For most people it takes a life changing experience to come full circle and realize their full potential. That's what happened to Francis Macomber in the short story "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber," written by Earnest Hemingway. The story takes place in Africa where Macomber and his wife are on a Safari. At the beginning of the story he shows his timidity by running from the wounded lion, but at the end he shows his potential to be bold by going on the buffalo hunt, successfully making a kill on his own and by standing up to his controlling wife. In the story Francis Macomber starts out a coward that shows the talent to be very courageous.
The fact that Francis Macomber is a coward comes out before it is actually ever told. When Wilson says, ""You know in Africa no woman ever misses her lion and no white man ever bolts""(81), then Macomber replies, ""I bolted like a rabbit"" (81). It is evident from the start that he is not a man with much backbone. As the story continues the reader learns more about how timid Macomber actually is. While they are on the hunt for the injured lion Macomber found out they were going to have to look for him on foot and he said , ""I don't want to go in there"" (89). It became apparent to Wilson just how nervous Macomber is when he looked at him and "he was trembling and had a pitiful look on his face" (89). When it is time for them to go into the grass and look for the lion he finally admits how frightened he is when he said to Wilson, "" I"m just scared, you know"" (90). Macomber goes in the grass on foot although he is extremely scared, but as soon as the lion made his charge Macomber started "running wildly, in panic in the open, running toward the stream" (91). Not only does Macomber display his cowardice in hunting, but he also shows it through his relationship with his wife by letting her call him a coward after she came back from Mr.