Success, Failure and Hemingway

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at Hemingway's account of an ill-fated hunting expedition in which the author skillfully embeds his own definition of success and failure. Hemingway successfully conveys to readers his belief that personal success is how a man feels about life at the moment of his death.

From the Paper:

"At the onset of "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber," Ernest Hemingway's fated central character, on a 1930's safari in Africa with his wife, Margot, and his British Guide, Robert Wilson, chooses to define himself through other's eyes instead of looking for self-approval through personal satisfaction. Through the use of a tripartite story structure, Hemingway effectively shows the reader that the accepted "trappings" of social success almost inevitably lead to the author's definition of personal failure, unless that person can summon the courage to make drastic but necessary changes in his life. In the first part, Hemingway not only introduces the central characters, but defines their roles as well. Failing to receive his overly critical wife's support and approval after an embarrassing encounter with a lion, Macomber then seeks the respect of his accomplished guide as "the great white hunter". Failing that, Hemingway then shows us that a cowardly preoccupation with Francis' own image shows that Macomber has finally reached a dire crossroads in his life. He uses the second part, "a flashback," of the story to support and reinforce these same definitions, and finally in the third part, he serves up his moral of the story through the very unexpected ending of Francis' death. By the tale's finish, the author's message is clear; although many people often find unhappiness through the money they accumulate, the influence and approval they garner with other people, etc, without ever reflecting on their own desires, talents, or emotions, there is the possibility of total satisfaction and salvation. Hemingway uses the triangle to illustrate his belief that the human qualities of courage and cowardice can be the keys to personal success or failure."

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