To Have or Have Not

Set in Key West and Cuba during the Great Depression, this 1937 novel follows Harry Morgan, a fishing boat captain who turns to smuggling contraband to support his family. Faced with economic desperation, Morgan navigates the underworld of human trafficking, rum-running, and illegal weapons transport while clashing with corrupt wealthy tourists, local authorities, and desperate revolutionaries. Hemingway utilizes multiple perspectives to contrast Morgan’s grim fight for survival with the superficial lives of the local elite, offering a stark critique of American capitalism and social decay.