Reading Response on "The Short Happy Life of Fancis Macomber"

 "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" by Ernest Hemingway is a great story with interesting characters whose motives for behaving the way they do in the story may not be exactly clear. However, their behavioral changes through out the story gives the reader a better understanding of why the character may act or feel a certain way.

Francis Macomber: One interesting character in the story is Francis Macomber, he may seem like an "average Joe", the wealthy married man who loves to do exciting death defining activities with his beautiful just so he can keep his marriage spontaneous. However, looking at him through a psychoanalytic lens gives the reader a different perspective on the character.

Core issue: Francis Macomber has a Fear of Intimacy, Fear of Intimacy is defined to be "...the unshakable and over powering feeling that that emotional closeness will seriously damage or destroy us and that we must, therefore, protect ourselves by remaining at an emotional distance from others." (Tyson, pg. 27). This type of core issue is mainly seem between Macomber and his wife.

1. Even though he and his wife have been married for eleven years he seems to engage in activities where they are kept apart
2. He knows about a filthy past of hers
3. It seems as if it hurts him to be romantic with her

Defense: Francis Macomber uses Avoidance to over look the fact that he has a fear of intimacy. Avoidance basically means to "...stay away from people, places, or situations that might stir up repressed experiences" (Tyson, pg. 25).

1. The first example from the text that shows that Macomber has a fear of intimacy is the fact that he is on a safari with his wife of eleven years however, excludes her from any of the hunting activity. This is seen in the text when it states

 "We're going after the buff in the morning," he told her.
"I'm coming," she said.
"No you're not."
"Oh, yes, I am. Mayn't I, Francis?"
"Why not stay in camp" (Hemingway, pg.4). This scene portrays the mentality of Macomber, it's not that he doesn't love his wife; its just, he would rather go with Wilson then with her because he does not want her to humiliate him by teasing him or making him feel less of a man the way she did when he was afraid to go after the lion. So he loves her but he doesn't enjoy being around her.

2) Macomber also knows that he can not love his wife because she at times behaves like a harlot, he realizes her filthy past but he avoids it by staying with her and pretending everything is okay when he knows it's not, and its killing him inside. This can be seen when Margret sleeps with Wilson the night before and pretends at breakfast the next morning as if nothing happened. She then ask her husband why is he so upset (even though she knows the real reason) and he says he just wants to kill the lion already. In this scene he is using a little bit of displacement which is "when we take out our negative feelings about one person on someone else so we can relieve our pain and anger without becoming aware of the real cause of the repressed feeling." (Tyson, pg.26). The text defends this claim when it states "Yes, there is," she said,
"What are you upset about?"
"Nothing," he said.
"Tell me," she looked at him. "Don't you feel well?"
"It's that damned roaring," she said. "It's been going on all night, you know."
"Why didn't you wake me, she said. I'd love to hear it.
"I've got to kill the damned thing," Macomber said, miserably." (Hemingway, pg.6).

3) Macomber is afraid to be emotionally intimate with his wife because he is afraid she will hurt him, it seems as if she has done it many times because the text states this after Macomber figures out that Margret slept with Wilson
 "There wasn't going to be any of that. You promised there wouldn't be."
"Well there is now," she said sweetly." (Hemingway, pg.12). He knows she is with him for his money and the fact that she also sleeps around, however he avoids it in order to repress the fact that he is afraid to be intimate with her. Another example was after the incident with the lion when they got back in the car, he grabbed her hand to hold for comfort but she pulled it away. It almost seems as if it hurts him to even try to be romantic with her because she is so cruel to him.