. It is also shown that Margot cheated on him with Wilson on the night after. Though Macomber hates Wilson, he seems to "need" him. As Wilson puts it, this is Francis' chance to come of age, to become a man.
The next day, the party hunts Cape buffalo. Macomber and Wilson hunt together and shoot three, killing two but merely wounding the first, which retreats into the bush. Macomber experiences a rush of confidence, saying that it felt "as though a dam within him had burst." While Macomber is jubilant, Margot also senses his renewed sense of vitality and is sullen.
The gun-bearers report that the first buffalo has not died and has gone into the tall grass. Wilson refocuses on Macomber and helps him track the wounded buffalo, ominously paralleling the previous day's lion hunt. This time, however, Macomber approaches the hunt in earnest, without any of the fear he displayed before.
When they find the buffalo, it charges Macomber. He stands his ground and fires, but his shots are too high, impacting the bone shield across the top of the animal's head (the "boss"). Wilson shoots as well, but the buffalo keeps charging. At the same time, Margot fires a shot from the car, which hits Macomber in the head and kills him.
Wilson is furious, noting that he would report it as an accident, but heavily indicating that Margot intentionally killed her husband because she knew he would divorce her.
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The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber
"The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" is a short story by Ernest Hemingway. Set in Africa, it was published in the September 1936 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. The story was eventually adapted to the screen as the Zoltan Korda film The Macomber Affair (1947).
"The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" is a third-person limited omniscient narrative with moments of unreliable interior monologue presented mainly through the points of view of the two leading male characters, Francis Macomber and Robert Wilson. There are also occasional insights from the big game themselves.
Francis Macomber and his wife Margot are on a big-game safari In Africa. It is learned from the white, professional hunter and guide, Robert Wilson, that the "gun-bearers" and "personal boys" speak Swahili and sometimes receive illegal lashings. Earlier, Francis had panicked when a wounded lion charged him, and Margot mocks Macomber for his cowardice. Wilson is critical of Macomber, presented in interior monologue, but outwardly tries to shepherd Macomber toward a more accepted "code" practiced by experienced hunters. This is Francis' thirty-five-year-old "coming of age" story.
In a flash-back, Francis runs from his wounded and charging lion, dispatched by a scornful Wilson. It is also shown that Margot cheated on him with Wilson on the night after. Though Macomber hates Wilson, he seems to "need" him. As Wilson puts it, this is Francis' chance to come of age, to become a man.
The next day, the party hunts Cape buffalo. Macomber and Wilson hunt together and shoot three, killing two but merely wounding the first, which retreats into the bush. Macomber experiences a rush of confidence, saying that it felt "as though a dam within him had burst." While Macomber is jubilant, Margot also senses his renewed sense of vitality and is sullen.
The gun-bearers report that the first buffalo has not died and has gone into the tall grass. Wilson refocuses on Macomber and helps him track the wounded buffalo, ominously paralleling the previous day's lion hunt. This time, however, Macomber approaches the hunt in earnest, without any of the fear he displayed before.
When they find the buffalo, it charges Macomber. He stands his ground and fires, but his shots are too high, impacting the bone shield across the top of the animal's head (the "boss"). Wilson shoots as well, but the buffalo keeps charging. At the same time, Margot fires a shot from the car, which hits Macomber in the head and kills him.
Wilson is furious, noting that he would report it as an accident, but heavily indicating that Margot intentionally killed her husband because she knew he would divorce her.