To Have and Have Not Summary By Chapter | Ernest Hemingway

• Key Moment: Harry arrives home safely with his money and threatens Eddy into permanent silence.

A Similar Read: The Magic Mountain Summary | Thomas Mann

Part II: Harry Morgan (Fall)

Chapter 6: Wounded in the Mangroves

Harry and a man named Wesley are on a boat in a rough northwest breeze. Wesley is a black man who has been shot in the leg and is in great pain.

Harry is also wounded, but he is focused on steering toward Sand Key. The boat is filled with sacks of liquor, many of which have smashed and soaked everything in booze.

Wesley complains that Harry treats him no better than a dog and should have stopped when they were fired upon. Harry reminds him that stopping would have meant losing the boat and going to jail.

They reach Woman Key and hide in the mangroves to wait for a pickup boat. Harry’s arm is stiff and he cannot bend the elbow.

He attempts to dump the liquor overboard with one hand to get rid of the evidence. Wesley refuses to help, claiming he is too badly shot to move.

Wesley even threatens Harry with a whetstone in a fit of pain‑induced rage. Harry continues to dump the packages slowly as the wind blows through the mangroves.

• Key Moment: A wounded Harry hides in the mangroves with a shot mate and a load of illegal liquor.

Chapter 7: Willie Adams’s Warning

A charter boat named the South Florida approaches Harry’s boat in the mangroves. Captain Willie Adams is steering two wealthy tourists, including Frederick Harrison, a high‑ranking Washington official.

Willie recognizes Harry and knows he is in trouble but tries to protect him. Harrison, through binoculars, sees that Harry is wounded and demands Willie take them over to investigate.

Willie refuses to interfere, but Harrison threatens to make his life miserable. Willie eventually turns the boat around but uses the opportunity to shout a warning to Harry.

He tells Harry to dump the load and get to town because there is a “stool from Washington” on board who wants to pinch him. Harry shouts back his thanks as Willie leads the tourists away.

Harrison is furious that Willie has warned the “lawbreaker”. Willie pretends the tourists’ charter is his priority and keeps them fishing until dark.

Harry is left with the chance to escape before the authorities can move in.

• Key Moment: Captain Willie Adams warns Harry of the government official on his boat, allowing Harry to escape.

Chapter 8: Racing for Key West

Harry finishes dumping the last of the liquor and prepares to move the boat. He uses a hatchet to chop the anchor rope because his right arm is useless.

He starts the engines and heads toward Garrison Bight, hoping to reach a doctor. He reflects on the betrayal in Mariel that led to the shooting, blaming Cubans for the double‑cross.

Wesley continues to complain about his pain, and Harry tells him he will feel worse when the doctor probes the wound. Harry feels dizzy and sick, realizing he has lost his judgment during the ordeal.

He sees the La Concha hotel and the wireless masts of Key West ahead. He feels a “strange, hollow singing” in his heart as he approaches home.

He desperately hopes the doctors can fix his arm because he has “a lot of use” for it. The boat slap‑rushes through the water as Harry pushes the throttle.

He is determined to save both himself and his vessel despite his injuries.

• Key Moment: Harry flees the mangroves for Key West, desperately hoping to save his arm and his livelihood.

Part III: Harry Morgan (Winter)

Chapter 9: The One‑Armed Recruit

Albert narrates the scene at Freddy’s bar where a lawyer named Bee‑lips is looking for Harry. Harry is present, but his arm has been amputated at the shoulder.

He is bitter and gets into a verbal spat with the lawyer about who is responsible for his loss. Bee‑lips tells Harry he has a “good” job for him.

They go into a booth to talk privately, leaving Albert at the bar. When they return, Harry asks Albert if he wants to make a trip.

Harry explains that some “strangers” want to charter his boat to go to Cuba. Albert is hesitant because the customs have Harry’s boat tied up, but Harry plans to steal it.

Harry berates Albert for working for “relief” wages of seven‑fifty a week while his kids are hungry. He argues that there is no law that requires a man to go hungry.

They drive out to meet the Cubans at a roadhouse. The Cubans, led by a man named Roberto, want to be taken to Cabañas. Harry asks for three hundred dollars and a thousand‑dollar guarantee for the boat.

• Key Moment: A one‑armed Harry recruits Albert for a final, illegal boat trip to support their starving families.

Chapter 10: Stealing the Boat

Harry reflects on the hopelessness of his situation and the lack of choice he has. He worries about taking Albert along because Albert is “straight” and might spook.

He decides he cannot take a “rummy” or a “nigger” and must rely on someone dependable. Harry suspects that the Cubans might be planning something more than just a passage.

He thinks about Bee‑lips and wonders if the lawyer knows he might be “marked” by the revolutionaries. Harry realizes that if the Cubans intend to kill him, they will do it once they are in the Gulf.

He plans to steal his boat back from the sub‑base that night. He needs to fill the boat with gas and water in secret.

Harry is determined to “play it right” and not make a single mistake. He feels a sense of purpose now that he is “playing for it” instead of watching everything go to hell.

He goes to eat before his busy night begins.

• Key Moment: Harry plans the theft of his own boat and prepares for the likely lethality of the upcoming charter.

Chapter 11: Cutting the Lines

Bee‑lips meets Harry at Freddy’s, looking cocky after drinking. They go to the back to discuss the timing; the Cubans want to leave late the day after tomorrow.

Bee‑lips admits he is “all washed up” in town and needs the money to leave. Harry tells Bee‑lips he must help him steal the boat that night.

They enter the Navy Yard basin in a skiff and cut the boat loose during the watchman’s rounds. The boat drifts out with the ebb tide, and Harry checks the motors.

He finds the distributors disconnected but the gas tanks nearly full. Harry decides to hide the boat in a creek near the road to fill it with more gas from his car.

He tells Bee‑lips to pick him up on the road in two hours. Harry moves the boat slowly through the dark, keeping the motors throttled down.

He thinks about how Bee‑lips has “put his mouth on his own self” by getting involved with such men.

• Key Moment: Harry and Bee‑lips successfully steal Harry’s boat from the Navy Yard and hide it in a remote creek.

Chapter 12: A Night with Marie

Harry returns home in the dark and goes to bed with his wife, Marie. Marie wakes up and is worried when Harry tells her he is making a trip and has the boat again.

They share an intimate moment where Marie expresses her deep love for him, regardless of his missing arm. She tells him she doesn’t mind the “flipper” and that he will always be her “honey”.

They talk about going to a hotel in Miami or New Orleans once he returns. Harry falls asleep with the stump of his arm on the pillow while Marie watches him.

She reflects on how lucky she has been to have a man like Harry. Before daylight, they go to the garage to fill demijohns with gas for the boat.

Marie insists on going with him to help handle the heavy jugs. They drive through the mist, and Harry tells her she looks better than any young girl.

Marie is excited about the prospect of their trip to Miami. Harry is worried but tells her not to be.

• Key Moment: Harry and Marie share a night of intimacy and preparation before he departs on his “bad trip”.

Chapter 13: The Boat Is Discovered

At Freddy’s, Harry is questioned by customs men about his missing boat. He plays dumb, asking why he would steal his own boat and how he would profit if it were gone.

The customs men are suspicious but have no proof. A local character named Hayzooz enters and provides a comedic distraction about his new baby.

Bee‑lips arrives and quietly informs Harry that the boat has been spotted in the mangroves by a WPA truck. Harry is devastated, realizing his plan to use his own boat is ruined.

Bee‑lips says the Cubans now want to leave at five o’clock that afternoon. Harry tells the lawyer he will get another boat, even if he has to “carry them to hell”.

He tells Bee‑lips to bring the money at noon to charter Freddy’s boat. Harry turns away Albert, saying he has no need for him now.

He stands at the bar, staring at the slot machines and a picture of Custer’s Last Stand. He settles on chartering Freddy’s boat for twelve hundred dollars.

• Key Moment: Harry’s hidden boat is discovered, forcing him to charter Freddy’s vessel for the mission.

Chapter 14: Goodbye to Marie

Harry goes home to have lunch with Marie and their daughters. He tells the girls to eat quickly and get out so he can talk to their mother.

He asks Marie to cut up his steak for him, calling himself a “nuisance”. Harry tells Marie that the customs found his boat and he is going on a “bad trip”.

He instructs her to bring his Thompson submachine gun from the upstairs trap and check the clips. Marie is terrified and wishes he didn’t have to do such things.

Harry feels bitter that he is back to being broke and has no way to enjoy his home. He tells Marie not to worry, no matter what she hears.

She puts the gun under the front seat of the car. They say a brief, emotional goodbye.

As Harry drives away, he grins at her, and Marie begins to cry. She thinks about how his face always makes her want to cry because she loves him so much.

• Key Moment: Harry armors himself with a submachine gun and says a final, tearful goodbye to his family.

Chapter 15: The Tourists at Freddy’s

At Freddy’s, three tourists are drinking and making vacuous conversation. Harry enters and is insulted by a woman who looks like a “lady wrestler”.

He calls her a “whore” and goes to the back with Freddy and Bee‑lips. Bee‑lips hands over the money for the boat charter, but it is a hundred and twenty dollars short.

Harry convinces Freddy to take the risk on the remaining balance. He tells Freddy he is taking a party “charter fishing” and needs the boat at four o’clock.

Bee‑lips asks Harry what his “out” is, and Harry says the Cubans will have to “take him by force”. Harry expresses that Freddy is the only person in town he trusts.

He calls Bee‑lips a “goddamn rat” as they part ways. Back at the bar, the tourist woman admires Harry’s “Genghis Khan” face, unaware he is the man who just insulted her.

Freddy tells the tourists that Harry is a “bad‑dream man”. A group including writer Richard Gordon and his wife Helen arrive. Helen Gordon is unhappy and leaves the bar after a tense exchange with her husband.

• Key Moment: Harry secures the charter for Freddy’s boat while the local socialites drink and argue nearby.

Chapter 16: Preparing for the Trip

Harry drives to the dock and hides the Thompson gun in the cockpit of Freddy’s launch. He starts the engines and finds that one is missing on two cylinders.

He rigs a sling under the cockpit floor using fan belting to hold the machine gun where he can reach it. He practices pulling the gun out one‑handed and checks the safety.

Albert appears on the dock and begs Harry to take him along because his relief work has been cut. Harry agrees and gives Albert a list of supplies to buy, including fish plugs and food.

He tells Albert they are going “tarponing” with a party the next day. Harry watches the bank entrance from the boat, noting it is a little after two o’clock.

He feels the weight of the coming event and goes to see Freddy one last time. He avoids passing the bank on his walk.

• Key Moment: Harry prepares the boat with a hidden machine gun and recruits a desperate Albert for the trip.

Chapter 17: Waiting for the Cubans

Harry sits at Freddy’s bar, wanting to tell him the truth but realizing Freddy wouldn’t stand for it. He contemplates backing out but thinks of his family’s hunger.

He reflects on how he has no boat, no cash, and no education to fall back on. He considers squealing to the bank but knows he would only get “thanks” and no real help.

Harry buys two quarts of Bacardi from Freddy, telling him he might be going across that night. He takes a final shot of whiskey and leaves when the tourist woman approaches him again.

Meanwhile, Richard Gordon is heading to the Bradley home, hoping for an affair with Mrs. Bradley. His wife, Helen, is walking home alone, not having found her friend John MacWalsey.

The town continues its mundane activities as the time for the heist approaches. Harry returns to the boat to wait for the Cubans.

• Key Moment: Harry rejects the chance to back out or inform the police, choosing his “cojones” over safety.

Chapter 18: The Bank Robbery

Albert is on the boat cutting baits for tarpon when the bank robbery begins. Harry hears the “backfire” of guns and sees men running from the bank with briefcases.

The bank siren begins to wail as a Ford taxi careens onto the dock. Four Cubans tumble onto the boat, including one with a Thompson gun.

Albert tries to stop them, and the big Cuban, Roberto, kills Albert with a burst of gunfire to the chest. Harry is forced at gunpoint to start the engines and cast off.

He looks back and sees Albert’s body in a pool of blood and the taxi driver in his underwear on the dock. Harry steers the boat out of the channel, followed by two white fishing boats that are too slow to catch them.

The Cubans lie flat in the cockpit while Roberto fills extra clips for his gun. Harry notes that a Coast Guard boat is also in pursuit but is “pitiful”.

They pass Sand Key light and head into the open Gulf. Harry is filled with rage over Albert’s death but begins to plan his counter‑attack.

• Key Moment: The bank robbers murder Albert and hijack the boat, forcing Harry to steer them into the Gulf.

Chapter 19: Richard Gordon Misreads Marie

The chapter briefly shifts to Richard Gordon as he rides his bicycle past Marie Morgan. He sees her as a “big ox” with red eyes from crying and judges her appearance harshly.

He imagines a story about her, thinking she is a coarse woman whose husband must hate her. He contrasts her with a “young, firm‑breasted” woman in his mind, feeling superior in his perception.

In reality, Marie is on her way home from the sheriff’s office after Harry’s boat was reported stolen. Gordon believes he has seen “the whole inner life” of the woman, while being entirely wrong about her.

He returns home to work on his novel about a textile strike. This chapter highlights the deep disconnect between the “haves” like Gordon and the real suffering of the “have‑nots”.

• Key Moment: Richard Gordon observes a grieving Marie Morgan and completely misinterprets her life for his fiction.

Chapter 20: The Drifting Queen Conch

Freddy Wallace’s boat, the Queen Conch, is seen drifting in the Gulf Stream the next afternoon. The boat is covered in splintered bullet holes and ropy lines of dried blood.

There is no sign of life on deck, though a dead body is visible over the port tank. Schools of small fish and gray suckers feed on the blood dripping into the sea from the hull.

Inside the cockpit, two men are dead and a third, Harry, is barely alive and out of his head. The bilge is full of gasoline, and the smell makes Harry feel as if he has been sucking on a hose.

Harry feels an “aching cold” throughout his body and believes his belly is as big as a lake. He realizes he cannot pull himself together to stay warm and simply waits for the end.

The boat continues to drift north with the current, unnoticed by the distant tankers.

• Key Moment: The Queen Conch drifts silently with its cargo of dead men and a dying, hallucinating Harry.

Chapter 21: The Gordons’ Breakup

Richard and Helen Gordon have a final, explosive argument in their home. Helen accuses him of having an affair with Helène Bradley and is repulsed by the lipstick on his face.

She tells him she is through with him and plans to marry John MacWalsey. Helen delivers a scathing monologue about how “love” has been a dirty lie of pills, abortions, and Lysol.

She tells Richard he is a selfish, conceited writer who lacks real manhood. Richard slaps her hard across the face in response.

He reflects on his failed encounter with Helène Bradley, where he was interrupted by her husband and slapped by her. Helen cries but remains firm that their marriage is over.

Richard leaves the house, feeling hollow and defeated.

• Key Moment: Helen Gordon leaves her husband after a brutal confrontation about his infidelities and character.

Chapter 22: Richard Gordon’s Humiliation

Richard Gordon walks through the streets of Key West, passing various bars and landmarks. He goes to a gambling house called the “Lilac Time” and drinks three “ojen specials”.

He meets a man named Herbert Spellman who claims to be “crazy” and a fan of Gordon’s books. Gordon eventually goes to Freddy’s bar, which is packed with rowdy World War veterans from the camps on the Keys.

He listens to the veterans tell grizzly stories of violence and “taking it”. A tall Communist named Nelson Jacks tells Gordon his books are “shit”.

Gordon sees Professor MacWalsey at the bar and realizes he is the man Helen is leaving him for. In a drunken rage, Gordon hits MacWalsey but is knocked unconscious by the bar’s bouncer.

MacWalsey takes Gordon home in a taxi, feeling a mix of pity and shame. Gordon wakes up and lurches away into the night, alone.

• Key Moment: Richard Gordon is humiliated at Freddy’s bar and finally comes face‑to‑face with his wife’s new lover.

Chapter 23: Harry’s Final Words

The Coast Guard cutter is towing the Queen Conch back to Key West through the channel. The captain and mate discuss Harry Morgan, who is lying in the cabin, shot in the belly.

Harry is barely conscious but tries to speak to the captain. He speaks slowly and flatly, trying to explain his final realization.

He tells them that “a man alone ain’t got no bloody fucking chance”. The captain doesn’t understand him and thinks he is just out of his head.

Harry shuts his eyes, having spent his entire life learning this single truth. They prepare to arrive at the Navy Yard after midnight.

• Key Moment: A dying Harry Morgan delivers his final, profound realization that no man can survive alone.

Chapter 24: The Yacht Owners

The chapter shifts to the wealthy yacht owners in the harbor as the Coast Guard brings in Harry’s boat. Wallace Johnston and Henry Carpenter sit on their yacht, the New Exuma II, listening to Bach and drinking Scotch.

They discuss local gossip and the “impotence” of their friends, oblivious to the tragedy outside. The narrative describes other yacht owners, including a grain broker worrying about tax evasion and a “professional son‑in‑law”.

Dorothy Hollis, a director’s wife, takes luminol to sleep and worries about her own “bitch‑hood”. The scene contrasts their shallow, self‑absorbed problems with the physical reality of Harry’s death.

• Key Moment: The novel contrasts the hollow lives of the wealthy elite with Harry’s violent end.

Chapter 25: Harry Dies on the Table

Harry is carried off the boat on a stretcher at the Navy Yard and taken to the Marine Hospital. The sheriff and the Coast Guard captain inspect the Queen Conch, which is filled with dead bodies and the stolen money.

Mrs. Tracy, Albert’s widow, arrives and screams for her husband, eventually falling into the water in her grief. She is pulled out, dripping and wailing about her “lost plate” and her husband.

The crowd watches the spectacle with a mix of respect and morbid curiosity. At the hospital, Marie Morgan and her daughters wait for news.

The doctor tells Marie that Harry died on the operating table. Marie goes into the white room to see his body and cries over his “goddamned face”.

• Key Moment: Harry dies on the operating table, leaving Marie to face a life of emptiness.

Chapter 26: Marie Faces the Future

Marie Morgan sits at her dining room table, trying to figure out how to live without Harry. She reflects on the “hollow feeling” and the hate she has for the “bastards” who shot him.

She remembers the early days of their marriage and the time she bleached her hair blonde in Havana to please him. She recalls how he looked at her and said she was beautiful.

Marie realizes that “good men are scarce” and she was lucky to have had him. She wonders how she will get through the nights without him and concludes she will simply “go dead inside” like everyone else.

Outside, the winter day is lovely and cool, and a large white yacht comes into the harbor. The world goes on, indifferent to Harry’s death and Marie’s grief.

• Key Moment: Marie Morgan accepts her loss, concluding that her only option is to become “dead inside”.

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Conclusion

For a broader thematic and spoiler-light overview, read the full To Have and Have Not book summary to uncover the subtle threads of courage, sacrifice, and inevitability woven throughout the narrative.

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