The opening sentence of Ernest Hemingway’s short story "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" hints at a mystery. According to the narrator it is lunchtime and they are sitting at the dining tent “pretending that nothing had happened.” While the mystery of the forbidden topic is revealed, the story ends with an even darker mystery that ends with the question about what really happened.
Francis Macomber’s Embarrassing Behavior
All three members of the party, Francis Macomber, his wife Margaret (Margot), and their guide Robert Wilson begin their lunch with a stiff drink. However, while none of them want to talk about what happened, their roles in the safari dictate that the conversation will happen.
It soon becomes apparent that while they are pretending to celebrate the fact that Francis killed a lion, he didn’t. Macomber ran in fright and Wilson killed the beast.
A Difficult Conversation
During the meal, Francis insults Wilson and commits one social faux paux after another. At the same time, Mrs. Macomber reveals her extreme embarrassment and distaste for her husband in thinly veiled sarcastic remarks. Wilson considers American females the “hardest in the world; the hardest, the cruelest, the most predatory and the most attractive” and Margot is the worst.
A Slight Redemption
In the afternoon, Francis and Wilson go hunting and leave Margaret in her tent. Francis shows some skillful shooting when he kills an impala.
Remembering His Disgrace
That night when Francis goes to bed, he reviews the events of the day. He still feels the fear that had gripped him like “a cold slimy hollow in all the emptiness where his confidence had been and it made him feel sick.” The fear had begun the previous night when they heard a lion coughing, grunting, and roaring. The narrator comments that Macomber did not know the Somali proverb that says “a brave man is always frightened three times by a lion; when he first sees his track, when he first hears him roar, and when he first confronts him.”
The lion continues roaring through the morning as they eat their breakfast and prepare for their hunt. Hemingway describes the hunt, Macomber’s fear, and his mistakes in the great detail. Macomber’s mistakes cause him to shoot the lion twice without killing him or injuring him enough to prevent him from attacking. Macomber suggests just leaving the injured lion but Wilson points out that someone else could accidentally stumble on him.
Wilson volunteers to finish killing the lion himself but Macomber insists on going with him. When the lion charges them, Francis runs. When the men return to the car, Margaret ignores her husband and the kisses the guide.
The Reality of Macomber’s Life
This was not the first time that Margot had been tired of Francis. But no matter how often Margot gets tired of Francis, she will never leave. According to the narrator, it was one of the few things Francis knew. Unfortunately, Margot knew too much about him too. She knew he was very tolerant, which was both nice and sinister. They had a sound basis for their marriage “Margot was too beautiful for Macomber to divorce her and Macomber had too much money for Margot to ever leave him.”
The Unfaithful Wife
Macomber woke up around three in the morning to realize that Margaret was gone. Margaret had a history of infidelity so he could guess where she was. He lay awake for two hours waiting for her. When she returned they had a brief conversation. During it he reminded her that she had promised not to do that sort of thing on the trip. She replies that she had meant to be good however; he had ruined the trip yesterday.
Anger and Distrust
At breakfast the tension in the trio increases when it becomes apparent that everyone knows everything about what had happened the night before. Macomber wishes that Wilson would his wife alone and Wilson wonders why Macomber can’t keep his wife where she belongs.
Hunting Buffalo
After breakfast, they go out to hunt buffalo. Francis is so angry at Wilson that he feels no fear and charges out shooting. They kill two of the three buffalo and wound the third. Francis is elated and Wilson commends him for his good shooting. Later Wilson describes the change that occurs in Francis as a coming of age, which he believed had nothing to do with the twenty-first birthday.
Macomber’s new found bravery scares Margaret. With Macomber’s bravery comes the risk that he may not put up with her philandering.
They go after the third buffalo. The buffalo charges Francis. He shoots three times and then there is a hot blinding flash that explodes inside his head and “that was all he ever felt.”
Wilson immediately takes charge and tells the gun-bearer to get Abdulla so that he can witness the accident. After he covers the body and analyzes the quality of the bull, he walks over to the woman and tells her that it was a “pretty” thing to do (accusing her of murder). He tells her that Macomber would have left her. He keeps hounding her even though she asks him to stop. Despite his bullying, Wilson lets Margaret know that he won’t expose her. He hounds her until she uses the word please.
The most hotly debated question about Ernest Hemingway’s short story "The Short and Happy Life of Francis Macomber" is did Margaret intend to kill Francis?
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