English > “Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”

The title “The short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” has several possible meanings. Initially, how did you interpret the title? How did you interpretation change after a second reading?

At the beginning, when I started to read the book, I had the impression that the main character’s, Francis Macomber’s life is a happy life. Then I started to wonder why the author gave the short happy life as a title. As we can see, his thirty-five years old, and thirty-five years is not really a short life to live. The fact that his life is a happy one, is obvious immediately. He’s on a safari with his beautiful life, and just shot a huge lion. Reading on, we can see that his life is not exactly as happy as we thought. His wife is a rather unfaithful woman, and the only reason they not divorced yet is that they’re used to each other. When Margaret sleeps with Wilson, it becomes apparent that Macomber’s life is everything but happy. Then I started to wonder about the title. And finally, right before the search for the buffalo in the last scene, he says it. “You know I don’t think I’d ever be afraid of anything again.” This is the sign that his happy life is just about to start. And we can feel that it’s going to end and as suddenly as it started. .