The Short Happy Life Of Francis Macomber Sparknotes

The world is cruel. It works people to the core. Then, as everything seems to improve, the sky tumbles down. In The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber by Ernest Hemingway, this is illustrated through Francis Macomber. Francis Macomber spent his entire life afraid with his wife constantly mistreating him. Throughout the story, he gains a poise but it is short-lived. As Francis Macomber finally learns to overcome fear and build his confidence, his life is ended in a cruel betrayal. Hemingway opens the story with the characters reminiscing on a lion that had been killed earlier. For Macomber, it all began the night prior to its death, “when Francis Macomber woke in the night to hear it he was afraid.” The next morning, the lion is casually acknowledged by Francis Macomber and Robert Wilson, the Macombers’ safari guide. They decided to investigate if it was a shootable cat and if it was they planned on executing it. As they come into range, …show more content…
His wife, Margot took a shot at the buffalo, but in doing so killed her husband. “Francis Macomber lay now, face down, not two yard from where the buffalo lay on his side.” He had finally overcome a multitude of fears and it all ended in a flash. Macomber began to live in this short period after creating a new, confident self and dies in his most courageous moment yet. A Shakespeare quote recited by Wilson says, “by my troth, I care not; a man can die but once; we owe God a death and let it go which way it will he that dies this year is quit for the next.” If Francis had to die in this story, this was surely the way for him to go. Ernest Hemingway’s The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber is as the title tells it, a short happy life. Francis Macomber overcomes his terror and becomes fearless, until it is all ended in a bright flash. He spent his entire life apprehensive to challenges. This safari would have been a life altering experience for him, if his life had not been not ended with the