|
|
| Plot Summary of To Have and Have Not |
|---|
"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
|
|
| Review Analysis of To Have and Have Not |
|---|
|
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
|
|
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 ()
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
|
|
|
Click here for more information about this book
Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
Use our site!
17 FREE Sci-Fi Ebooks!
FREE "How to be happy" Ebook!
Feedback
Most recent discussions:
General Book Talk
Book writing discussion
Off-topic message board
Suzanne Weyn
10:35:23 PM
George W. Bush
5:33:46 PM
Kin Platt
12:58:29 AM
Anonymous
12:47:34 PM
Lilian Jackson Braun
10:05:52 PM
Jane Rubino
10:04:38 PM
LaVyrle Spencer
10:04:00 PM
G.A. McKevett
10:03:31 PM
David Williams
10:03:01 PM
Steven Pressfield
10:02:30 PM
Jeanette Walls
10:00:19 PM
Darryl Ponicsan
9:59:27 PM
Ann Rinaldi
9:58:30 PM
R.L. Stine
9:57:34 PM
Geoffrey Huntington
9:57:14 PM
Betty Mahmoody
9:56:38 PM
Deric Longden
9:56:11 PM
Mary Downing Hahn
9:55:48 PM
Iris Johansen
9:55:24 PM
Marlo Morgan
9:54:58 PM
More message boards
|
