Pizza Nobnom 1

Mr. Jamie
English 12
October 3, 2017
A Pathway Towards Freedom

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. A famous

quote, derived from Winston Churchill, emphasizes the importance of courage. Regardless of

being afraid, braveness can grant many opportunities for people to survive independently in their

everyday life. This refers back to the story called The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber,

which displays a clear plot of how courage frees a man who is once controlled by his own wife.

With the courage he has gained, he is no longer dependent on his wife. The author, Ernest

Hemingway, therefore illustrates courage as a skill that can provide freedom from the insult, the

shackles of social avarice, and the slaves from their owners.

In the beginning of the story, though Francis Macomber keeps himself fit and good-

looking, he is placed in the position of revealing his cowardice. Becoming braver and wiser,

Macomber yet escapes the insult and disrespect from people surrounding him in which has

unlocked him to be more free. Macombers action of running wildly away from the lions during

the hunt has caused Wilson and other servants in the situation to look at him with contempt.

Besides those people, his wife Margaret also feels ashamed of her own husband for showing his

cowardice publicly. Her feelings and thoughts are described through her reaction toward Wilson:

While they sat there his wife had reached forward and put her hand on Wilsons shoulder. He

turned and she had leaned forward over the low seat and kissed him on the mouth. (page 10) By

responding after seeing her husband runs away from the lions with such a behaviour, Margaret has

showed dominance over Macomber in front of other people. This reflected the behaviour of

contempt that she feels and at the same time established an intense atmosphere, making Macomber

become even more ashamed for what he does. Nevertheless, Macomber tends to gain more

manliness as the story carries on, which helps to diminish the insult he has to face. The example
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is presented as Margaret sees a change in Francis Macomber: Macomber felt wild unreasonable

happiness that he had never known before. In this situation after he grew in courage, Macomber

becomes a man who has successfully gained freedom from all insults.

Meanwhile providing freedom from the insult, courage can destroy the shackles of social

avarice. Throughout the story, the marriage between Francis Macomber and Margaret does not

seem to work at all. Instead it is an obligation made between the two people for a good

reputation in the society. Ernest Hemingway displays a description of this couples marriage:

They had a sound basis of union. Margot was too beautiful for Macomber to divorce her and

Macomber had too much money for Margot ever to leave him. (page 11) It is clear that both of

them do not actually love each other, but it is the greed of hegemony that keeps them together.

As he can overcome his own fear, Macomber is, however, not depended on his wife. He has the

ability to abandon Margaret and it is noticeably seen that she was actually afraid of him leaving

her. As a consequent, Macomber frees himself from the shackles of social avarice by living his

life more courageously.

Moreover, courage can also contribute to release slaves from their owners. In other

words, people will become more self-reliant, having higher opportunities to express their ideas

and opinions. They will not have to tolerate powerful people in which is similar to Macombers

case in the story. This sample is seen when Macomber caught his wife cheating on him:

Thats a new name for it. You are a bitch.

Well, youre coward.

All right, he said. What of it?

Nothing as far as Im concerned. But please lets not talk, darling, because Im very

sleepy.?
Pizza Nobnom 3
Mr. Jamie
English 12
October 3, 2017
You think that Ill take anything.

I know you will, sweet.

Well, I wont.

Please, darling, lets not talk. Im so very sleepy.

There wasnt going to be any of that. You promised there wouldnt be.

well, there is now, she said sweetly.

You said if we made this trip that there would be none of that. You promised.

Yes, darling. Thats the way I meant it to be. But this trip was spoiled yesterday. We

dont have to talk about it, do we?

You dont wait long when you have an advantage, do you?

Please lets not talk. Im so sleepy, darling.

Im going to talk.

Dont mind me then, because Im going to sleep. And she did. (page 12)

While Macomber is trying to convince his wife to talk, Margaret instead ignores and choose to

show her power over him by treating Macomber as a baby boy. Contradicting this incident,

Margaret yet changes her behaviour after she sees her husbands courage to hunt the buffaloes:

Youve gotten awfully brave, awfully suddenly, his wife said contemptuously, but her

contempt was not secure. She was very afraid of something. (page 18) Since Macomber becomes

a brave person when going for the buffalos hunt, Margaret suddenly feels unsure about making

an insult to her husband. Though she is attempting to make one, she is insecure and does not

show an obvious contempt behaviour like the first time. By this, the author has revealed that

gaining courage can help to grant freedom from being slaves from their owners.
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In conclusion, courage plays an important role as a key towards freedom for Francis

Macomber. It has changed a man who has always depended on his wife into a fearless person full

of courage. Thus, Ernest Hemingway accentuates the importance of courage through the way it

can liberate people from the insult, the shackles of social avarice, and the slaves from their

owners. This will ultimately enhance the prospect for Macomber to have a higher quality of

vitality, being able to maintain his productivity in everyday life.

Pizza Nobnom 5
Mr. Jamie
English 12
October 3, 2017
Reflection on My Essay

The purpose of writing this essay is to demonstrate the benefit of courage. I thought that

creating an essay about this topic would help other readers to have a better understanding of the

relationship between the term courage and freedom. At the same time, I also wanted the readers

use these examples of Macombers life as a guide to escape circumstances of being under

powerful people.

According to this essay, I included two major literary devices, which are symbolism and

imagery. For symbolism device, I picked different examples of how Ernest Hemingway

displayed courage as a skill that can be used to liberate people. The imagery is, however, shown

in the quotes that were presented in each paragraph. These quotes will be able to provide a better

image of what it is like in the situations and conflicts that Macomber has to face.

Despite different literary devices, this story has also allowed me to improve my critical

and analytical skills in reading. I got to learn the analogy of each plot as well as identified

varieties of symbols that the author uses to represent the feelings of each character. Nevertheless,

one of the elements that I found fascinating while reading this story is its theme. The theme of

The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber is very unique. It establishes a clear message that

emphasizes the importance of courage and how it can provide freedom for people. By this, I

could apply this concept in my life later in the future which will help me to maintain a higher

quality of life.