Structure in Hemingway's The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber
Beginning to read “The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber” by Ernest Hemmingway, it is unclear what is happening in the story. Hemmingway does not start his story with an exposition, so the reader has little to no background information and is thrown into the middle of the story. This technique allows the reader to figure out what is happening as they read it rather than giving all the information right away. By obscuring the order of events and not explaining what had happened prior to the beginning of the story, Hemmingway urges the reader to keep reading to find out what will happen next. The reader also experiences the story in chronological order according to Macomber’s thoughts because the events are learned through his stream of conscious and his retelling of memories. When one begins reading, the confusion begins, and the questions start flying. Readers are jolted into a scene where three people are having lunch, and that is all that the author gives to his readers. Readers know nothing about these characters other than the names that are given through- the dialogue after the one sentence that gives the reader the time and location along with a reference to an event that had happened earlier in the day. Other than those minor details, readers are not entirely sure what the story will be about, and that is the exact reason that readers keep reading. They want to know who these people are and what happened that they are “pretending that nothing had happened,” (Hemmingway 1).
Hemmingway continues to build the suspense by slowly adding details throughout the story without revealing any major aspects of what happened. Wanting to know every detail of what happened, readers cannot quit reading. The reader is so focused on what happened with the lion that it is difficult to predict the true outcome of the story. Even though the title predicts his early death, it appears that it might be the lion that ends his life and not his wife, which comes as a surprise.
Hemmingway continues to build the suspense by slowly adding details throughout the story without revealing any major aspects of what happened. Wanting to know every detail of what happened, readers cannot quit reading. The reader is so focused on what happened with the lion that it is difficult to predict the true outcome of the story. Even though the title predicts his early death, it appears that it might be the lion that ends his life and not his wife, which comes as a surprise.