The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" is a short story by Ernest Hemingway. Set in Africa, it was published in the September 1936 issue of "Cosmopolitan" magazine concurrently with "The Snows of Kilimanjaro". The story was eventually adapted to the screen as the Zoltan Korda film "The Macomber Affair" (1947). "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" is a third person omniscient narrative with moments of unreliable interior monologue presented mainly through the points of view of the two leading, male characters, Francis Macomber and Robert Wilson. Francis and his wife, Margot,
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