Short Happy Life Of Francis Macomber Essay

In Ernest Hemingway’s short story, “Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber,” Hemingway uses the author’s craft of perspective along with dialogue and internal dialogue to create a multi-part claim that develops an overall negative characterization of the three characters. Through this use of author’s craft, each character's inner personalities unleash in a slow process which ultimately reveals to readers their complex dimensions.
Wilson is first introduced as a buff professional but slowly makes readers, as well as the other characters, realize he is only a bastard reprobate with no desire to change. In the beginning of the story, Macomber’s wife described Wilson with the use of internal dialogue by stating, “...the way his shoulders sloped in the loose

tunic he wore with the four big cartridges held in loops where the left breast pocket should have been, at his big brown hands, his old slacks, his very dirty boots and back to his red face…” (page 1).

This shows how much of a man Wilson is portrayed as by talking about his dirty clothes and hands, how he holds a gun in his breast pocket, and the way Margaret talks about his shoulders being sloped, indicating that he is fit. This illustrative image of Wilson gets the readers to portray him as a good person solely relying on his looks. Although, this image of Wilson being the “good person” was quickly gone whenever Macomber decided Wilson was, in fact, a bastard for sleeping with his wife. Wilson talks about his “experience” with American women from the beginning and how even married females would throw themselves at him, including Margaret. When Macomber realized that his wife was sleeping with Wilson he became angry and stated, “You bastard, thought Macomber, you insolent bastard.” (page 16). In this situation Francis is clearly irritated by both Wilson and Margaret’s actions. He realizes then, that Wilson was never actually his acquaintance, even less his friend. Macomber calls him an “insolent bastard”, showing us a perspective towards Wilson no one generally had. As readers wait for a change in Wilson, he would

rather stay the same impertinent man. While Margaret noticed the changing in Macomber, Wilson on the other hand, seemed to be the same guy she met when she first laid eyes on him. Whenever Macomber was filled with adrenaline and actually excited to go hunting, Margaret says from the car, “There was no change in Wilson. She saw Wilson as she had seen him the day before when she had first realized what his great talent was.” (page 23). She could see how happy and confident her husband was feeling unlike the first time Hemingway introduced him, Wilson was still the same cocky person who enjoys hunting. Wilson’s change throughout the story is not so much personally as it is how the other characters, as well as the readers, felt towards him. Hemingway makes sure to include the perspectives of all three characters in order to give the reader a satisfying opinion of Wilson’s character.
Margaret is a character who knowingly manipulates her husband without the fear of getting left by him. During the short story, Wilson notices her rouge attitude and compares it to other American women by saying, “They are the damndest women.” (page 5). When Wilson states this he is putting her in a stereotypical category for American women. He believes Margaret is duplicitous as she treats her husband with no respect as well as herself. Wilson can see right through her lies and innocent face, giving the reader a perspective from someone who is “experienced” with these type of women. As Wilson believes Margaret is a damned woman, Macomber on the other hand, believes she is simply a bitch. When Margaret comes back into the tent after sleeping with Wilson, her and Macomber get into an argument to which he says, “You are a bitch.” (page 15). This gives the readers another perspective on what the other characters think of Margaret. He calls her this because she had obviously done something to earn that title. She knows her husband knew what was going on but willingly let it happen, not caring for Francis feelings. Margaret not being afraid for her husband's departure from her was quickly vanished when she realized he was someone different. At some point Macomber kills a buffalo, being completely excited about it Margaret fires back but not as sure for Hemingway mention, “...his wife said contemptuously, but her contempt was not secure. She was very afraid of something.” (page 24). Throughout the story Margaret found ways to bring her husband down by actions or simply words. This security of hers vanishes as soon as she points out Francis’s change in mentality, it vanishes because Margaret realizes her husband is going to leave her if his mentality stays. Margaret started off with the stable thought that her husband's insecurities would cause him to stay with her for as long as she wanted him. This stability is quickly brought down when the change in Macomber is visible.
Francis Macomber was a character who showed the most growth mentally in the story. Macomber went from being afraid to stand up for himself when his wife criticized him to someone who wasn’t afraid to leave her. His wife, Margaret, was ashamed at him for not having killed the lion so by the use of internal dialogue she tells herself, “...had just shown himself, very publicly, to be a coward.” (page 2). This thought of hers characterizes Macomber as being a coward. This thought is carried around through all three characters whilst giving the reader a stable thought on Macomber’s cowardly personality. Margaret saying that her own husband is a coward makes the situation deliberately worse, seeing as she should be the one supporting him and backing him up. As Margaret calls Macomber a coward she isn’t the only one to do so, Wilson also takes a moment to do the same. Wilson accompanies Margaret in bringing down Macomber’s masculinity by saying to himself, “So he’s a bloody four-letter man as well as a bloody coward, he thought.” (page 3). Wilson is known to be judgemental, so by him saying this is nothing out of the extraordinary. With both Margaret and Wilson making the accusation that Macomber is a coward, shows us that in fact Francis has been given the title because of his childish actions. While Wilson and Margaret both call out Francis for his actions, Macomber is slowly going through a major transition. Macomber ends up killing a buffalo which inclines his self-doubt, “For the first time in his life he really felt wholly without fear. Instead of fear he had a feeling of definite elation.” (pages 21-22). This transition is huge because it makes even the reader happy for him. When this change occurs, even Wilson and his wife become almost shocked to see Macomber acting completely astounded for his new personality. Francis Macomber changed from being a husband who was pushed around by his wife to someone willing to stand up for himself and stop being afraid. Hemingway uses author's craft to purposely mold a character readers dislike, into someone who has the audience cheering for at the end.
Through perspective, internal dialogue, and dialogue readers can see the changes in Wilson, Margaret, and Macomber. Hemingway uses the art of perspective to analyze these three characters and allow the readers to understand them from completely different stand points. These three characters unleash in a journey showing each other sides no one knew were there, changing when it was least expected.