In both short stories, Hemingway uses direct and indirect characterization to highlight his personal convictions about masculinity and femininity.

As a writer, Hemingway tended to favor traditional portrayals of manhood. After being injured in the line of duty during World War 1, Hemingway had little patience for effeminacy of any kind. In his view, the ideal man was physically strong, confident, and stoic in the face of defeat or pain.

In "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber," Hemingway uses direct characterization to highlight his contempt for Francis. His male protagonist is described as "very tall" and "very well built." Francis "had a number of big-game fishing records" but has shown himself to be a "coward" in a very public way.

When a lion attacks the safari group, Francis flees rather than stands his ground. For this act of cowardice, he earns the contempt of his beautiful wife, Margaret (Margot), who indulges in an open affair with Robert Wilson, the safari guide. Hemingway uses indirect characterization to epitomize his disgust with both Francis' cowardice and Margot's treachery.

Hemingway believed that physical strength and courage were essential elements to masculine well-being. He also believed that the most masculine men had to guard against the duplicity of the feminine sex. In the story, Hemingway uses indirect characterization (the words and thoughts of Margot, Francis, and Wilson) to highlight these personal convictions.

Margot, for instance, wonders aloud,

What importance is there to whether Francis is any good at killing lions?...Mr. Wilson is really very impressive in killing anything. You do kill anything, don't you?

In one fell swoop, she both dismisses her husband's relevance and celebrates Wilson's. Wilson, while attracted to Margot, remains wary of beautiful women: "the hardest, the cruelest, the most predatory" of living beings.

So important is physical strength in Hemingway's conception of masculinity that he portrays men who lack it as deeply unhappy in their state. In "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," Harry bemoans his reliance on his wife's wealth.

"Yes," he said. "Your damned money was my armor. My Sword and my Armor."

"You bitch," he said. "You rich bitch. That's poetry. I'm full of poetry now. Rot and poetry. Rotten poetry."

Hemingway uses indirect characterization (through Harry's words) to highlight the fact that men can only subsist, not thrive, on feminine strength. Female gifts are, at best, untrustworthy. This is evident in "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber." After Margot shoots Francis, Wilson quips darkly, "That was a pretty thing to do...He would have left you too." The implication here is that Margot meant to kill Francis (again, that distrust of female motives). For more insight into Hemingway's conceptions of femininity and masculinity, refer to the link below.