Money Can’t Buy Happiness: Using concepts from the Marxist theory to analyze Hemingway’s

The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber

Have you ever taken at look at our hollywood stars and their seemingly happy marriages? These financially well off stars appear to be somewhat caught up in their riches that it directly affect their ability to survive in healthy relationships with their spouses. Lets take for example Kim Kardashian who pulled off the grandest event of the year; her wedding to an equally rich man. Her relationship sadly never lasted beyond seven two days. Yet, one would think that this marriage is going to last since they appeared to have had everything anyone could ever ask for. However, missing from this marriage was happiness, and sad to say, your riches do not define your happiness. Happiness is a feeling of content that comes from within after you have accepted yourself for being you, this way you can share these feelings with others. This was however not the case in Ernest Hemingway’s The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber where two wealthy people struggled to survive in a nonfunctional marriage. Using concepts from the marxist theory one will examine the effects of capitalism on the lives of these characters.

Lois Tyson believes that our socio economic existence determine how power is distributed. It also determines, “how we are educated, and it influences our religious beliefs, which altogether control to a great degree how we perceive ourselves and our world” (53). To counter this, marxist theorist supports a society with no class by claiming that the world we live in promotes ideologies which divide society. Some of the basic concepts described by this theory include classism and capitalism. Marxist theorist believe that capitalism promotes greed among its people, for we constantly compete with each other for wealth. Additionally, classism has the same effect on our society as it merely divides us into groups based on how much money we have and the luxuries we can afford.

Tyson describes classism as “the belief that our value as human beings is directly related to the social class to which we belong: the higher our social class, the higher our natural, or inborn, superiority” (55-56). In Hemingway’s piece we can definitely see classism being played out. For instance, Francis Macomber and wife Margot Macomber, travel to Africa for a getaway. As a recreational activity, they enjoyed regular hunting of the wildlife's there. This emphasises their obvious wealth and status. Here they encounter Robert Wilson, “the white hunter” (Hemingway 1) who later on became the catalyst to their tragedy. Being in Africa is an obvious contrast to this married couples existence and only sheds more light on how classism divides us. We meet native submissives, as one would call them,  who worked extremely hard to make just a little. We meet these natives who, despite the fact that beating was illegal would succumb to beating at any given time rather than being fined by their masters (2) for ill doings. This is the tragedy we face in our world today, and this is the indifference that the marxist theory wants to correct. These natives suffer inhumane treatment from their wealthy masters as they obviously belong to the struggling lower class. This therefore meant that, they cannot afford certain luxuries like their master and the Macombers. It leaves one to ponder whether there is hope for the people, who makes a living serving the elite who cares little for them.

Capitalist ideologies are also evident in Hemingway’s piece.  There are evidence of both competition and commodification. According to Tyson, “Marxist theory suggests that unrestrained competition is oppressive because it tends to ensure that the most selfish, unethical people will rise to the top, as they’re the ones willing to do whatever it takes to win” (58). Mr Macomber despite evidence of an opponent is obviously engaged in competition. He is somewhat competing with himself as though trying to overcome his fears. He is yearning for his wife’s distant affection and so on this trip he makes it a priority to prove himself worthy to her. But can we blame him, when his wife is attracted to their hunting guide? She constantly emasculates him by constantly verbally abusing him despite the presence of others (Hemingway 1-3).

Mrs. Macomber also engages in competition for affection despite the fact that she searches for it in the wrong places. Her constant infidelities are no secret to the readers and sadly to her husband. Mrs. Macomber hopes for a man unlike her husband; one who is physically strong and appealing; the few qualities lacking of her husband. She found all of these qualities in Wilson, who one night she ran off to sleep with (Hemingway 12). She in no way tries to conceal her wrong doings, it is as though she is hosting a competition where deep down she hopes her husband might come out victorious. After her husband again, failed at killing one of the wild life’s she did not hesitate to show her resentment. When he places his hand on his wife she quickly removes it they later turns to Wilson and kisses him on the mouth (Tyson 10).

Tyson describes a commodity as “anything that has a price tag”. He further continues to state that “we commodify something when we relate to it in terms of how much money it’s worth or put another way, how much money it can be exchanged for” (58). In Hemingway’s piece, Mr Macomber commodifies his wife's beauty. He sees his wealth as staking claim to her for he believes that they have survived this long due to his money. Mrs Macomber some what share the same belief only that she believes that her husband will never leave her due to her beauty (Hemingway 11).

Tyson, Louis. "Using Concepts from Marxist Theory." Learning For A Diverse World. Routledge, 2001. 53-61. Print.

Hemingway, Ernest. The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. The Finca Vigia Edition ed. New York,NY: Simon Schuster, 1992. Print.

Like Father; Like Son: Analyzing father-son relations in “Things Fall Apart”

by Chinua Achebe   

The people we are surrounded by as children evidently impact the person we grow up to be. This is especially true for father-son relationships where the son looks up to his father as a positive role model in his life. In essence, this therefore affects the way we eventually raise our own children. Naturally, influences can either be positive or negative; they can either be strong ones or weak ones. In “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, we are introduced to a young Okonkwo whose father (Unoka) has strongly influenced his son’s values and belief systems both positively and negatively. Likewise, the way Okonkwo interpreted his father's role in his life has seriously affected the decisions he later makes when raising his own sons.

Every son’s dream is to have a father who has worked hard to provide financially and emotionally to their needs. They look up to their fathers for a sense of security. This was however not the case for Okonkwo. Everything that he has accomplished in his life was through his hard work and strive for a better life for as Achebe accounts “anyone who knew his grim struggle against poverty and misfortune could not say he had been lucky. If ever a man deserved his success, that man was Okonkwo” (27).  Okonkwo did not have that positive figure of a father while growing up and naturally this was his motivation for working so hard. Unoka was a lazy, poor man who accomplished nothing in life, and as Achebe puts it he was “quite incapable of thinking about tomorrow” (4). He was a shame to his son and his impotence was often chastised by others, notably by the Agbala, who at that time was a priestess called Chiaka. Disgusted by his impotency, she in no doubt failed to drastically compare him to his hard working neighbours. She finally dismissed him saying “go home and work like a man” (Achebe 18). Unoka was someone who owed large amounts of money to almost everyone in his neighbor yet his talent for words allowed him to borrow even more. He had no title or wives; attributes synonymous with wealth. Also, he did not own lands and when he eventually died it was as though his son was forced to mature beyond his years since he had to care for his mother and sisters at such tender age.

Witnessing this, Okonkwo wanted no attachment with his father and so he grew up to “hate everything that his father Unoka had loved. One of those things was gentleness and another was idleness” (Achebe 13). He was extremely determined to be successful despite the way he grew up. His struggle was indeed admirable for he aimed to be nothing like his coward father. His father was often described as weak and this was Okonkwo’s motivation in life, he wanted to be everything that his father was not. This lack of a positive fatherly influence in his life caused him to resent his father more, even in death. He had eventually died of stomach swellings which in the village was an abomination. Luckily for Okonkwo, you were not judged based on your family’s reputation but merely on your own abilities and this was when he got that start to life.

Okonkwo’s fathers’ failure dictated the rest of his life. Okonkwo was so obsessed with trying to avoid his father's traits that it caused him the chance to fully embrace the joys of life. He allowed anger to take over his life and became extremely emotionless, cold hearted and constantly displaying a lack of empathy thereof. These were traits he did not associate with his father, since these were believed to be traits that a woman should possess. He has now created a name for himself however his road to downfall is not quite distant. He becomes obsessed with always appearing “manly” that it has affected his relationship with his own children. His problem was the fact that he wanted to be polar opposites to his dad, no matter the cause. However, he took extreme measures to ensure this. He was impulsive to act and never missed the opportunity to shape his sons in his own image and when his sons were lazy in his eyes, he laments “I will not have a son who cannot hold up his head in the gathering of his clan. I would sooner strangle him with my own hands” (Achebe 33).

Okonkwo’s downfall began following the adoption of Ikemefuna, who spent three years in his care. They eventually grew fond of each other; they somewhat developed a father-son bond. His biggest regret would definitely be from partaking in Ikemefuna’s killing. How can a man, who has grown to love this boy take part in his murder? The answer is simple, Okonkwo did not want to be weak, like his father was. Little did he realize that this decision has affected his relationship with his biological son Nwoye, who had grown fond of Ikemefuna. Eventually, all of Okonkwo’s impulsive decisions drove his son further and further away from him.

The highlight of Okonkwo’s relationship with his son was following his return to the Umuofia after being exiled for seven years for “accidentally” killing someone. Upon his return, Okonkwo was greeted by many changes to the culture he once grew to deeply respect, that is, christian missionaries were taking over and were preaching christianity to the people. Their efforts were becoming successful since villagers were rapidly converting to christianity. Okonkwo felt further betrayed when his own son, Nwoye eventually joins the missionaries who preached that they “have been sent by this great God to ask you to leave your wicked ways and false Gods and turn to him so that you may be saved when you die” (Achebe 145). Okonkwo was obviously distraught by his son’s decision which he refers to as an “abomination”. He continues to state to his other children that Nwoye “is no longer my son or your brother. I will only have a son who is a man, who will hold his head up among my people” (Achebe 172). He then continues by hoping that his daughter Ezinma was a boy for “of all his children she alone understood his every mood” (Achebe 172).

One can certainly infer that Okonkwo’s obsession of not wanting to be like his father eventually caused him in the end to be an unhappy man. He has lost the very things he tried to draw close, yet what he failed to realize is that a child’s influence come through guidance and not by having parents dictate their lives. In his case, he had a father who on occasions offered words of advice to him, yet he was more caught up by the fact that his father was only known for his use of words and not action. Indeed, words go a long way even if we are likely to model what we see than what we hear.  His situation is indeed a sad one, for the very thing he tried to avoid is what he got in the end. His death, like his father was an abomination in the sight in the Igbo culture. Okonkwo’s initial response to his father’s lack of fathering was indeed credible, however he was too caught up with being perfect that in the end he ended up just like his father.

Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Anchor Books, 1994. Print.

TAKE HOME QUIZ

The Ending: Okonkwo’s father, Unoka has greatly impacted his son’s life causing him to be everything that his father was not. That is, a weak, lazy, poor, coward man who died a dishonorable death;  one viewed by the village as an abomination. Naturally, every decisions made by Okonkwo then on was to ensure that he does not end up like his father. One can definitely infer that Okonkwo’s startling demise was somewhat foreshadowed at the beginning of the novel where he constantly tried to maintain his reputation of strong and brave, unlike his dead father. We saw him trying too hard with his sons by trying to shape them in his own image. The killing of Ikemefuna; a boy who he cared for and one who looked up to him as a father, served as the catalyst for Okonkwo’s eventual downfall. He can certainly be described as a tragic hero for he allowed his obsession of  constantly being viewed as a strong man (his tragic flaw) to lead to his downfall. At the end of the novel, Okonkwo commits suicide, an act also viewed as an abomination by the villages’ customs. Sad to say that the very image he tried so hard to avoid, was the one he received in the end, his death was an abomination just like his father’s. For as the Villagers said “it is an abomination for a man to take his own life. It is an offense against the Earth, and a man who commits it will not be buried by his clansmen” (Achebe 207). Indeed, in the end, Okonkwo failed to live up to the reputation he tried to live by.

Fatherhood: Okonkwo was very determined to be successful despite the way he grew up. That is, poor with no inheritance from his father. His struggle was indeed admirable for he aimed to be nothing like his father; a lazy, poor man who managed to accomplish nothing in life but owing money to almost everyone in the village. His father was often described as weak and this was Okonkwo’s motivation in life, he wanted to be everything that his father was not. He lacked a positive fatherly influence in his life and because of this he tried to instill everything “manly” in his own children, especially his sons. Sometimes, it appears as though he tried too hard with his sons by wanting to shape them into his own image. Okonkwo acts on impulse, and when his sons were lazy in his eyes, he laments “i will not have a son who cannot hold up his head in the gathering of his clan. I would sooner strangle him with my own hands” (Achebe 33). He has in no doubt earned reputation and status in his village but his efforts to live up to others expectations caused him to commit a dishonorable act in Nwoye’s (his son) view. He has killed Ikemefuna, a boy who he raised and somewhat groomed into a positive young man causing him to jeopardize his relationship with Nwoye who once looked up to his father.

Women’s right:  Women had no rights in this society. A woman’s role in this culture was solely reserved to that only as wife and mother. They had no say in who they married and the fact that they had to happily coexist in polygamous marriages also limit their freedom. They were beaten by their husbands and had no say regarding matters of the oracle. Throughout the novel, we see women being beaten with no real consequences of the act. For example, when Okonkwo beats his wife for running off to have her hair braided, he was in no way punished for the act. In fact, what he would have been punished for was for beating his wife during the week of peace. We however see a change of events, in chapter ten when a man seeks justice after his wife and children were removed from his care. In the end, it was ruled that the wife returned to her husband for the god’s stated “go to your in-laws with a pot of wine and beg your wife to return” (Achebe 93).This however leaves me to question whether justice was served because of the fact that the wife in this case was severely beaten by her husband or because her brothers rescued her from him. For one elder stated “ I don’t know why such a trifle should come before the egwugwu” (Achebe 94).  In the end, it was felt as though the issue that was disputed was the husband’s claim for his “bride price” to be returned.