To Have And Have Not

The quintessential “Have” of the novel, Richard Gordon is a foil for Harry and lives a life of opulence and illusion. While Harry is a man of action who feels worthless, Richard could not be more inactive, and he could not find himself more worthy. He considers himself a reputable novelist who sheds light on societal inequities, and he is complacent in his own cultural import as an artist—however, he does not actually engage the world in an authentic way, and there is arrogance and condescension in his regard for those who suffer the societal inequities he claims to illuminate with his craft. In Chapter 22, he makes his way through a low-income neighborhood in Key West, perceiving it as “Conch town, where all was starched, well-shuttered, virtue, failure, grits and boiled grunts, under-nourishment, prejudice, righteousness, interbreeding and the comforts of religion” (193).

Richard’s marriage is also an illusion; he spends his time pursuing either alcohol or a local triste while Helen courts someone more self-aware and caring. Helen is merely a possession to him, something to which he’s entitled—and when she asks for a divorce, Richard reacts with the anger typical of someone who has had everything in life handed to him. To Richard, the world is his playground, yet when it spins out of control, he seeks inebriation to numb his sense of impotence.

Like many other women in the novel, Harry’s wife did sex work before she met Harry, but her character draws no judgement for this. Instead, Marie is dutiful and loving, intently focused on her family and her relationship with her husband. She is the novel’s lone source of encouragement for Harry. The depth and singularity of her love clarify some of Harry’s commitment to preserving the family welfare, giving his devotion and sacrifice a special weight.

Through flashbacks in her memories, it is clear that Marie was once quite conventionally attractive, but age has changed her appearance—a detail the narrative revisits more than once. However, the novel’s emphasis on Marie’s physicality is not the author’s unwitting objectification of the female body: The character’s embodiment—her outward appearance—is a kind of litmus test for others’ inner caliber. Richard passes Marie on the street and relishes a blistering report of her looks, but his shallow contempt is a foil to Harry’s fierce love for the same woman.

Marie’s moments of intimacy with Harry are the only true human connection in the novel. After Harry’s death, Marie falls into despondency for a few weeks before adopting her husband’s stoicism. She faces a future without him with strength and conviction.

Albert represents the poor local faction of Key West, the “Have Nots.” Financially destroyed by the economic downturn of the Depression, Albert cannot find enough work to sustain his wife and children, who often go hungry. To cope with his inadequacies as a father and husband, he spends his time at Freddy’s bar, spending what money he has on alcohol. His persistence to help Harry with the Cuban escape trip and earn a few dollars to feed his family leads to his demise, as his moral refusal to assist bank robbers causes Roberto to shoot him. Harry’s decision to throw Albert’s body overboard is perhaps the most contested decision of the novel, as it prevents his wife from saying her final goodbyes.