ABSTRACT
To Have and Have Not centers on the life of Harry Morgan. Morgan’s life and death is defi ned by his participation in the informal economy of smuggling, and through his travel between Miami and Havana, we capture a stark analysis of the political and economic systems of capitalism juxtaposed against Communist revolutionaries. As much as we are offered some gratuitous observations about the differences, the penetrating insights come from weaving stories that ultimately settle upon a picture of much more similarity. Hemingway dwells on power and myth as the underlying thread of his critique of political systems more generally. The contribution of this particular novel is a meditation on the meaning of political activity and participation given the context of all political systems plagued by these broader realities of power and myth. Regardless of ideology, democratic capitalism or Communism, power and myth dominate both systems and create an individual sense of meaninglessness around political activities and goals.
