The Apllication Of Freud’s Psychoanalysis Concept In “The Short Happy Life Of Francis Macomber” Short Story

Theory Review

According to Concise Oxford Dictionary, psychoanalytic criticism is a form of literary criticism which uses some of the techniques of psychoanalysis in the interpretation of literature works. Psychoanalysis became a form of therapy which aims to cure mental disorders ‘by investigating the interaction of conscious and unconscious element in the mind’ (Barry, 1995: 96).

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) was growing this theory. Many of Freud’s ideas  of  psychoanalysis are Repression, Oedipus Complex, Displacement, and a three-part which dividing into the ego, the super-ego, and the id,  these three ‘levels’ of the personality roughly corresponding to, respectively, the consciousness, the conscience, and the unconscious (Barry, 1995: 97).

Repression is the idea in which is the traumatic in the past and than pressure the desire. Oedipus complex is ones of Freud ideas about sexuality. That is the children depend on they parents in opposite sex. “The male (girl) infant conceives the desire to eliminate the father and become the sexual partner of the mother,” Barry explains.  Displacement is transfer of something similar. It is associated with dream work that ‘real event’ or desires are transformed into dream image. And a three-part (id, ego, and super-ego). Id works in keeping with the pleasure principle, which can be understood as a demand to take care of needs immediately. It doesn't know what it wants in any adult sense, it just knows that it wants it and it wants it now. It hasn’t satisfied some need. Id needs the controller. And ego is problem-solving to control the id. The ego, unlike the id, functions according to the reality principle. It is become human consciousness. 

It is completed with super-ego that has two functions are:
“One is the conscience, which is an internalization of punishments and warnings. The other is called the ego ideal. It derives from rewards and positive models presented to the child. The conscience and ego ideal communicate their requirements to the ego with feelings like pride, shame, and guilt…” (C. George Boeree).

In this case, We would prefer to take one concept that is the last concept of Freud above. And then this concept will apply into Ernest Hemingway’s Short Story “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”.

The Apllication Of Freud’s Psychoanalysis Concept In “The Short Happy Life Of Francis Macomber”

In this short story there are many main characters. Such as: Francis Macomber is an American. He and his wife, Margot, tried to hunt into Africa. Especially The story began when they went to safari. On their safari accompanied by European guides experienced in this story, the guide is a ruddy-faced Englishman and professional hunter named Robert Wilson, who seems to have the same amount of contempt for the bungling hunter Macomber as he does for the bitchy Margot.

Margot is interested in Wilson and she makes affair with him. In short, the next day Macomber stands his ground and fires at a charging buffalo, "shooting a touch high each time and hitting the heavy horns, splintering and chipping them like hitting a slate roof..." Margot grabs a gun, ostensibly to stop the still-charging buffalo, and shoots Macomber, killing him. Wilson, having witnessed Macomber's change of character, tells Margot, "He would have left you too." Though Wilson says he will report Macomber's death as accidental. It is—by some interpretations at least—unclear whether his wife had shot him on purpose or by accident.

As the story, we learn that Francis Macomber has tried to shoot a lion but failed, running from the wounded animal in fear. Although Wilson assures Macomber that this was a perfectly normal reaction for a novice hunter, it is clear that neither he nor Margot think so. When Margot tells Francis that she "needs" an alcoholic drink but also a boring-tool, she implies that what she really needs is a manly husband. The story’s conflict is not only between Margot and Macomber, or between Macomber and Wilson; it is between Francis Macomber and himself. We can predict that later in the story, Francis will have another opportunity to prove his masculinity; and this time, instead of running from danger, he will pursue it. Unfortunately for Francis, just as he gets ready to kill the charging buffalo, Margot raises her own gun and kills her husband. This ending is very enigmatic.

But from this conflict in the story, I will try to apply the Freud’s concept on character Margot, Macomber wife (intern-individual conflict or psycho-conflict).  The Margot desire was represented id which uncontrolled. She wasn’t satisfied and to satisfy her desire. So called became unconsciousness, She make affair with Wilson “She is Macomber wife”.  Even when shot her husband, Macomber, in the end story.

Margot was ignored the norm (super-ego) and the reality “she is a Macomber’s wife” (ego). The ego can’t consider the Margot reason (can’t to keep the id). Hemingway way represented life as safari, and he describe that life is like in forest which ‘wild life’, hunt each other, and life is in order to satisfy  the ‘need’ and desire. 

Margot was represented as woman who lives in ‘wild life’ and she was uncontrolled. She was unconscious face the life-problem (not only her desire self, but also Wilson’s harassment and reality-problem). She lost controlled.