Hemingway Hero Research Paper

A Long Miserable Essay Throughout Ernest Hemingway’s career, the characterizations of his protagonists remained consistent. The classic “Hemingway Hero” is either a code hero or a wounded hero. The coded hero attempts to find meaning in a meaningless world by living according to a personal code. The wounded hero is, as the title obviously reveals, a hero who has been injured physically or psychologically. The two heros come and enter into a student-teacher relationship. The code hero is the teacher who reinvigorates the wounded hero by initiating him into his code. No truer examples of the two “Hemingway Heroes” are found than in Hemingway’s short story, Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber. The wounded hero is portrayed by Francis Macomber while the coded hero is revealed through George Wilson. It is important to note that in Hemingway’s description of Macomber, he appears to be a knowledgeable sportsman. He is thirty-five
Macomber “hatred of Wilson” for sleeping with his wife drives his transformation. The parallels in the events of the the water buffalo to the lion illustrate Macomber's change however, this time Macomber is without fear. The dialogue between Wilson and Macomber changes. After watching Wilson, Macomber knows what to do and Wilson needs only to encourage Macomber instead of having to instruct. Wilson notices that before Macomber was “scared sick and today he's a ruddy fire eater”.
After the shooting, Macomber exhibits the traits of a true hunter by demanding a “drink” instead of water. Wilson is immensely proud of Macomber, similar to how any mentor would when their student success. Wilson notes that “he had seen men come of age before”. Macomber self proclaims that he would “never be afraid of anything again”. As a reward for his transformation Wilson bestows his Springfield rifle to Macomber as a subtle way of accepting Macomber into the guild of professional