About Josh Silverstein Expertise I will answer questions relating to Ernest Hemingway's life or literature. I can also help with quotation source requests. No homework questions please.
Experience Mr. Silverstein holds a B.A. in English Literature and has been studying the life and works of Ernest Hemingway for the past ten years. His major work on Hemingway is titled, "The Importance of Being Ernest: Hemingway's Truth in Fiction and his Fiction in Truth." He is also author of "Hemingway: Alive and Well Online," an article exploring Hemingway's presence and position in the online community. He is the founder of "Timeless Hemingway," an award winning web site devoted to Ernest Hemingway.
I'm interested in knowing the kind of courage Francis achieves, if
indeed it is courage. Wilson has his view, of course, but are we to
leave it at that? I am also interested in knowing your thoughts on
the point of view of the lines beginning "His wife had been through
with him before . . ." and ending " Also he had always had a great
tolerance which seemed the nicest thing about him if it were not
the most sinister." They would seem to be attributable to either
Margot or the omnisicient author. How are we to interpret the
word "sinister" in this context?
Answer Hello,
I think in order to define Francis Macomber's courage, we need to look at the ending of the story.
The closing sequence of "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" has for many years ignited great debate in the critical world. Did Margot Macomber intentionally shoot at her husband to kill him or was she in fact aiming at the buffalo in an attempt to protect him from a certain death?
Many feel that she was trying to kill her husband because he was becoming too brave, too soon. As a brave man, he would have the courage to leave her. After Margot has shot and killed her husband, white hunter Robert Wilson confirms the fact that Macomber would have left her. Perhaps this is what she feared and explains why she had no other choice but murder. If she truly wanted him dead, however, there would have been no need for her to pull the trigger herself. Remember that from her vantage point, it looked as if the buffalo was about to fatally gore Macomber.
If we examine the text more carefully and take Hemingway's words (ambiguous as they may be) at face value, we will observe that Margot indeed was aiming at the buffalo, likely in an attempt to protect her husband. Even if she had killed the buffalo without hitting Macomber, she'd still be depriving him of his courageous act. The buffalo would be her kill and Francis would again be the cowardly runner-up.
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