"The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" by Ernest Hemingway

In Ernest Hemingway's story, "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber," Francis Macomber,

according to Hemingway, is a very unhappy man because of his cowardly display after facing a wounded

lion and because of his inability to stand up to his wife. However, Francis Macomber regains his happiness

and bravery while out hunting buffalo; unfortunately, it is short lived.

Francis Macomber is a man in his mid-thirties, "very tall, very well built...and considered

handsome." He excelles at court games and has quite a number of big-game fishing records, yet, this

morning he "has just shown himself to be a coward."

The ordeal started the night before when Francis was awakened by the sound of a lion roaring,

which frightened him for the rest of he night. In the early morning Francis, Margot (his wife) and their

guide Robert Wilson go out to hunt for this lion. After coming upon the lion, Francis shoots three times,

hitting it twice and only wounding it.

Ernest Hemingway in Milan, 1918

Francis Birtles in the driver's seat of the 'Sundo...

American author Ernest Hemingway poses with kudu a...

The wounded lion went trotting off into the tall grass, hiding and

waiting for the hunters to come after him. Before the men go in after the lion, Macomber sat, "sweating

under his arms, his mouth dry, his stomach hollow feeling, wanting to find the courage to tell Wilson to go

on and finish off the lion without him." As the men enter the tall grass, the lion came charging at them.

The next thing he knows, Macomber is "running wildly, in panic in the open, running towards the stream."

Wilson finishes the lion off with two shots from his rifle. Unfortunately for Francis, his wife has seen the

whole ordeal. Later that night, as Macomber lies on his cot, he knew "it was neither all over nor was it the

beginning. It was exactly as...