“The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber’’ wasn’t altogether short and happy. I would much rather call it “Short and Ended Happy Life of Francis Macomber” because it wasn’t until the end of the safari and end of his last moments that you really felt how elated and excited he was. The main characters in the story were the aspiring sportsman Francis Macomber, his wife Margot Macomber and the safari hunter/guide, Robert Wilson. This story proved to be a difficult read, but I was able to associate some theories with Mr. and Mrs. Macomber.
The husband, Francis Macomber, was a very difficult character to analyze more so than Mrs. Macomber. Francis was described very early on as a coward. What’s more, is that this description was very subtle and followed by how perfect of a man he was. Mr. Macomber was very wealthy, handsome, and smart but the author wasn’t so quick to say confident which struck me as odd because of man of that stature would probably possesses some sort of arrogance. As I re-read the story, that exclusion of confidence and arrogance guided me towards the defense Francis used to hide his core issue. I chose my defense first because it was easier to then locate the actual core issue.
The irony is that I applied Tyson’s denial defense, in which Francis used exactly what he lacked, arrogance. I came to this conclusion through many points in the story but one quote stood out to me especially. “He was very wealthy, and would be much wealthier and he knew she would not leave him ever now”(Hemmingway 11). This theme ran throughout page 10 and 11 but it wasn’t until later that I could pinpoint Francis’s core issue. His core issue in this particular situation would be the exact opposite of how he defended it. While I understood his defense, I gave Francis Tyson’s “fear of abandonment”. This thought was solidify during the back and forth arguing when Francis woke up in the middle of the night and Margot was just walking inside the tent claiming to have gone “out to get a breath of air” (Hemmingway 12).
When I tried to analyze the wife, Margot Macomber I used similar methods. With Margot, just as I did for her husband, I found out that it appeared they shared the same defense of denial and in the very same instance. Margot also used arrogance as a way to defend her core issue. It was clear when she spoke so dismissive towards Francis when she questioned her that late night in the tent on page 13. For support’s sake the quote “Margot was too beautiful for Macomber to divorce her and Macomber had too much money for Margot ever to leave him’’(Hemmingway 11) showed how both husband and wife used denial to assure themselves of their relationship. Despite both Margot and Francis sharing Tyson’s defense, they didn’t share the same core issue.
With Margot I settled on Tyson’s core issue “low self esteem” although I felt that she possessed the same core issue as her husband. I chose “low self esteem” because the core issue was behind the stories drastic twist of her shooting her husband at the end. I supported this with the moment in the story when Robert Wilson described Francis’s actions as “coming into age” as opposed to the situation with the lion and how frightened he was. Francis changed and was injected with fearlessness when he shot the buffalo. The quote “Macomber felt a wild unreasonable happiness that he had never known before”(Hemmingway 17) was exactly what Margot sensed and hated. With Francis’s new sense of bravery, Margot had nothing to ridicule him with. The impression I received was that Margot’s self esteem was lowered because she felt she would have less leverage in the relationship and Francis would realize he didn’t need Margot after all. This made her act foolishly when she became “brave” and tried to shoot the buffalo, or so it seemed.
As the story progressed, I noticed the psychoanalytic theories changing alongside the story. When Francis killed the buffalos he felt less like a coward, which made his fear of abandonment subside. Now with Margot, she noticed her husband’s bravery and that caused the arrogant, irreplaceable mindset to diminish.
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