A coward is a man who fails at attaining courage to do something. The difference between a coward and a brave man is the overthinking of things. The coward is a selfish man who thinks twice unlike the brave man. Men fear what they lack knowledge over, and the brave think they know the obstacle they face. Wilson, Margot, and the lions all support the unmanliness of Macomber coming from his cowardice in "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" by Ernest Hemingway. Robert Wilson portrays an ideal aspect of what a real man should be. Wilson is brave when it comes to coming face to face with a beast, unlike Macomber. Macomber and Wilson are both males, but only Wilson proves to be a man. Macomber says “I bolted like a rabbit”, to Wilson after
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Not only does Macomber flee from a lion once like a coward, but twice. Macomber let fear take over, and ran out of the way both times the lions charged at him. A concept of masculinity is “anything that men think about and do to be men”, and in this case going hunting is a sport men seem to do (Gutmann 386). Though Macomber gave it a try he failed twice. The second time he came across the lion he shot, hitting it twice making him seem manly enough. The lion was not dead, and refuged itself in a bad location making it dangerous to search for it without risk. Knowing such information Macomber said “Why not just leave him?” indicating he feared to come across the injured lion, and rather ignore the situation leaving the lion to its fate (Hemingway 656). Macomber wanted to leave the task incomplete due to fear, or rather his unmanliness. He wanted to “find courage to tell Wilson to go on without him and finish off the lion”, because he lacked the masculine qualities to do it (Hemingway 657). Macomber struggled to even find the courage to let Wilson know he was too scared to proceed with finishing off the lion, and failed at it too. Macomber gave off a perspective of being courageous to go in and finish the job, but it was only because he lacked the courage to stand up for what he felt. It has been mentioned that “to be credited a man, the male should present a convincing act of manhood” (Schrock and Schwalbe). Pretending he wanted to go in after the lion on resulted in demeaning his manliness a lot more as he fled, and an unconvincing act of manhood. Men stand their ground; Macomber fled, and men are anything women are not (Gutmann
Not only does Macomber flee from a lion once like a coward, but twice. Macomber let fear take over, and ran out of the way both times the lions charged at him. A concept of masculinity is “anything that men think about and do to be men”, and in this case going hunting is a sport men seem to do (Gutmann 386). Though Macomber gave it a try he failed twice. The second time he came across the lion he shot, hitting it twice making him seem manly enough. The lion was not dead, and refuged itself in a bad location making it dangerous to search for it without risk. Knowing such information Macomber said “Why not just leave him?” indicating he feared to come across the injured lion, and rather ignore the situation leaving the lion to its fate (Hemingway 656). Macomber wanted to leave the task incomplete due to fear, or rather his unmanliness. He wanted to “find courage to tell Wilson to go on without him and finish off the lion”, because he lacked the masculine qualities to do it (Hemingway 657). Macomber struggled to even find the courage to let Wilson know he was too scared to proceed with finishing off the lion, and failed at it too. Macomber gave off a perspective of being courageous to go in and finish the job, but it was only because he lacked the courage to stand up for what he felt. It has been mentioned that “to be credited a man, the male should present a convincing act of manhood” (Schrock and Schwalbe). Pretending he wanted to go in after the lion on resulted in demeaning his manliness a lot more as he fled, and an unconvincing act of manhood. Men stand their ground; Macomber fled, and men are anything women are not (Gutmann