In Our Time (short story collection) which bears similarities to Eliot's "The Waste Land". Eliot's "Waste Land" motif exists throughout much of Hemingway's early fiction, but is most notable in this collection, "The Sun Also Rises" (1926), and "A Farewell to Arms" (1929). He borrowed Eliot's device of using imagery to evoke feeling. Benson attributes similarities between Hemingway and Eliot to Pound, who edited both. Motifs and themes reappear, the most obvious being the juxtaposition of life and death. There are some recurring images such as water and darkness – places of safety. Benson notes how, after reading the first few vignettes and stories, readers "realize
The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber is enough to make one’s life worthwhile. It is no coincidence that Margot is the one who kills him. There is an unresolved debate as to whether she murdered Macomber or accidentally killed him. If she purposefully shoots him, she has preserved her dominance in the relationship and ensures that she will keep his wealth (presumably the only reason they married in the first place). If the shot is accidental, the moment actually becomes quite tender, as well as tragic. She has just observed her husband become a man, and even though she fears how their relationship will change, she