The Lion and Francis Macomber Francis Macomber felt a sudden white-hot, blinding flash in his head as he fell to the ground. In Ernest Hemingway’s story “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” a man named Francis Macomber sets out to hunt a lion. He soon finds out that he has more in common with the lion than he thought as both are shot down and brought to their knees during the bravest time in their lives. Ernest Hemingway added the lion’s point of view to the story “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” because the lion represents Francis Macomber. During a trip to Africa, Margaret and Francis Macomber hire a hunter, named Robert Wilson, to hunt buffalo and lions. When the first lion is shot Francis Macomber runs away, scared that …show more content…
Both Francis and the lion are shot down when they least expect it. The lion knew that Francis was ready with a rifle to shoot him yet, “not afraid…” the lion dipped his head to take a drink, “he saw a man detach itself from it and he turned his heavy head and swung away toward the cover of trees...” the lion believed he was save until he felt a “solid bullet that bit his flank and ripped in sudden hot scalding nausea through his stomach” (Hemingway 15). The lion knew of the danger but did not expect to be shot. Much like the lion, Francis believed that he would be able to kill the beast when he first set out on the hunt but something got in the way. Francis believed that he would be brave enough to face the charging lion, but in the end was too scared and ran away, similarly the lion believed that it would be able to safely drink, yet he was shot and had to quickly run away from the …show more content…
Francis Macomber, Robert Wilson, and the other gun-bearers followed the lion into the grass and as the lion began to charge and Robert Wilson and Francis Macomber prepared to shoot Francis turned around and ran away. “The next thing he knew he was running; running wildly, in panic in the open, running toward the stream” (20). Francis had a chance to prove himself, but did not take it, instead of facing his fears he ran away. Even though Frances was a coward when the lion continued to be brave they still had a lot in common. Both had a goal in mind: to defeat the enemy. Granted, they were each other’s enemy, but each of them traveled the same path and faced the same problem. The lion refused to give up and continued to run into the grass even with several bullets in his body, afterwards he still tried to attack the hunters instead of giving up and allowing them to take his life. Francis Macomber wanted to prove himself to be a true man and that he was not afraid of the lion. He had several chances and each time he got a bit closer to his goal until he eventually achieved it, he never gave up and continued to try and kill the beasts that haunted him. Even as different species the two had a lot in common and never gave up even when time after time they were knocked
In the beginning of the story, Rainsford has a conversation with his friend, Whitney, about hunting animals. Rainford does not care about the animals that he hunts. He believes hunting is only a sport to kill innocent creatures. “‘Who cares how a jaguar feels?’” (1) Showing the reader exactly what he thinks of hunting. Rainsford does not understand that the animals he hunts are like the people that Zaroff hunts. They are innocent, and he is murdering them when he hunts them. Rainsford thinks that Zaroff is insane for murdering people, but Rainsford is also a murderer. When Zaroff hunts Rainsford, the protagonist realizes the terror and pain the jaguars must have felt when he hunted them. Now the roles are reversed, and Rainsford is the one being hunted. “The Cossack was the cat; he was the mouse. The general was saving him for another day’s sport! Then it was that Rainsford knew the full meaning of terror.” (17) Rainsford has changed his feelings about hunting animals now, and he has become a better person. He now takes into account how his prey feels. His interactions with people will also be different, because instead of being extremely overconfident, he realizes that he is not perfectly adept at hunting, and everyone has feelings that matter. In conclusion, Rainsford is now more humble and less overconfident than he was when he began his
“…seeing the creature [Leopard Man] there in a perfectly animal attitude, with the light gleaming in its eyes, and its imperfectly human dace distorted with terror, I realized again the fact of its humanity. In another moment other of its pursuers would see it, and it would be overpowered and captured, to experience once more the horrible tortures of the enclosure. Abruptly I slipped out my revolver, aimed between his terror-struck eyes and fired” (Wells 72-73).
When Rainsford is playing The Most Dangerous Game with the general he realizes something major. Connell writes,”I have played the fox, now I must play the cat of the fable”(Connell 32). Connell illustrates the irony of this phrase because he has always “played the fox” (the hunter), but now that he is playing the most dangerous game with the general the tides have turned. Redford now must “play the cat of the fable”(the hunted). This Redford an insight into the animal 's perspective and it helps him to realize the hardships animals have to face when they are being hunted by a human.
As the deer fed at the marsh's edge, it's tail flickering as it nibbled tender and ripe green growth. Then the nervous animal pauses in it's feeding and lifted its head to listen. Whatever hint of danger the deer had sensed was ignored once the threat could not be located. It stamped a forefoot, lowered its head and began to eat once more, this deer had failed to detect a Florida panther that was downwind (going into the wind) crouched low in the underbrush. Amber eyes however, estimated the distance between himself and the deer. Then at the right moment attacked the deer, with bounds at over twenty feet at a time the panther exploded out of the underbrush pouncing on the deer and forcing it to the ground. Within fifteen seconds that panther stood breathing heavily over his unfortunate victim of life and death. This scene has been going on for many years, the battle of predator and prey, but know the new predators are humans almost virtually wiping out the entire population leaving only an estimated 30 - 50 Florida panthers left.
In the land of the Wicked Witch of the West, the inhabitants are referred to as “yellow Winkies,” and these people, who are “not a brave people,” are afraid to fight the witch and become enslaved. Like the Winkies, the Cowardly Lion believes he is not courageous. He has developed the strategy of roaring to scare his enemies like the Kalidahs, but the Lion runs away when he is challenged. For example, when the Lion meets the great Wizard of the Emerald City, he is prepared to scare the Wizard into complying with his desires; however, the Wizard appears as a Ball of Fire, singeing the Lion’s whiskers, causing the Lion to run away in fear. Yet, when the Lion’s friends are in danger, he demonstrates courage. As the Woodman, the Scarecrow, Dorothy, Toto and the Lion are traveling to the Emerald City, they encounter “a very wide ditch” that is “very deep” and has “many big, jagged rocks at the bottom.” With great risk to himself, the Lion offers to jump across the divide with his companions on his back to bring them to safety. The Lion’s golden mane and cowardly demeanor make him appear yellow, but inwardly he is not. He can not see that he is truly
Soniak, Matt. “The Life and Times of the MGM Lion.” Mental Floss, 21 Oct. 2012. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. .
At first, Rainsford related to and was even impressed by Zaroffthe general for his experience in hunting. HoweverTherefore, when Zaroff explained hishe was told of the General’s new choice in prey, Rainsford was so shocked andthat he was unable to think. However, he still instinctively felt that hunting humans was absurd. When talking to the general about hunting humans, the appalled Rainsford admits that he disagrees with this form of “Hunting? General Zaroff, what you speak of is murder”, but the general refused “to believe that so modern and civilized a young man as you seem to be harbors romantic ideas about the value of human life”(101). Rainsford’s conversation with the General clearly resembles the previous conversation he had with Whitney, where General Zaroff values human life as little as Rainsford valued the jaguar’s life. This is a parallel conversation in which he unknowingly switches sides, disagreeing with his previous argument made in the first conversation. General Zaroff tries to persuade Rainsford to accompany him on a hunting day, but Rainsford continues to refuse claiming that the war “Did not make me condone cold-blooded murder,”(101). In his first conversation with Whitney, Rainsford doesn’t seem to put any thought or regret into hunting animals as prey because he
Looking through the thick pines, Apollo stops and points his tail. His mouth is bearing the ivory-like jaws ready to greet the threat. The stench of death is blowing through the wind. Bruce looks around. First he spots dead carcasses everywhere, then through an opening in the trees all he can see is the gigantic head of a mountain lion mouth dripping with crimson droplets from its fresh kill. The big cat backs away, snapping every branch on the way out. With the adrenaline racing through his veins, Bruce charges through the limbs raising his knife. He gets to where he last saw the beast and then he sees nothing. Not a single track. He kneels down to examine the lions fresh kill. It was a… just then the sensation of knives jabbing into Bruce’s back awakens him from his confused state. The razor sharp claws sink deep into his flesh. Bruce lets out a blood curdling yell as the pads of the enormous feet slide down his back. The only thing Apollo could do to save Bruce is snap at the legs of the mountain lion. As the weight of the giant cat pushing down on Bruce’s back, his legs collapse. The cracking of bone sends shivers up Bruce’s Spine. As he lays there in pain as motionless as can be, he can hear the fight between the cat and Apollo. Bruce cannot move to help Apollo. The snarls and growls rage on for several
Once while hunting for boar with Arab Maina, Arab Kosky, and her dog, Buller, Markham comes face to face with a dangerous, lone lion. In this section, Beryl is extremely descriptive and recalls the memory in a fashion that allows the reader to see the events unfolding through her eyes at a lifelike pace. “Buller and I crouched behind them, my own spear as ready as I could make it in hands that were less hot from the sun than from excitement and the pounding of my heart.” (Markham 87), depicts Beryl’s thrill at the possibility that she may go toe-to-toe with the lion. This excitement outweighs her fear of injury for herself; however, she restrains Buller, as to prevent him from trying to sacrifice himself in the conflict.... ...
comprehends by writing it in a certain point of view. In Rios’ “The Secret Lion,” the first
As many people would know, standing up for what you believe in is very strenuous and it takes a lot of courage. This is clearly shown in the movie Secondhand Lions, directed by Tim McCanlies, when a fourteen-year-old Walter is dropped off by his dishonest and irresponsible mother to visit his two uncles (Garth and Hub) during the summer. The only reason why his Mae, his mother dropped Walter off was so he could find the millions of dollars stashed away with his two uncles, but when he figures this out, he is shocked of the betrayal of his mother, so he decides to change his personality. In the end, Walter changes from his old timid self to someone bold and ready for the world.
Have you ever thought about how an animal feels while being hunted? Well a man named Rainsford, in the book, “The Most Dangerous Game, by Richard Connell,” find out exactly what it feels like to be hunted. Rainsford is both intelligent and kind.
Growing up is unavoidable. No matter how much one tries to hold on to it its inevitable in one way or another we all grow up and mature. The elements used to support this idea are many different ones. The theme for "The Secret Lion” is loss of innocence or childhood; basically the main idea is growing up. This is the case with Alberto Alvaro Rios’s “The Secret Lion.” The whole story revolves around the twelve year old narrator whose name is unknown. But what we do know is that the character is going through changes that he doesn’t quite understand and it takes some time to assimilate.
Michael Ondaatje's In the Skin of a Lion is a text that is given new meaning when viewed from differing perspectives. Readers approach the text with their own unique past and experience, which influences their perception and interpretation of the novel. Two such interpretations are the Post-Modern and Post-Colonial readings of In the Skin of a Lion. These two readings give the text more dimension, and with the awareness that this novel can be interpreted in numerous ways, a reader's understanding is strengthened and deepened.
I recently read Earnest Hemingway's "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber." This is a story about a thirty-five year old man, Francis Macomber who is on an African safari hunt with his wife, Margot. Led by his guide, Robert Wilson, Macomber tries to display his manhood by killing dangerous creatures. This in fact has the exact opposite effect when he humiliates himself by running from a wounded lion. Samuel Shaw stated in Earnest Hemingway, "…this is about much more than a hunting yarn, although it is that, too. It is a story that examines that elemental bases of the male-female relationship and the sources of human freedom and dependence" (82). The situation is complicated when Margot sleeps with Wilson and Macomber knows about it. Macomber has another chance to prove himself when they go into an island of trees to shoot a wounded buffalo. This time he stands his ground and shoots repeatedly as the buffalo charges forward. Seeing the whole situation from the car Margot shoots at the last instant, and in a brilliant ending by Hemmingway, misses and hits Macomber right in the back of the head, leaving the reader to wonder, "Did she mean to hit him?" Prevalent in this story is Hemmingway's use of the literary conventions conflict and ambiguity.