The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber Themes
Men and Masculinity
Hemingway was known for liking his men manly and, frankly, his women sort of manly, too. Men in Hemingway stories can often be seen hunting, fighting in a war, or watching a bull get gored at a bul...
Courage
To Hemingway, courage and masculinity were absolutely intertwined. Men must be courageous and prove themselves through activities like hunting, boxing, fishing, soldiering. Then here comes rich, ha...
Violence
In "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber," bullets are flying. Of course for the most part, humans are not shooting each other here. It's all about shooting animals, and in Hemingway's world, t...
Women and Femininity
To be fair, there is only one woman in "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" – Margot Macomber. But she plays a huge role in how the story unfolds. We know she is beautiful, was once a model...
Marriage
In "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber," there is some seriously nasty game-playing going on in the Macomber marriage. Hemingway lays out the politics of this couple in fairly blunt terms: Sh...