You will choose ONE to which you’d like to respond (250 words). Each prompt will have its own post and comment section. (Comments can be made on either prompt and are not limited to the one you chose for your initial response.)
#2
Consider a theme in "The Short and Happy Life of Francis Macomber". How does Hemingway effectively communicate that idea in this story? Discuss more than plot or character here - also address his style.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
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A theme in “The Short and Happy Life of Francis Macomber” is that courage is necessary in order to achieve happiness. This is shown in Francis Macomber during the two days. After fleeing from the lion, during the night Francis was, “miserably ashamed at it. But more than the same he felt cold, hollow fear in him. The fear was still there like a cold slimy hollow in all the emptiness where once his confidence has been and it made him feel sick” (11). Francis lacking courage and running away from the lion, his life is filled with misery, regret, and shame as his wife witness her husband being a coward. The next day, Francis gains courage after he shoots the buffalos. We know he’s gain courage, because as he was shooting, “he had no fear, only hatred of Wilson” (22). After that Francis, “in his life he had never felt so good” (23). When the situation with the lion was repeated with the buffalo, which caused Francis so much fear and misery, “He expected the feeling he had had about the lion to come back but it did not. For the first time in his life he really felt wholly without fear. Instead of fear he had a feeling of definite elation” (24). This shows that having courage allows a man to be happy. The importance of courage is also shown in the animals as an symbolism. The lion and the buffalo symbolizes courage, because when they are wounded and retreat to the savanna grass. In the lion’s perspective, as it hides in the grass, it feels pain, “weakening with the wound through his lungs that brought a thin foamy red to his mouth each time he breathed” (16). Then as hunter’s search the grass for the lion, it charges out with courage and dies, and by facing his fear he is relieved from his suffering with death, and overcomes its life for suffering.
I like the connection you made at the end. The lion's courage is the same as Macomber's courage. Both are wounded and in pain until they get their last bit of courage. They gather it and make one last heroic stand only to be shot down in the end. I can see how Macomber is obviously happy once he gains his courage. He even says so. However, how is the lion happy? Does the lion have the same inner feelings that Macomber does? How do we know? Wouldn't it be possible to say that nearing death brings forth courage? or maybe courage leads to death? No, because Wilson has courage yet he does not die in the story.
There are many different themes in “The Short and Happy Life of Francis Macomber” that are each represented by the three main characters. Each one of them represent a general theme Hemingway chose them to represent and just as the characters interact together to make a story, each of the three prominent “themes” work hand in hand to create one. Margot Macomber represents a theme of oppression through manipulation or just general oppression. Francis Macomber represents the unhappiness harbored through fear, this is shown through his fear of the lion and his fear of his wife. Robert Wilson represents the confidence exuded by those who have courage which is shown through Robert’s courage in facing the lion, in facing Margot, and in his ultimate self assured nature he shows throughout the story. All three characters represent a theme of acquired happiness through courage this is seen through Francis’ sudden burst of confidence after his bout with the bulls.
Hemingway supports this by his style of presentation of the characters and their respective feelings. By describing the plot in third person omniscient Hemingway describes the characters feelings to the different and fast pace things that happen throughout the novel. Such as right after Macomber’s bull hunt and his new found “feeling of happiness about action to come” (Hemingway 26). Even though Hemingway already declares Macomber to have felt “a wild unreasonable happiness that he had never known before” Hemingway further the depths of Macomber’s change by describing the other character’s reactions. Hemingway presents Margot to the other characters as strong, even cruel, in the sight of change in her husband. He portrays her as having begun to “[see] the change in Francis Macomber” and to be “very afraid of [it]” (26). By showing Margot’s thoughts on this the reader can witness Francis’ true change. His courage with bull allows him to exude courage in “handling” his wife. His overall courage helps him gain the happiness he lacked when he was just a “little boy”.
In Wilson’s monologue or rather thought monologue Wilson reveals his own thoughts about Macomber that allow the audience to again witness Macomber’s complete 360 and inadvertently “happier” state of mind due to his courage. By acknowledging Macomber’s change and by asserting the statement “end of cuckoldry” Wilson acknowledges that Macomber will now no longer bend to the wills of others and will be “free”.
Hemingway also supports this theme with his tone control. He controls the flow of the story and how it feels through the his very abrupt changes in the emotions felt by his characters. He has very sudden changes of feeling, this is exampled by Margot’s first entrance as the resident “bitch” when she snidely snips at Macomber’s performance during the lion hunt. It is also witnessed by Macomber’s justified anger and hatred at his wife and Wilson. Then Macomber’s 360 of character and then lastly Margot’s burst of tears at the death of her husband. Through that Hemingway further emphasizes the fickleness of emotions and supports the theme of how courage is correlated to happiness. How Macomber’s small actions of confidence change the core of relationships and how those relationships are mostly controlled upon feeling show that still.
And in a way Hemingway further emphasizes this theme through his title, “The SHORT and Happy Life of Francis Macomber”, even though Francis is rich and successful Hemingway shows him to be a suppressed soul in the light of society’s restrictions and his wife. The “short” life that Hemingway refers to can be the amount of time Francis experienced courage, which induced his happiness. This would further support the theme of courage leads to happiness.
Young-Wook! I love that you came up with the same theme as me! Do you think that Margot a woman's inhibition on men? As in some way Hemingway is representing that freedom and/or domination over woman is the way to happiness, alike with courage. Or that to be happy one must be able to hold the self without submission to others?
I was looking at Hemingway's history and he's been like married to four women. I was trying to apply that background into this story and it was published around the late 1930's which is when his relationship/ marriage with Pauline Pfieffer was coming towards an end. (As in they were married for a bit too long and he started looking for something "new"). Point is that I was thinking maybe this made him into a sort of pessimist when it came to love and women.
What do you think?
Oh and Hemingway killed himself around the 1960's (early 1960's I think), do you think Francis Macomber's "short life" had any sort of foreshadowing to what Hemingway himself wanted to do? Considering that he had some sort of genetic disease where his physical and mental stability decrease and that his siblings too killed themselves, that maybe Hemingway was thinking about death too?
One of the many themes touched upon in The short Happy Life of Francis Macomber is fear. Through the character of Francis Macomber, we can see how fear negatively affects him. His fear of the lion prevents him from killing it as the lion charged towards him, which, in turn, deeply damages his pride as a man. Another example of how Macomber’s fear harms him is his fear of Macomber’s wife, Margaret. The fear of his wife leaving him makes Macomber delude himself into believing that his money will keep her from leaving. Margaret senses Macombers cowardice, which disgusts her, and at the same time, allows her to abuse her husband, openly mocking him for being a coward, as well as cheating on him with other men. It is also Macomber’s fear that prevents him from standing up to his wife.
The other side of the this theme is the absence of fear, which is best portrayed through Robert Wilson, the professional hunter. Wilson, who lacks the fears that haunts Macomber, is everything that Macomber is not; brave enough to kill large predators and brave enough to keep himself from being oppressed and manipulated by Margaret.
Once Macomber faces his fears by shooting the wild buffalo, he experiences a change in character. Ridding himself of his fear, Macomber replaces it with courage, which allows him to not only kill the buffalo, but to also stand up to his wife. This change in character shows that the point Hemingway was trying to make is that fear only gets in the way of happiness.
Hi guys! Today is the last day for initial responses to the first prompts. I see that some of you are already commenting on other people's posts. Let's save those comments until after everyone has a chance to put up their responses (i.e. tomorrow). That way we will (hopefully) read every one's and be fully informed as we make conversation.
In “The Short and Happy Life of Francis Macomber”, a theme that persists above all others is the theme that courage brings happiness, and without courage one is without satisfaction. Hemingway formats the story to enter at a point in the plot where everything is quite unclear, and the only thing that is certain is that Francis Macomber had recently revealed an extreme lack of courage, and he was quite unhappy about it. The beginning of the story is set in a dining tent, and the reader is aware that earlier that day Francis had done something less than courageous and had actually “shown himself, very publicly, to be a coward” (Hemingway 6). It is also made known that Margaret, Francis’s wife, “wish[es] it hadn’t happened” (7). We are unaware of what “it”, the event that is frequently referred to, actually is until later on in the story when Francis flashes back to his moment of cowardice. It is revealed that, while hunting a particular lion, Francis ran aware in fear as Wilson and his wife looked on in pure disdain. Wilson had to step in and kill the lion himself, causing Margaret to strongly favor Wilson over her own husband in that instant. That night, Margaret snuck out of her own tent and into Wilson’s, proving her preference for the more courageous of the two men. When Francis found out he was purely enraged, and felt that “of all the many men that he had hated, he hated Robert Wilson the most” (19). Wilson, on the other hand, felt that Margaret choosing to sleep with him was Macomber’s own fault. Had Macomber kept his wife in place and shown his courage, she would not have treated him in such a way. Contrarily, later on that day, Francis “felt an unreasonable happiness that he had never known before” after he showed courage by killing three water buffalo, proving that with courage comes great joy (25). His joy was short-lived though, as Margaret, not feeling quite as joyfull, shot her husband in the back of his head while aiming for a charging bull.
Initial responses end.
Comments are open. :)
Young-Wook! I love that you came up with the same theme as me! Do you think that Margot a woman's inhibition on men? As in some way Hemingway is representing that freedom and/or domination over woman is the way to happiness, alike with courage. Or that to be happy one must be able to hold the self without submission to others?
I was looking at Hemingway's history and he's been like married to four women. I was trying to apply that background into this story and it was published around the late 1930's which is when his relationship/ marriage with Pauline Pfieffer was coming towards an end. (As in they were married for a bit too long and he started looking for something "new"). Point is that I was thinking maybe this made him into a sort of pessimist when it came to love and women. Which is why he portrayed Margot as the “predatory women of American” or ast he lion?
What do you think?
It is clear that everyone who has read this story has decided that the main theme is one thing, courage equals happiness. You all have found that in different ways, whether it be through animal symbolism or events through the story. However, the main one I am noticing is characterization, which sort of brings the two prompts together. In response to Serena's comment about Margot being an oppressor, I believe that Hemingway has more in common with Margot then with Francis, which is why he believes the ability to be manipulated and cowardly makes one pathetic and unworthy of another's attentions. Perhaps this is one of the reasons he left Pauline. I do not believe that the theme is ever about women being evil creatures, as none of us have caught it. I think it is more the dominating aspect needed in a female, so the male could have his "coming-to-manhood" safari moment that women probably could not participate in, to make the change more obvious.
Zoe, I like the relation you made with Hemingway and Margot. To which I might add I never said Margot was an oppressor! Margot was simply the dominating power over Francis Macomber. Francis needed to be free from Margot to find happiness. Was this maybe a message that Hemingway, too, wanted to be free of Pauline Pfieffer?
And I agree, I do not believe the theme is about women being necessarily the source of all evil but I think it is necessary to recognize that Hemingway purposely portrays a woman, in this story, as the “antagonist”.
Another thing to look at is the fact that Wilson specifically describes Margot as “the hardest in the world; the hardest, the cruelest, the most predatory …” etc. Doesn’t this show some sort of resentment against American women.
And I think that Hemingway could have just as easily emphasized Francis Macomber’s dynamic change with any other character then his presented wife, or any other female character. A dominating brother role could have been the oppressor, a dynamic best friend whom Francis is jealous of, or a crazy cousin. Either way, to emphasize Francis’ change Hemingway didn’t NEED to use a woman or his wife. There must be some sort of deeper meaning to this representation.
In Hemingway’s “the Short and Happy Life of Francis Macomber” I think that there are more than one possibility on what the theme is. One I believe is fear, and the other is happiness takes courage/ only those with courage are truly happy. Fear is evident because of the way Hemingway portrays Macomber throughout the beginning of the story, for example “It had started the night before when he had wakened and heard the lion roaring up somewhere up along the river…there was no one to tell he was afraid, nor to be afraid with him, and, lying alone” (11) another quote states “then, as an afterthought, he glanced at Macomber and saw suddenly how he was trembling and the pitiful look on his face” (15). Hemingway is able to show the emotion that Macomber has with the detail and sentence structure.
However I believe the theme of fear becomes less noticeable towards the end of the story and the theme of happiness takes courage/only those with courage are truly happy stands out more. Macomber learns that once he conquers his fear of shooting the wild buffalo he becomes happier. He realizes that with the courage it took him to make such a shot and kill that he can do anything, which in result makes me happy. He realizes that he could leave his wife with the courage and do something better for him could even go so far as to say he would of left his wife had she not killed him.
And there is where I feel the two themes tie together the best. Margot realizes that his husband has changed when he gets in the car to go back and finish the first buffalo, she sees his courage that he is not a “bloody four-letter man as well as a bloody coward” (8) she knows that he could leave her making her fearful Wilson realizes this and figures out that Macombers death was no accident saying things like “that was a pretty thing to do…he would have left you too…of course it’s an accident…I know that…don’t worry there will be a certain amount of unpleasantness…why didn’t you just poison him?” (28) all in the sarcastic tone of insincere.
I strongly agree with Wooki and aneres in which women can sometimes be suppressive toward men. I believe Margot can be characterized as a women inhibiter which manipulates Francis. Men always have the desire to dominate over women in which we(myself) feel superior and more courageous. That we never want to feel a coward like Francis did after confronting the lion. He was cast as a big coward which in combination with his wife’s response made him feel worthless.
I find it interesting how Hemingway’s history in some way can contribute to the recurring themes of men/female domination and how “ courage equals happiness”. Him having so many women in his life and not being able to carry-out a decent relationship makes an effect on his literature. Women can sometimes be more trouble living with them but men can’t live without them.
Annalise, you said that you think the theme of fear is not as evident in the end of the story, and that the theme of happiness bringing courage is more prevalent. I strongly agree with your themes, but I disagree with that statement, because Margot's fear is very important in the end of the story. When Margot sees Macomber fearless and exuberant she instantly fears that he will finally have the courage to leave her after her harsh treatment of him. This fear leaves her feeling very unhappy, which ties into the theme that one cannot have happiness without some bit of courage. Also, when the buffalo is charging her husband, Margot feels a great amount of fear for him, and in her dishevelment, ends up shooting and killing him. With these examples, I feel that the theme of fear is still very strongly prevalent even at the end of the story.
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