Structure

The short story “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” by Ernest Hemingway has a linear plot structure. The story begins in medias res, describing the aftermath of the first hunt: “It was now lunch time and they were all sitting under the double green fly of the dining tent pretending that nothing had happened” (p. 1, ll. 1-2). The opening sentence grabs the readers’ attention and makes them wonder about what happened. We learn from the conversations which follow that a lion was killed, and everyone credits Macomber for it, although it is Wilson’s kill. In a flashback, Macomber remembers how the lion was killed. (p. 5-11, ll. 44-10).

The main characters are engaged in several conflicts throughout the narrative. The main conflict is between M...