{"id":231634,"date":"2021-04-13T06:22:53","date_gmt":"2021-04-13T06:22:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=231634"},"modified":"2021-04-15T05:41:56","modified_gmt":"2021-04-15T05:41:56","slug":"white-flight-hemingways-the-short-happy-life-of-francis-macomber","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=231634","title":{"rendered":"White Flight: Hemingway\u2019s “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Linh Dinh \u2013 The Unz Review April 11, 2021<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Many literary classics you encounter too early in life, often as a class assignment in college or even high school. With almost no life experience, you can\u2019t fully grasp their deeper meanings. Nothing prevents you from rereading them much later, however, and a masterful work should be revisited again and again.<\/h4>\n

I don\u2019t know how secure Hemingway is in the contemporary canon, but if you\u2019re over 35-years-old, say, you\u2019re likely to have read, if only sloppily, his \u201cThe Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber.\u201d Let\u2019s reexamine this story.<\/h4>\n

A high-society American couple, Francis and Margot Macomber, went to Africa to experience big game hunting. There, they\u2019re guided by Robert Wilson, an Englishman.<\/h4>\n

The story begins with all three having lunch after killing their first lion. The mood is tense and subdued, however. Something is wrong. Even after it\u2019s spelled out, on page four, that Francis has just \u201cshown himself, very publicly, to be a coward,\u201d we still don\u2019t know what happened.<\/h4>\n

So we\u2019re dealing with its aftermath, which includes Margot seeing Francis and Wilson in new lights.<\/h4>\n

Throughout the story, much is made of Wilson\u2019s ruddy complexion. Margot noticed this with pleasure whenever she looked at him, and flirting with the man, remarked about this repeatedly, to the point where Wilson had to protest, \u201cI say, you wouldn\u2019t like to drop my beauty as a topic, would you?\u201d<\/h4>\n

Unlike her husband, Wilson was a white man with big brown hands and a very red face, and one who could calmly handle savage dangers. At home in Africa and speaking Swahili, Wilson was a white man of color.<\/h4>\n

Taking a dig at her husband, Margot purred to Wilson, \u201cAnd I want so<\/em> to see you perform again. You were lovely this morning. That is if blowing things\u2019 heads off is lovely.\u201d<\/h4>\n

What\u2019s wrong with Francis Macomber? Nothing, really. No worse than you or me, he\u2019s likely a few grades better.<\/h4>\n

Hemingway, \u201cFrancis Macomber was very tall, very well built if you did not mind that length of bone, dark, his hair cropped like an oarsman, rather thin-lipped, and was considered handsome.\u201d He\u2019s not weather beaten, though, like Wilson. Francis had an \u201cAmerican face that would stay adolescent until it became middle-aged.\u201d<\/h4>\n

More, \u201cHe was very wealthy, and would be much wealthier, and he knew she would not leave him ever now. That was one of the few things that he really knew. He knew about that, about motor cycles\u2014that was earliest\u2014about motor cars, about duck-shooting, about fishing, trout, salmon and big-sea, about sex in books, many books, too many books, about all court games, about dogs, not much about horses, about hanging on to his money, about most of the other things his world dealt in, and about his wife not leaving him.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Though a renowned beauty, Margot was no longer young, and Francis was simply too rich.<\/h4>\n

Civilized and domesticated, Francis Macomber was simply out of his elements in the African bush. The night before the lion hunt, he heard the lion roaring somewhere nearby and was terrified. In the morning, this fear increased because it was almost time to confront this lion.<\/h4>\n

Hemingway:<\/h4>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s the matter, Francis?\u201d his wife asked him.<\/h4>\n

\u201cNothing,\u201d Macomber said.<\/h4>\n

\u201cYes, there is,\u201d she said.<\/h4>\n

\u201cWhat are you upset about?\u201d<\/h4>\n

\u201cNothing,\u201d he said.<\/h4>\n

\u201cTell me,\u201d she looked at him. \u201cDon\u2019t you feel well?\u201d<\/h4>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s that damned roaring,\u201d he said.<\/h4>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been going on all night, you know.\u201d<\/h4>\n

\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you wake me,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019d love to have heard it.\u201d<\/h4>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got to kill the damned thing,\u201d Macomber said, miserably.<\/h4>\n

\u201cWell, that\u2019s what you\u2019re out here for, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/h4>\n

\u201cYes. But I\u2019m nervous. Hearing the thing roar gets on my nerves.\u201d<\/h4>\n

\u201cWell then, as Wilson said, kill him and stop his roaring.\u201d<\/h4>\n

\u201cYes, darling,\u201d said Francis Macomber. \u201cIt sounds easy, doesn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/h4>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not afraid, are you?\u201d<\/h4>\n

\u201cOf course not. But I\u2019m nervous from hearing him roar all night.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Terrified, he\u2019s reduced to a boy seeking reassurance and encouragement from his mom. He\u2019d rather be somewhere much safer, it\u2019s clear.<\/h4>\n

They went out to look for the lion. Finding him easily, it was time for Francis to shoot, except he didn\u2019t want to get out. Ridiculously, he wanted to target the beast from inside the car, but Wilson said no to that. It\u2019s just not done.<\/h4>\n

Out, Francis\u2019 hands shook and his legs could barely move, but he managed to get into position, aimed and fired, yet nothing happened. He had forgotten to move the safety over. Finally ready, Francis fired three shots, with two hitting the lion, but not in optimal places. Infuriated, the hurt lion disappeared into some high grass to await his revenge.<\/h4>\n

Neither Wilson nor the black gun bearers were happy with this outcome. Now, they had to wait for the beast to weaken before pouncing on his hiding place to finish him off.<\/h4>\n

Dreading this, Francis absurdly suggested they set the grass on fire, send some boys in to flush the lion out, or just leave. Shamelessly, Francis even told Wilson out right, \u201cI don\u2019t want to go in there.\u201d So don\u2019t, Wilson replied, \u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019m hired for, you know. That\u2019s why I\u2019m so expensive.\u201d<\/h4>\n

This was no real option, however, because Margot was right there, just across the stream. Slinking back to her would crush Francis, but what ended up happening was even worse.<\/h4>\n

Hemingway, \u201cKongoni, the old gun-bearer, in the lead watching the blood spoor, Wilson watching the grass for any movement, his big gun ready, the second gun-bearer looking ahead and listening, Macomber close to Wilson, his rifle cocked, they had just moved into the grass when Macomber heard the blood-choked coughing grunt, and saw the swishing rush in the grass. The next thing he knew he was running; running wildly, in panic in the open, running toward the stream.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Going back, Margot refused to look at Francis or even hold his hand. Instead, she leaned over the front seat to kiss Wilson on the lips, while cooing about \u201cThe beautiful red-faced Mr. Robert Wilson.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Worse, Margot slipped into Wilson\u2019s tent that very night. She craved more of his performance. Waking up at 3 in the morning to find his wife\u2019s cot empty, Francis waited for her to return. Just as with the lion, Francis shrank from another challenge to his manhood. No confrontation, please.<\/h4>\n

Hemingway:<\/h4>\n

\u201cWhere have you been?\u201d<\/h4>\n

\u201cI just went out to get a breath of air.\u201d<\/h4>\n

\u201cYou did, like hell.\u201d<\/h4>\n

\u201cWhat do you want me to say, darling?\u201d<\/h4>\n

\u201cWhere have you been?\u201d<\/h4>\n

\u201cOut to get a breath of air.\u201d<\/h4>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a new name for it. You are a bitch.\u201d<\/h4>\n

\u201cWell, you\u2019re a coward.\u201d<\/h4>\n

At breakfast, Francis only alluded to what had happened. Brushing it off, Wilson even warned the humiliated man to not \u201ctalk rot.\u201d<\/h4>\n

On this second day, they hunted buffaloes. Performing marvelously, Francis started to redeem himself. He did so well, in fact, he seemed transformed.<\/h4>\n

Hemingway, \u201cLook at the beggar now, Wilson thought. It\u2019s that some of them stay little boys so long, Wilson thought. Sometimes all their lives. Their figures stay boyish when they\u2019re fifty. The great American boy-men. Damned strange people. But he liked this Macomber now. Damned strange fellow. Probably meant the end of cuckoldry too. Well, that would be a damned good thing. Damned good thing. Beggar had probably been afraid all his life. Don\u2019t know what started it. But over now. Hadn\u2019t had time to be afraid with the buff. That and being angry too.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Having Margot screwed by Wilson had helped to turn Francis into a man, so it was like a gift, the cuckoldry.<\/h4>\n

You would think this sea change cheered Margot, but she hated it, and said so, repeatedly. She was also worried about something she couldn\u2019t quite define.<\/h4>\n

Hemingway gives us a clue. Earlier, Wilson had reflected on American women, \u201cThey are, he thought, the hardest in the world; the hardest, the cruelest, the most predatory and the most attractive and their men have softened or gone to pieces nervously as they have hardened. Or is it that they pick men they can handle?\u201d<\/h4>\n

More of Wilson on American women, \u201cHow should a woman act when she discovers her husband is a bloody coward? She\u2019s damn cruel but they\u2019re all cruel. They govern, of course, and to govern one has to be cruel sometimes. Still, I\u2019ve seen enough of their damn terrorism.\u201d<\/h4>\n

(In 650 pages of Hemingway short fiction, the word \u201cterrorism\u201d only appears twice. Once in the context of the Spanish Civil War, and here, to describe American women\u2019s treatment of their men.)<\/h4>\n

The beauty of fiction is that you can have any character say or think absolutely anything, at least in theory, so this assessment is Wilson\u2019s, not Hemingway\u2019s, though it comes from the author\u2019s mind, of course.<\/h4>\n

This story was published in 1936. If this was true then, let\u2019s say, then what about now? Have American men softened even further as their women hardened even more?<\/h4>\n

The central theme of \u201cThe Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber\u201d is the inability of the civilized man to deal with savage situations. Faced with the primal threat of an enraged lion, Francis simply bolted. How many of us would have done the same?<\/h4>\n

All the savagery Francis discovered in Africa was initiated by him, of course, when he shot at wild animals. A thrill seeker, he brought violence, so was met by a violence that overwhelmed him.<\/h4>\n

Wilson, though, was both civilized and savage, and that\u2019s why Margot was so turned on, \u201cMr. Wilson is really very impressive killing anything. You do kill anything, don\u2019t you?\u201d<\/h4>\n

The barbaric baffles us. Walking along, we just don\u2019t expect to be sucker punched, usually by someone much younger, from behind. We have a hard time understanding such enraged cowardice.<\/h4>\n

I had a white friend, now deceased, who told me about an incidence in his youth. He was out walking with his girlfriend when a black man approached them and snarled, \u201cI want to fuck her!\u201d<\/h4>\n

What would you have done? Forced to respond spontaneously, my friend merely shrugged, \u201cWell, you have to ask her.\u201d<\/h4>\n

More tragically, his young daughter would later be killed by her black boyfriend. The fatherless high school drop-out bashed her skull repeatedly with a hammer.<\/h4>\n

Even before the murder, there were signs of his violence, including a brick thrown through her windshield, but my friend did not forcefully intervene. As an adult, she was entitled to her choices, he reasoned.<\/h4>\n

A world-class academic, my friend was far removed from such mindless savagery. After his daughter had been killed, he suffered daily, and blamed himself, but not in ways you\u2019d think. He should have adopted the black boyfriend, perhaps, brought him into the family and showered him with love, he told me. Everything would have been all right, then.<\/h4>\n

\u201cHe would have killed you too!\u201d I responded.<\/h4>\n

Of course, the most intense savagery is war. It\u2019s so incomprehensibly horrific, one\u2019s first instinct is to flee. Soon as the shooting and shelling start, there\u2019s a massive refugee crisis, but soldiers can\u2019t run. Every society, then, must steel a good portion of its men for this potential savagery. Boys must harden into men.<\/h4>\n

Many today find such thinking offensive. Thankfully, the US military also rejects such a reactionary, binerial mindset. This fighting force won\u2019t just give its sissies an option to become fake women, but gladly pay for the castration. Suddenly dickless, they\u2019ll charge!<\/h4>\n

The buffalo hunt was going along splendidly, but like lions, wounded buffaloes also charged. A massive bull they assumed dead suddenly emerged from the bush. Newly brave and calm, Francis stood his ground to fire at this angry animal, barreling down on him. All his shots were a bit high, however, so merely splintered the huge boss of the buffalo\u2019s horns. As Francis was about to be gored, his wife fired from the car.<\/h4>\n

Deed done, Margot sobbed hysterically over her dead husband. Kneeling beside her, Wilson had no doubts about what had happened. Hemingway:<\/h4>\n

\u201cThat was a pretty thing to do,\u201d he said in a toneless voice. \u201cHe would<\/em> have left you too.\u201d<\/h4>\n

\u201cStop it,\u201d she said.<\/h4>\n

\u201cOf course it\u2019s an accident,\u201d he said. \u201cI know that.\u201d<\/h4>\n

\u201cStop it,\u201d she said.<\/h4>\n

We can assume that, freed of Francis, Margot would quickly find another soft, pliant, easily cowed man, one she could easily control. There were so many then.<\/h4>\n

There are countless more now. Mushy, with man tits, we slouch in the dark to devour savagery on our screens.<\/h4>\n

Linh Dinh\u2019s<\/em><\/strong> latest book is Postcards from the End of America<\/span><\/a>. He maintains a regularly updated photo blog<\/span><\/a>.<\/em><\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Linh Dinh reviews an old Hemingway story and ponders: Have American men softened even further as their women hardened even more?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":231638,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-231634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-Commentary"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=231634"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231634\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":231639,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231634\/revisions\/231639"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/231638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=231634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=231634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=231634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}