"The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber"

Paper Summary:

This paper relates that the theme in Ernest Hemingway's short story, "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber", is that it is better to live a short and happy life with authenticity than to live a long and unhappy life without authenticity. More specifically, the paper looks at how, the character of Macomber does not live a happy life until he proves himself. The paper further explains that Macomber begins his life innocent and spoiled in a protected society, then becomes awakened to reality in the dangers of Africa, and ends self-fulfilled by achieving authenticity and happiness in a fatal world.

From the Paper:

"In stage three of his initiation, Macomber achieves authenticity and happiness in a fatal world. He panics while shooting a large male, but the very fear that makes him run away from danger, teaches him, in less than twenty-four hours, how to face a charging buffalo with all the bravery of a seasoned hunter. When Macomber finds out that the buffalo is still alive, "for the first time in his life he really felt wholly without fear" for which "instead of fear he had a feeling of definite elation" (24). Ben Stoltzfus suggests that in choosing to face this challenge Macomber "asserts a new identity and, in putting cowardice behind him, he defines an authentic self". Macomber is no longer afraid; in fact he is eager to kill the buffalo. Hemingway describes Macomber's change as a "wild unreasonable happiness" which feels "like a dam bursting inside himself" (25). "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Fleissner, Robert F. "Hemingway's the Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber." 1983. Academic Seach Complete. EBSCO. San Jacinto College Libraries. 16 Apr. 2008 <http://seach.ebscohost.com>.
• Joseph, Harkey H. "The Africans and Francis Macomber." 1980. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. San Jacinto College Libraries. 16 Apr. 2008 <http://seach.ebscohost.com>.
• Little, Anne C. "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber." 1997. Academic Seach Complete. EBSCO. San Jacinto College Libraries. 16 Apr. 2008 <http://seach.ebscohost.com>.
• Meyers, Jeffrey. "Wallace Steven's and "the Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber"" 1982. Academic Seach Complete. EBSCO. San Jacinto College Libraries. 16 Apr. 2008 <http://search.ebscohost.com>.
• Morgan, Kathleen. "Tracking the Wounded Buffalo: Authorial Knowledge and the Shooting of Francis Macomber." 1991. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. San Jacinto College Libraries. 16 Apr. 2008 <http://search.ebscohost.com>.

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