The Best Teacher

Watkins 1

Susan Watkins
Mrs.Smith
English 102
November 10,1997
Thirty Minutes of Happiness
The story "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" depicts a man who is a
coward, until onecertain moment in his life. Francis Macomber lived for thirty-five
years and out of those years on earth, Francis experienced only thirty minutes of
happiness. Ernest Hemingway makes evident that thetitle is going to give the reader a
clue to the plot of the story. Hemingway also uses symbolism to help the reader
understand the relationship between the characters. The third way Hemingway helps thereaders grasp the story is through irony. Hemingway keeps the reader guessing what will
happen in the conclusion. This is a great story that shows how one could overcome
his/her fears. In thisstory, Francis Macomber finally faces his fear and kills the buffalo.
Soon after that he is killed by his wife (Wilson 217).
The first way the author conveys this story is through the significance ofthis title.
"A title is the name of a book, play, poem, motion picture, etc" (Funk and Wagnalls 710).
Frequently, a title will clue the reader into what might take place throughout the body ofstory. The title "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" is a good example for this
type of clueing in the reader. Once the story is read, the reader will realize that Francis
Macomber did have ashort life of only thirty-five years. Only thirty minutes during his
life was spent in happiness after he shot and killed the buffalo that he feared.

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Symbolism is conveniently placedthroughout the story to help the author make
his point evident to the reader. Symbolism is a person, place, thing, or event that
represents something more than just itself. The symbols in this storyare the lion and the
buffalo. These animals symbolize courage and dignity that Francis lacked. For example,
when Francis shot the lion but did not kill it he wanted to allow the lion to live in...