Blog #5: What did Margaret do?

An argument of Margaret Macomber's actions at the end of The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber
Margaret Macomber, towards the middle of the story, emphasizes her husband Francis Macomber's cowardice mainly by acting in a way that shows Robert Wilson, the professional hunter, to be the less cowardly. She does so by, for example, kissing Wilson in front of her husband and sleeping with Wilson, rather than performing any of these affectionate actions for her own husband. As a result, Francis Macomber at first takes offence, and then is inspired to be more courageous, as seen when he shoots the charging buffalo running directly at him (rather than fleeing); Robert Wilson takes pleasure in Margaret's actions, even though he, at first, was unwilling to show openly his developing romantic relation with Margaret.
This brings us to the scene at the end of the story. Margaret, seemingly scared for her husband because of a buffalo charging at him, seemingly attempts to shoot the buffalo but instead hits her husband, killing him. Because of how she demands Wilson to stop talking as if Francis Macomber's death was not a significant event, we can see that she did not mean to kill her husband, or she was trying to kill her husband but at least regretted it halfway (sympathizing with Francis). Wilson remarks, after Francis' death, on subjects like how easy the legal processes will be, speaking of the bull instead of Francis and his death, and noting how Margaret should have used poison to kill her husband.
Based upon the fact that Margaret demanded Wilson to stop talking as if her husband's death was unimportant, one can say that definitely, at the very end, Margaret sympathises for her husband (in her actions). Also supporting this is the how she seemed to be scared for her husband, shooting at the animal that was threatening Francis' life. What the reader can't quite know for sure is what Margaret's thoughts were before the death of Francis Macomber. Margaret's flirtations with Wilson seem to indicate a favorability with Wilson, and disloyalty to Francis. However, these actions may also be thought of as light-hearted affairs, with no intention to harm Francis. If the previous actions of Margaret are considered, they all can be interpreted as being lightly teasing, or a lack of realization that she was negatively affecting her husband emotionally, or the thinking that her actions towards her husband could not possibly have been as offensive enough to cause her husband emotional injury, or a combination between the three possibilities. There is nothing said that completely contradicts these possibilities that I found within the story. In summary, Margaret's actions at the very end seem to be sympathetic towards her husband, and although we don't know what her exact feelings towards Francis are before the ending, it doesn't matter as it isn't necessarily the same as what Margaret thinks at the end.