To Have and Have Not: Analysis of Major Characters
**Overview of "To Have and Have Not: Analysis of Major Characters"**
"To Have and Have Not" presents a compelling exploration of the major characters navigating the socio-economic landscape of 1930s Key West, Florida. Central to the narrative is Harry Morgan, a rugged and athletic charter boat owner who, faced with moral dilemmas and financial strain, finds himself drawn into illegal activities. Despite his scrupulous honesty and commitment to his family, Harry’s struggle against corrupt forces leads to tragic consequences. His wife, Marie, a former call girl, embodies both strength and dependency as she fully commits to their life together.
Other significant characters include Albert Tracy, Harry's loyal but unambitious right-hand man; Eddy, an alcoholic whose fears prevent him from acting decisively; and Richard Gordon, a superficial novelist grappling with his identity. Helen Gordon, Richard’s wife, contrasts with the Morgans as she seeks deeper meaning beyond their superficial lifestyle. The narrative also introduces Freddy, a nonjudgmental saloon keeper, and Wallace Johnston, an affluent yacht owner, both representing the “haves” and their disconnections from the harsher realities faced by the “have nots.” This character analysis highlights the intricate dynamics of class, morality, and personal struggle within the broader social context of the time.
To Have and Have Not: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Ernest Hemingway
First published: 1937
Genre: Novel
Locale: Florida and the Caribbean
Plot: Social realism
Time: The mid-1930's, during the Great Depression
Harry Morgan, the owner of a charter fishing boat based in Key West, Florida. He is a big, powerfully built, athletic man in his early forties, ruggedly handsome and scarred by a life of adventure, which has made him even more attractive to women, an attraction enhanced by his indifference to its effect. He knows and loves the sea but has been forced to work as a guide for rich and ignorant tourists. When times are hard, he runs liquor on the Caribbean. Although he is scrupulously honest in his dealings with people, he is worried about his responsibilities to his wife and children. Under the pressures of corrupt and immoral local officials, he moves beyond the law into a series of dangerous and illegal voyages that eventually lead to his death. He tries to be decent and honorable according to his own set of principles, but he is overmatched by evil men and an inclination toward violence that finally goes beyond his control. Even during scenes in the novel in which he is not actively present, his daunting individuality hovers around the other characters as a measure of their courage, wit, and fundamental decency.
Marie Morgan, Harry's wife and the mother of his three daughters, formerly a call girl. She is a big and handsome woman, with bleached blonde hair, still attractive in her mid-forties in a Rubenesque fashion but on the verge of losing her edge and sliding toward excess. She is deeply in love with her husband, strongly attracted to him physically and very dependent on him. Although she has the strength to survive on her own, she has committed her life completely to him and, to a lesser extent, to their children.
Albert Tracy, Morgan's right-hand man and first mate. Tracy is roughly middle-aged, nondescript in appearance, not particularly intelligent, not especially strong, and not at all imaginative. He lives on welfare much of the time and tries to keep his complaining wife moderately satisfied. Morgan likes and trusts him because he is reliable, faithful, loyal, and competent at his job: “dumb but straight and a good man in a boat,” Morgan says. He tends to be cautious and has no real driving force in his life, but he shows the kind of courage Morgan values. He dies absurdly, sticking close to Morgan on his last ride.
Eddy, a “rummy” who sometimes works for Morgan. He has lost the courage to act decisively except when fortified by alcohol. Morgan understands him and sympathizes to an extent with his fears, but Morgan is ultimately disgusted with him and regards him as a failure who does not have the character to face death and danger with some degree of grace. His walk, which is described as “sloppy” with “his joints all slung wrong,” typifies his lack of control and his absence of style.
Richard Gordon, a successful novelist, still youthful in the manner of a man who can afford the best clothing and care and the privileged existence of a celebrity. He is not a bad writer, but he has sacrificed a part of his soul to maintain his carefree pattern of living. He and his wife have no children, no permanent residence, and many affairs. Whereas Morgan knows who he is and what he must do to protect his honor, Gordon has no clear conception of himself and is disturbed by his uncertainty about how to act in a crisis. His writing is slick but superficial, contrived to exploit commercial opportunities, and he is no real judge of character, a crucial prerequisite for a real artist. When his wife leaves him for a less flashy but more substantial man, he is thrown into a kind of chaos he cannot resolve.
Helen Gordon, his wife, an extremely attractive woman in her early thirties, with dark hair, clear skin, and a need for something beyond the frivolous existence that they have been leading. She is instinctively aware of some deeper aspects of her character that have been suppressed and is willing to give up the brittle pleasures they share to find something of more enduring value. She and her husband form a kind of parallel to the Morgans, a pair of “haves” in contrast to the Morgans, who are “have nots” in the economic sense. The separation may drive both Helen and her husband into closer contact with the exigencies of life that have shaped Morgan and his wife.
Freddy, a saloon keeper, a friend of Morgan, who appreciates his special character and tries to treat everyone with a degree of honesty and respect. He is one among several minor characters who appear on the streets, wharves, and bars of Key West who are not motivated by selfishness or the pleasures of power and control. He speaks Spanish and English, is worldly and experienced, is basically nonjudgmental, and appears likable in an ordinary way. He is another of the “have nots” who actually has a genuine sense of value and worth.
Wallace Johnston, the owner of a yacht, with a master's degree from Harvard and money from silk mills. At the age of thirty-eight, he is the epitome of the kind of “have” who is essentially harmless but who lacks any kind of insight, knows nothing of life beyond the club, and in his idle ignorance contributes to the economic conditions of the Depression, which have forced men such as Morgan over the line.