To Have and Have Not, is my latest Ernest Hemingway's book. Again, the booze drinking makes me sick. No matter how broke the characters are, they always find the means to drink!
In To Have and Have Not, Henry Morgan is a captain of a fishing charter. He's married with three daughters and is always conscious of his responsibilities as a husband and father. It keeps him searching for the means to support them, and this leads him to take on illegal jobs.
The setting is depression era, Florida. To Have and Have Not started with a good charter, but the customer skips out without paying. Henry needs money. His next job is to smuggle people into Cuba. Unfortunately, Henry kills the ringleader who was double-crossing the poor people needing help.
Henry sneaks illegal rum into prohibition Florida. He almost gets caught and does get his arm shot. He loses his boat, too; it was confiscated by federal agents. Henry's arm had to get amputated.
Lastly, Henry agrees to transport four Cuban revolutionaries to Cuba. While waiting for these passengers, a bank is robbed. This was all planned and Henry's boat is the get-away boat!
Away they go and go. Henry's friend and first mate, Albert is shot, by these revolutionaries. It was really unnecessary and Henry is enraged. He goes below deck and gets his gun and shoots all his passengers. In the melee, Henry is shot in the stomach.
When the coast guard find them, they see everyone is dead and Henry is dying. Henry's family is so bereft, that his wife can't get herself together to go to his funeral. The novel ends with her resolved to carry on, just as Henry always did.
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