Image taken from: http://mistero.tripod.com/essays/macomberlion.html
Overall, I was pleased with my lead this time. I met the time requirement and I thought that my focus on power shifting would generate discussion and student engagement in the novel. In my experience as both an undergraduate and graduate student, in addition to teaching high school students, I have noticed that students are interested in power struggles (whether it be between men and women, different social classes, or parents and children). After receiving feedback on my lead, this inkling was confirmed; my fellow students complimented my topic of examining power shifting (and using the car as a symbol to drive the analysis). Furthermore, the power struggle between men and women and the image that a man "should uphold" in society are themes found in other short stories by Hemingway and are therefore worth looking into. As Showalter suggests, I want students to be excited about what they read, but I want them to read something worthwhile and enlightening. This story has much potential to shed light on Hemingway's craft as an author, especially if I point out to the students the themes that transcend this individual story and how different elements make the story "Hemingwayean."
My goal for my future leads is to slow down. Worried that I would exceed the time requirement, I spoke a bit too fast, but I am determined to pay more attention to my speed next time. Appropriate speed of speech is a technique I mastered when performing in plays and musicals in high school as well as in teaching high school, and it is an aspect of teaching that I can control when I am careful. Also, after writing and delivering my Hemingway lead and listening to everyone else's leads in the class, I am very excited to teach Hemingway in the future.
Below are the notes from my lead:
“The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”:
A Battle for Control
Objective of Discussion:
Students will explore the short story and—through the analysis of symbolism, point of view, and plot development—they will be able to build a clearer picture of Hemingway’s characterization and which character(s) hold power.
Background
· Several articles explain that TSHLFMc is part of a literary battle between Hemingway and Fitzgerald. Friends at one point, by 1935 they had a falling out. Many believe that Francis represents Fitzgerald and Margot represents Fitzgerald’s wife Zelda (O’Meara).
· Common approaches to TSHLFMc include feminist readings, Freudian analyses (in which the gun is a phallic symbol), and numerous analyses of the ambiguous ending.
Power
Assignment: Students should send “idea notes” to me via e-mail about who they feel gains the most power during the story by midnight the night before class, and I will begin class by calling on students to share their ideas and noting particularly good ones in the beginning of class. This activity will demonstrate that various interpretations are possible in this story.
· Various responses may include, but are not limited to:
o Margot:
§ She ends up killing Francis in the end (Hemingway 28), probably inheriting his money and freeing herself up to possibly find someone she loves.
§ She also knows that Wilson illegally uses cars during his hunting practices (Macomber tells Wilson, “Now she has something on you” (24).
o Wilson:
§ He witnesses Margot killing Francis (28) and thus has the upper hand.
§ He has the power to argue that it was intentional murder (whether or not it was), thus preventing Margot from blackmailing him with her knowledge of his illegal hunting practices
o Francis:
§ After killing the lion, he gains a sense of manhood.
§ “You know I don’t think I’d ever be afraid of anything again, . . . You know something did happen to me . . . I feel absolutely different” (25).
§ He dies a changed man.
o Buffalo:
§ The buffalo essentially changes everyone’s lives and identity: Margot becomes a murderer, Francis dies, and Wilson gains control over Margot.
The Car as a Symbol of Control
A few critics have turned to the car as a symbol of who has control over the situation during various points of the story. In his article, J. F. Peirce quotes the words of Carlos Baker:
. . . During the next day’s shooting, we watch the Macombers in their contest for possession of a soul. Hemingway silently points up this contest by the varying positions of the trio . . . in their boxlike open car. On the way . . . Macomber sits in front, with Margot and Wilson in the back. After the day’s debacle, Macomber slumps in the back beside his frozen wife, Wilson staring straight ahead in front. When Macomber has proved himself with the . . . buffalo, it is Margot who retreats to the far corner of the back seat, while the two men happily converse vis-à-vis before her. And finally, as Macomber kneels [It is Wilson, not Macomber who kneels] in the path of the buffalo, it is his wife from her commanding position in the back seat of the car who closes the contest. (qtd. in Peirce 230)
Analysis of Car as a Demonstration of Hierarchy
After Francis panics and runs away from the lion, the men return to the car:
Macomber’s wife had not looked at him nor he at her and he had sat by her in the back seat with Wilson sitting in the front seat. Once he had reached over and taken his wife’s hand without looking at her and she had removed her hand from his. Looking across the stream to where the gun-bearers where skinning out the lion he could see that she had been able to see the whole thing. While they sat there his wife reached forward and put her hand on Wilson’s shoulder. He turned and she had leaned forward over the low seat and kissed him on the mouth. (Hemingway 17)
1. Think of Margot’s physical movement in this passage. How does this spatial movement represent her power at this point in the story? (possible answer: as she leans from the back seat to the front seat, part of her body is physically joining Wilson in the driver’s seat area, which represents control.)
2. What message does her kiss send to the reader about power? (possible answer: her kiss with Wilson demeans her husband and reminds the reader of his lack of manhood and power.)
Later, after Francis shot the buffalo, the men again return to the car. “His wife said nothing and eyed him strangely. She was sitting far back in the seat and Macomber was sitting forward talking to Wilson who turned sideways talking over the back of the front seat” (25).
3. During this car scene, how do their body positions change, and how do these changes reflect changes in power? (possible answers: Margot, instead of leaning forward and kissing Wilson, is slumped in the back, as far away from the driver’s seat as possible. Macomber is now sitting forward, towards Wilson and thus towards the driver’s seat. Wilson still remains in the driver’s seat, but Wilson is turned sideways and thus demonstrates a responsiveness and camaraderie with Francis).
a. If students do not respond or do not highlight these main points, I will give students each a person to focus on. For instance, 1/3 of the room will go back through the text and pay close attention to how Margot’s movements, position, and actions have changed from the previous car ride, 1/3 observe Macomber, and 1/3 observe Wilson. Then they will report back to the class to keep discussion rolling.
Peirce adds another role for the car in the story:
To Margot, the car is a place of segregation as well as an opera box. Each time the men hunt, she is left in its safety—not the safety of the womb, but woman's place by the fire. It is, also, a place where she dominates Macomber and is dominated by Wilson. And it is a weapon to be used for her own purposes after the men chase the wounded buffalo in it. (232)
4. From this perspective, how does the car’s role shift purpose for Margot? (Possible answer: it was a device which secluded her from the men, eventually secluding her further in the sense that it signifies Macomber’s rise in power over her, but then it turns into a catalyst in the murder of her husband, where she gains the upper hand in the end).
Assignment
· Divide the class in half.
o Group A: Defend Margot. Go back through the story and find at least 3 quotes that indicate that Margot did not intend to kill Francis. Write a paragraph per quote, explaining why each quote suggests that she accidentally shot him.
o Group B: Prove that Margot is guilty of intentionally murdering her husband. Go back through through the story and find at least 3 quotes that indicate that Margot purposely shot Francis. Write a paragraph per quote, explaining why each quote suggests that she deliberately shot him.
Works Cited
Hemingway, Ernest. “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber.” Sept. Issue of Cosmopolitan (1936). Rpt. in The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. Finca Vigia ed. New York: Scribner, 1987. Print.
O’Meara, Lauraleigh. “Shooting Cowards, Critics, and Failed Writers: F. Scott Fitzgerald and Hemingway’s Francis Macomber.” Hemingway Review 16.2 (1997): 27-34. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 12 Feb. 2011.
Peirce, J. F. “The Car as a Symbol in Hemingway’s ‘The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber.” The South Central Bulletin 32.4 (1972): 230-32. JSTOR. Web. 13 Feb. 2011.
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