"Harry Morgan is literally trying to stay afloat in the depression-era 1930s. His boat is his only source of income - whether through legal party-fishing or illegal smuggling of rum, people or anything else that will pay. It's a sometimes violent business that keeps Harry on the edge of disaster.
The story opens with Harry's refusal to carry Cuban revolutionaries to the United States. As the revolutionaries leave the cantina in which they have been negotiating, they are gunned down.
Harry's next venture is a marlin-fishing expedition with a wealthy businessman. The man refuses to follow instructions and loses a huge fish, along with Harry's tackle and line. He blames Harry for his failure to catch any marlin and runs off without paying some $500 in charter fees, plus the damage to nearly $300 worth of equipment. In order to find the money to return to Key West, where he lives, Harry agrees to ferry illegal Chinese workers to Florida. Upon receiving payment, he murders the contractor, then sets the workers ashore inside Cuba.
The story picks up the following winter. Harry is wounded during a run-in with Cuban government officials while he's carrying a boatload of illegal rum from Cuba. As a result, he loses an arm. Worse still, American Customs Service confiscates his boat.
Harry's friends are working in depression-relief projects or low-paying menial work. With a wife and two kids to support, Harry feels he cannot take this kind of work. Finally, in desperation, Harry agrees steal back his boat and ferry revolutionaries now in the United States to Cuba.
"
David Gordon, Resident Scholar
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Review Analysis of To Have and Have Not
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- depressed
Time/era of story
- 1930's-1950's
Crime & Police story
Yes
Story of
- conman stealing/fraud
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- thief/con artist
Age:
- 40's-50's
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- an organization
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 7 (a good amount)
United States
Yes
The US:
- Southeast
The Americas (not US):
Yes
The Americas:
- The Caribbean
Water?
Yes
Island?
Yes
Island:
- Caribbean Islands
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
