The Short Happy Life of Mr Macomb

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

“Every Man’s life ends in the same way,” Hemingway wrote, “and it is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguishes one man from another” (Documentary: “Wrestling with Life”)

"The Short, happy life of Francis Macomber"

or "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber"?

the meaning of a "coma"

Is this short happiness or a short life or both of them?

A story of saying without saying...

The tip of an iceberg...

"...pretending that nothing happened..."

"all the boys knew"

"the lion business"

“How should a woman act when she discovers her husband is a bloody coward? “damn terrorism” (10)

This is a short story about...

courage or lack of courage or cowardice

indifelity

cruelty

death

Quoting Shakespeare, Henry IV, Wilson, the "White Hunter" says ...

“A man can die but once; we owe God a death and let it go which way it will; he that dies this year is quit for the next.”

These lines are said by Shakespeare's "Francis Feeble," who, unlike his name, stands for philosophical stoicism

In Hemingway's short story

IRONY

Francis Macomber...a coward, as read by many of the characters of the short story, lacks morals and is presented with a tinge of cruelty

http://williamshakespeareexperience.blogspot.com/2009/02/henrys-and-hemingway.html (source)

• Macomber does not get his hunting trophies.
• All a false pretense.
• He is surrounded by a pageantry of soft-soaping bearers who perfunctorily see the luxurious couple as business.

• His fear and hunting inabilities haunt him.
• He does not abide by the laws of the safari world. He is eager to abandon wounded animals.

Mind-numbness

Francis did not know ... how Wilson felt, how Margot felt, how the Lion felt...

How the lion felt...

Macomber had not thought how the lion felt as he got out of the car... the lion seeing his silhouette now clear of the silhouette of the car, turned an started off at a trot, and, as Macomber fired, he heard a whunk that meant that the bullet was home; but the lion kept on going. Macomber shot again and every one saw the bullet throw a spout of dirt beyond the trotting lion. He shot again, remembering to lower his aim, and they all heard the bullet hit, and the lion went into a gallop and was in the tall grass before he had the bolt pushed forward.

This was the story of the lion ...

“..., Macomber did not know how the lion had felt before he started his rush, ... Macomber did not know how Wilson felt about things either. He did not know how his wife felt except that she was through him. ... he knew she would not leave him ever now. That was one of the few things that the really knew. He knew about that, about motor cycles –that was the earliest—about moto cars, about duck-shooting, about fishing..., about sex in books, many books, too many books, about all court-games, about dogs, not much about horses, about hanging on to this money, about most of the other things his world dealt in, and about his wife not leaving him.” (21)

A tragic cursory end ensues ...but this is only the tip of the iceberg

Your Icebergs ....

“The Iceberg Theory” (attributed to Hemingway) is a method of writing that suggests writers should focus on a simple, minimalistic style. This means they do not explicitly state what someone is feeling or what the consequences of an action are. The most important parts of the story, those which Hemingway did not spell out, are beneath the surface. This is compared to the way that the bulk of an iceberg is also hidden from view. Source: https://bookanalysis.com/ernest-hemingway/writing-style/

It was a dirt track that ended in a small road. On the other side of the road, there was a forest separated from the road by a wall. If you continued along the road, you could find a church and next to the church, there was the old school with an old blackboard, a dusty crucifix and a map of Spain on the wall. An old couple taught their pupils by heart, singing the same litany of numbers, rivers, multiplication tables and prayers to save their souls. In the books and in the church, there were frightening images. Servando Barreiro

She entered her boudoir and looked over the small glass bottles on the dressing table. She read their labels , thyme oil, rosemary oil , lavender oil ... Something was missing and rushed to the door. Then She went back again and opened the top-left drawer. There it was, her little precious thing: musk rose oil. Begoña Rodríguez

First time

Midway

Scars

Memories of fear

STOP

The counter at Ernst’s was made of white marble. Longer than a tombstone it was, yet shorter than old USS Yorktown. In Ernst’s, glasses nosedived like zeros, but just to make us laugh louder and louder. Every night we clung to that counter as if it were of wood. Marcial Muñoz

I was damn sure . It would be the first of many, and I can still remember the taste.Yesterday I bumped into her again and we looked at each other without saying a word.Today I have dreamed of her as usual Cándido Pintos

Run after lunch, portugués....hungry, craving, tiresome....and then an image of a plane refueling in the Air....if...private....Rosy cheeks, calling Tete, making bed, coffee at Nolita, browsing.. STOP JUST be grateful. Relish in life gifts. Marián Machado Panete

Midway

First time

Memories of fear

Scars

STOP

ERNEST HEMINGWAY