Dénes Mónika-Bernadette 3rd Year, English-Spanish

Margot: An Obstacle in Francis Macomber’s Happiness

“The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” was written by Ernest Hemingway, a representative

figure of American literature whom Virginia Woolf describes as “candid; (…) highly skilled; he plants words

precisely where he wishes; he has moments of bare and nervous beauty; he is modern in manner but not in

vision; he is self-consciously virile; his talent has contracted rather than expanded."1

Hemingway’s novels and short stories mirror the fact that he was both a realist and a philosophical writer. His

art is highly symbolic, often representing human life as a continuous struggle which usually ends in the death of

the character. The same pattern is used in “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”.

Although the title might suggest exactly the opposite, the protagonist of the short story is not the

embodiment of success and felicity; he married a woman who is interested only in money and control. His wife,

Margot, has a great contribution in Francis Macomber’s sorrow: she does not show any signs of respect

regarding her spouse and his feelings. During their trip in Africa, planned in order to keep the unfaithful Margot

away from other men, Francis shows a special interest in hunting, therefore hires Robert Wilson to guide him.

Unfortunately for the protagonist, his first hunting experience proves to be a disaster and a social

embarrassment, as Francis shows clear signs of weakness and looses the opportunity to kill the lion they were

chasing. Realizing that he made a fool out of himself, he feels ashamed, especially when Margot leaves the

dining tent almost crying, repeating that she wished the shameful incident never happened. Wilson, much as he

dislikes his coward client, tries to make him feel better by assuring him that he will not tell what happened to

the members of the Mathaiga Club.

Soon after the unhappy incident, Francis finds out that his wife humiliated him again, lurking from

their tent to sleep with the professional hunter. Angry and frustrated, the protagonist calls Margot a bitch, but

the insulted woman replies that he is a coward, laughing in his face. The next day, Wilson realizes that his client

found out about his affair and the atmosphere between the members of the love triangle tenses up.

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Tired of being mocked and disregarded, Francis Macomber summons up courage and engages in a

dangerous buffalo hunting experience. He desperately wants to kill the wild animal to prove Margot and Wilson

that they made a wrong impression about him:

“You know I don’t think I’d ever be afraid of anything again, Macomber said to Wilson. Something

happened in me after we first saw the buff and started after him. Like a dam bursting. It was pure excitement.”

Engaged in the hunting, Macomber proves himself and Margot that he is not a piker. He feels, maybe for the

first time in twenty-five years, that he is in control and definitely brave enough to kill. Impressed by the sudden

change in his favorite puppet’s attitude, the unfaithful woman says:

“You’ve gotten awfully brave, awfully suddenly, his wife said contemptuously, but her attempt was not

secure. She was very afraid of something”.

What Margot feared was that Francis would outbalance his limits, risking his life and her financial safety.

Witnessing the frightful scene in which one of the hunted buffalos dangerously approachesFrancis, she tries to

shoot the animal but the bullet hits his husband instead. Francis Macomber might have killed the animal,

although Margot thought he did not managed to do so, but his own life istaken by the woman who caused him

so much misery during the eleven years of marriage. The only episode in which the protagonist feels entirely

released and happy is the extremely short one in which he confronts and shoots the bull. The moment Margot

realizes that she accidentally killed her husband, whom she wanted to protect, she panics and starts to cry

hysterically.

Misinterpreting the woman’s action, Robert Wilson tries to calm her down, but suggests that beginning

with that point, he will be the one in control of Margot’s life, adding ironically:

“Why didn’t you poison him? That’s what they do in England.”

Francis Macomber died at the age of thirty-five without knowing happiness. His wife, Margot, played a

crucial role in his sorrows: she was unfaithful to him, constantly underestimated his qualities and tragically

interfered in the only episode in which the protagonist outshined: hunting down the bull in the safari. Francis

Macomber’s destiny outlines the fact that the wrong decisions, such as marrying someone who cannot

understand and embolden you, always have heavy consequences. For Francis, the price paid were eleven years

of misery and his own life. His attempt to break loose came too late. As the Latin poet Virgil said, “ed fugit

interea fugit irreparabile tempus, singula dum capti circumvectamur amore”.

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