All that Glitters
is not Gold
Wealth and morality in three Lost Generation novels:
The Great Gatsby, To Have and Have Not, and Manhattan
Transfer
R. Westdorp
Master Thesis
English Language and Culture
Supervisor: dr. G. Moore
University of Amsterdam
Rian Westdorp | 5618010 | Master Thesis | All that Glitters is not Gold
Table of Contents
The Lost Generation, Wealth and Morality .....................................................................................................3
Morality and wealth in The Great Gatsby .......................................................................................................4
Making money ............................................................................................................................................4
Old money ..................................................................................................................................................6
Gatsby‘s irrationality ...................................................................................................................................9
Materialism ...............................................................................................................................................11
Society ......................................................................................................................................................12
Morality and wealth in To Have and Have Not .............................................................................................14
The haves versus the have-nots ..............................................................................................................14
Society ......................................................................................................................................................16
Morality and wealth in Manhattan Transfer ..................................................................................................18
Making money ..........................................................................................................................................18
Capitalism .................................................................................................................................................22
Society ......................................................................................................................................................23
Morality and wealth in all three novels .........................................................................................................25
Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................................27
Works cited ...................................................................................................................................................28
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The Lost Generation, Wealth and Morality
The generation that came of age during World War I is famously known as the Lost Generation. American
writer and thinker Gertrude Stein coined the phrase, when she told Ernest Hemingway: "You are all a
generation perdue. That is what you are.. That's what you all are.. All of you young people who served in
the war. You are a lost generation" (―A Moveable Feast‖ 61). Hemingway thought the label was an ―unfair
condemnation‖, but the term caught on. The youngsters of the postwar years are called ―lost‖ because
they were disillusioned by the war, and they lost so many of their comrades. Although the term Lost
Generation is also used to refer to the entire younger generation of the 1920s, it refers more specifically to
the American artists who served during the war and lived in Europe afterwards. Writers like F. Scott
Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and John Dos Passos were involved with World War I in one way or
another. Fitzgerald enlisted himself for the American army but the war ended shortly after his enlistment,
Hemingway responded to a Red Cross recruitment effort and signed on to be an ambulance driver in Italy,
and Dos Passos volunteered for the S.S.U. 60 of the Norton-Harjen Ambulance Corps and worked as a
driver in Paris and Italy. Like many other artists these three writers left the United States after the war and
moved to Europe, where they formed a large expatriate community together.
In Europe the young Americans found a whole different world than they were used to in their
home country. During the 1920s, America was caught up in the Jazz Age, an exuberant and festive time
where consumerism and modernity were at its high point. The American Dream was the ideal everybody
was chasing after and seemed to be within reach for everyone more than ever before. The term ‗American
Dream‘ was coined by James Truslow Adams, an American writer and historian, who described it in his
1930 book The Epic of America:
that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for
everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It
is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately,
and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is
not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social
order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the
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fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by
others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of
birth or position. (viii)
The essence of this ideal is rooted also in the United States Declaration of Independence, which states
that ―all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.‖ While the American living standard grew
in the 1920s, more people were trying to pursue the American Dream. Their dream, however, diverged
from the original aim of a better and spiritual richer life. Three Lost Generation writers show this in at least
of one their works: Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby, Hemingway in To Have and Have Not, and John Dos
Passos in Manhattan Transfer. Their novels show that in the 1920s and 1930s the Pursuit of Happiness
had become a pursuit of wealth, which affected society‘s morality and the people‘s want for material items.
Morality and wealth in The Great Gatsby
The American Dream is present everywhere in F. Scott Fitzgerald‘s The Great Gatsby: most notably in the
protagonist‘s life, but also in the lives of many other characters. Gatsby grew up in rural North Dakota,
where he belonged to a poor family. He despised his own class and was determined to become rich one
day. When he has the opportunity, he moves to New York to chase his dream. There he starts making
money and becomes part of the ‗new money‘: the people who worked their way to wealth. In the novel
they are contrasted with the ‗old money‘: people like Tom and Daisy Buchanan, who belong to the upper
class and who inherit their class as well as their wealth. Gatsby lives the American Dream to chase his
ultimate goal: Daisy.
Making money
Gatsby was not born into a wealthy family, but does become very affluent through unlawful activities. In
1919 the Eighteenth Amendment was passed, which banned the sale and production of alcohol, and
created a thriving underworld designed to satisfy the massive demand for liquor among both rich and
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poor. Bootlegging, as the illegal business is called, drove prices of liquor up and made many people rich.
This is how Gatsby makes his money: he is one of many bootleggers who worked in America during The
Noble Experiment. Nick, the story‘s narrator, hears about this at one of Gatsby‘s parties early on in the
novel when two girls tell him this, but as they then go on talking about how they heard Gatsby once ―killed
a man‖ and that he was ―a German spy during the war‖ (Fitzgerald 29), their story seems to be hearsay
more than the truth.
Tom Buchanan is however the character who exposes Gatsby. Already in chapter 6 Tom asks
Nick: ―who is this Gatsby anyhow? Some big bootlegger?‖ (Fitzgerald 69). When Nick asks him where he
has heard this, Tom replies: ―I didn‘t hear it. I imagined it. A lot of these newly rich people are just big
bootleggers, you know‖ (Fitzgerald 69). The truth is revealed in chapter 7 where Tom informs Daisy,
Jordan, Nick and also Gatsby, that he has been investigating Gatsby‘s affairs:
―I found out what your ‗drug-stores‘ were.‖ He turned to us and spoke
rapidly. ―He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores
here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That‘s one of
his little stunts. I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I
wasn‘t far wrong.‖ (Fitzgerald 85)
Gatsby does not defend himself when Tom confronts him, as he only replies: ―What about it?‖ (Fitzgerald
85). With that answer he confirms Tom‘s story. Bootlegging is not the only illegal activity that Gatsby is
involved in, he trades in stolen securities as well.
Prohibition was installed in America during a moral revival under Republican leadership. The
Volstead Act was successful in reducing the amount of alcohol consumed, but it also led to underground,
organized and widespread criminal activity. Gatsby is part of and works in this illegal circuit and
undermines with his business the morality that was imposed on society by the government. Gatsby is so
desperately trying to win Daisy back with his money, that he is willing to break the law for it.
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Old money
After the war the stock market rose to unknown heights, sustaining increase in the national wealth and a
new found materialism, as people began to spend and consume at unprecedented levels. A person from
any social background could, potentially, make a fortune, but in The Great Gatsby the American
aristocracy – families of the old money – scorned the newly rich industrialists and speculators. The most
obvious example of this in the novel is Tom Buchanan, who feels superior to anyone who is not part of his
class, especially the people who are working their way up the social ladder and who are trying to take over
his position in society. Gatsby belongs to the new money, and that is one of the reasons why Tom does
not like him. Tom seems to feel threatened by Gatsby, and therefore speaks badly of him whenever he
can and accuses him of being a bootlegger as ―a lot of these newly rich people are just big bootleggers‖
(Fitzgerald 69). When Tom, Daisy, Jordan, Nick and Gatsby go to the city in the middle of summer
towards the end of the novel, Tom starts a fight with Gatsby, where he displays his disgust with the new
world and the people of the new money: ―I know I‘m not very popular. I don‘t give big parties. I suppose
you‘ve got to make your house into a pigsty in order to have any friends – in the modern world‖ (Fitzgerald
83).
Tom is however not the only character in the novel who dislikes the new generation of wealthy
young people. During one of Gatsby‘s lavish Saturday evening parties that Tom and Daisy attend, Nick
describes how Daisy talks about one of the actresses present, to which Nick adds his own view of Daisy‘s
attitude towards the people living on West Egg:
―I like her,‖ said Daisy, ―I think she‘s lovely.‖ But the rest offended her —
and inarguably, because it wasn‘t a gesture but an emotion. She was
appalled by West Egg, this unprecedented ―place‖ that Broadway had
begotten upon a Long Island fishing village — appalled by its raw vigor
that chafed under the old euphemisms and by the too obtrusive fate that
herded its inhabitants along a short-cut from nothing to nothing. She saw
something awful in the very simplicity she failed to understand. (Fitzgerald
69)
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Although Daisy finds the inhabitants of West Egg interesting, she prefers her own kind of people and feels
uncomfortable after a while at Gatsby‘s party, when she realizes that these are not her type of people.
Already at the beginning of the novel, Nick realizes that there is a world of difference between him and the
Buchanans, when he is alone with Daisy at their house:
It made me uneasy, as though the whole evening had been a trick of
some sort to exact a contributory emotion from me. I waited, and sure
enough, in a moment she looked at me with an absolute smirk on her
lovely face, as if she had asserted her membership in a rather
distinguished secret society to which she and Tom belonged. (Fitzgerald
13)
The wealthy people of the old money do not want other people to become part of their class. It is a special
group that is not open to others. The people belonging to this group tolerate others, but they do not
respect them, their lives or their opinions.
Besides, the novel also shows that the old money are selfish and do not care about others. After
Gatsby‘s death, Tom and Daisy leave their home, taking baggage with them and without leaving a
forwarding address. They also do not attend the funeral, even though Daisy had a special bond with
Gatsby. When Nick meets Tom a few months later, he confirms to Nick that he told Wilson who drove the
car that killed his wife:
―I told him the truth,‖ he said. ―He came to the door while we were getting
ready to leave, and when I sent down word that we weren‘t in he tried to
force his way up-stairs. He was crazy enough to kill me if I hadn‘t told him
who owned the car. His hand was on a revolver in his pocket every
minute he was in the house ——‖ He broke off defiantly. ―What if I did tell
him? That fellow had it coming to him. He threw dust into your eyes just
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like he did in Daisy‘s, but he was a tough one. He ran over Myrtle like
you‘d run over a dog and never even stopped his car.‖ (Fitzgerald 114)
Not only does Tom tell Wilson who (he thinks was) responsible, he also does not show any remorse that
he is partly accountable for Gatsby‘s death. It also shows that Daisy probably never told Tom that she was
actually driving the car during the accident, so she stays out of any trouble and saves her own life, but not
that of Gatsby. He dies because the Buchanans believe that either their life is more important than that of
a new money man, or they are too whimsical to tell the truth. Nick realizes at that point that
I couldn‘t forgive him or like him, but I saw that what he had done was, to
him, entirely justified. It was all very careless and confused. They were
careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures
and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or
whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the
mess they had made. . . . (Fitzgerald 114)
Nick criticizes Tom and Daisy because he believes they hide behind their money.
It seems that the wealthy people of the old money feel elevated above all rules in society. Not only
do Tom and Daisy lack the courtesy to pay their respects to Gatsby, Jordan, for example, does not attend
the funeral either, although she knows Gatsby and has been to many of his parties. She is an arrogant
woman, who believes she is better than most other people and who enjoys doing exactly what she wants.
She is disloyal to other people, like Nick, with whom she had some sort of affair. At the end of the novel
when Nick decides to go back home, he visits Jordan to end whatever they still had out of politeness. She
lies motionless in a chair, and when Nick finishes his story she tells him ―without comment‖ (Fitzgerald
113) that she is engaged to another man. Nick doubts whether this is true, but it makes clear Jordan‘s
disinterest about others. Her wealth and arrogance also lead to Jordan‘s dishonesty: she believes that she
does not need to answer for anything, so she cheats during a golf tournament. On the evening of Daisy‘s
dinner, Nick hears that there has been ―a suggestion that she had moved her ball from a bad lie in the
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semi-final round‖ (Fitzgerald 38). Besides, one night when she is with Nick at a house-party in Warwick,
she leaves a borrowed car out in the rain with the top down and then lies about it. Jordan lies to avoid any
responsibility and because she seems to enjoy it. Nick describes Jordan as being
incurably dishonest. She wasn‘t able to endure being at a disadvantage
and, given this unwillingness, I suppose she had begun dealing in
subterfuges when she was very young in order to keep that cool, insolent
smile turned to the world and yet satisfy the demands of her hard, jaunty
body. (Fitzgerald 38)
Jordan does not have interest in any one else other than herself and her own life. She does not care
about others or what they might think, as long as she can live the life she wants.
Gatsby‘s irrationality
Jay Gatsby is in essence a dreamer, who has set his mind on winning Daisy back and the life he had
anticipated for the two of them. He knows that he has to become wealthy to rekindle her interest in him
and show her that he can offer her the lifestyle she wants. The money he makes, however, turns Gatsby
into an irrational dreamer. Besides believing that he can win Daisy back by being rich, he also foolishly
believes he can turn back the clock and recreate everything as it should have been. He asserts this when
Nick tells him that it is impossible:
―I wouldn‘t ask too much of her,‖ I ventured. ―You can‘t repeat the past.‖
―Can‘t repeat the past?‖ he cried incredulously. ―Why of course you can!‖
He looked around him wildly, as if the past were lurking here in the
shadow of his house, just out of reach of his hand. ―I‘m going to fix
everything just the way it was before,‖ he said, nodding determinedly.
―She‘ll see.‖ He talked a lot about the past, and I gathered that he wanted
to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into
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loving Daisy. His life had been confused and disordered since then, but if
he could once return to a certain starting place and go over it all slowly,
he could find out what that thing was. . . . (Fitzgerald 70-71)
Gatsby so desperately wants to regain Daisy that he loses sight of reality. John W. Aldridge argues that
when Daisy marries Tom, Gatsby‘s desire for Daisy becomes ―the memory of a love which, as it has fed
on itself, has reached obsessive proportions and become more real than any obstacle time or
circumstance can put in its way‖ (49). Gatsby‘s reason seems to have become enslaved by his feelings,
which corrupt his understanding.
This is, however, not a permanent state. In the course of the novel Gatsby‘s perfect image of
Daisy slightly deteriorates. When Daisy comes over to Gatsby‘s house Nick realizes this:
There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled
short of his dreams – not through her own fault, but because of the
colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything.
He had thrown himself into it with a creative passion, adding to it all the
time, decking it out with every bright feather that drifted his way. No
amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man can store up in his
ghostly heart. (Fitzgerald 61)
At that point in the novel Gatsby is still oblivious to Daisy‘s shortcomings, although it seems that Gatsby
starts to see Daisy for what she is, not for what he has made of her in his mind. Not long before he dies,
Gatsby is waiting for a call from Daisy. She does not call, and Nick believes that ―Gatsby himself didn‘t
believe it would come, and perhaps he no longer cared‖ (Fitzgerald 103). It appears that in the end Gatsby
loses his irrationality: he awakes from his dream and realizes that Daisy does not love or care about him,
and that she will not call him. This realization causes Gatsby to lose his irrationality.
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Materialism
Where Victorian morality had been very important in the eras preceding the 1920s, the Roaring Twenties
were materialistic. The most obvious, materialistic characters are Tom and Daisy Buchanan. The first
encounter with Tom is a description Nick gives of him:
His family were enormously wealthy — even in college his freedom with
money was a matter for reproach — but now he‘d left Chicago and come
East in a fashion that rather took your breath away: for instance, he‘d
brought down a string of polo ponies from Lake Forest. it was hard to
realize that a man in my own generation was wealthy enough to do that.
(Fitzgerald 6)
Daisy and Tom have a grand house, ―a cheerful red-and-white Georgian colonial mansion, overlooking the
bay‖ (Fitzgerald 6). Daisy always wears expensive dresses, and on one of Gatsby‘s parties she even
wears a coat with a fur collar. At the end of the novel Tom buys Daisy a pearl necklace, an item he also
gave her the day before their large and expensive wedding:
In June she married Tom Buchanan of Chicago, with more pomp and
circumstance than Louisville ever knew before. He came down with a
hundred people in four private cars, and hired a whole floor of the
Seelbach Hotel, and the day before the wedding he gave her a string of
pearls valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars. (Fitzgerald 49)
The ultimate materialistic choice is made by Daisy: she chooses an empty marriage full of material objects
and status over her true love who attaches little importance to materials possessions. Gatsby knows
however, that the way to Daisy‘s heart is to offer her the things she wants. That is why he bought the large
house on West Egg, which is described by Nick as a
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colossal affair by any standard — it was a factual imitation of some Hotel
de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin
beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres
of lawn and garden. (Fitzgerald 5)
When Daisy visits Gatsby‘s house, he also tries to impress her with material objects like his clothes, which
does not fail, as Daisy seems to be touched even by shirts: ―They‘re such beautiful shirts,‖ she sobbed,
her voice muffled in the thick folds. ―It makes me sad because I‘ve never seen such — such beautiful
shirts before‖ (Fitzgerald 59). Gatsby hopes that the material things he can offer Daisy, will make her
choose him over Tom. His interest in possessions has to do with Daisy‘s desire for luxury, more than his
own yearning for such things.
Although Gatsby is not a materialist, he does treat Daisy at one point in the novel like she is a
possession that he needs to have. John F. Callahan claims that when ―Tom Buchanan forces a showdown
with Gatsby at the Plaza Hotel, the two men turn Daisy into a prized possession to be fought over on the
basis of social and economic conventions‖ (382). Gatsby, as well as Tom, does not see Daisy anymore as
a woman in her own right, but they fight over her like she is a possession. Despite Gatsby‘s indifference to
material possessions, his urge to have Daisy makes him objectify her.
Materialism is used in the novel as a sign of wealth, but in the end, the pursuit of material
possessions has not made any of the character‘s lives better. Tom loses his mistress, Daisy loses the
man who really loved her, and above all, Gatsby loses his own life. Fitzgerald seems to punish the
characters for choosing materialism over idealism.
Society
Although the society in which Nick and the other characters live seems to be normal at first, Fitzgerald
reveals his criticism of the 1920s throughout the rest of the novel. He condemns the lack of morality during
the era, and portrays it as a time where society has substituted materialism and instant gratification for
morals. Tom, for example, has a mistress, and he believes Daisy does not mind: ―Once in a while I go off
on a spree and make a fool of myself, but I always come back, and in my heart I love her all the time‖
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(Fitzgerald 84). Daisy knows of the existence of Myrtle Wilson and from the outside seems hardly
untouched by this fact. She does not condemn his actions and stays with him. Marriage has lost its
(sacred) value, according to Fitzgerald, in the 1920s and infidelity stays unpunished.
Another moral that seems to have lost its value is honesty. Jordan is a notorious liar, which is
again emphasized when Nick recalls the night out with Jordan where she left the borrowed car outside in
the rain with the top down. Although Nick does not appear to be charmed by this habit of Jordan, he does
not condemn it: ―It made no difference to me. Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply —
I was casually sorry, and then I forgot‖ (Fitzgerald 38). With this statement he reinforces Fitzgerald‘s
criticism on society: sins are not punished nor frowned upon.
Society has degenerated at the end of the novel, compared to the state that it was in at the
beginning. Nobody attends Gatsby‘s funeral, except his father, Nick and the owl-eyed man. Daisy does
not even send a note nor flowers, and Mayer Wolfsheim, Gatsby‘s business partner does not want to be
present at the funeral, as he says: ―Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is alive and not
after he is dead‖ (Fitzgerald 109). Klipspringer, one of the regulars at Gatsby‘s parties, only phones Nick
about his tennis shoes, not to pay his respects. Another man whom Nick talks to but does not know
asserts that Gatsby ―got what he deserved‖ (Fitzgerald 108), but Nick asserts that it is ―my fault, for he
was one of those who used to sneer most bitterly at Gatsby on the courage of Gatsby‘s liquor‖ (Fitzgerald
108). The only good person and the only person who believed in ―the orgastic future that year by year
recedes before us‖ (Fitzgerald 115), ends up dead without others caring for him. Society has come to a
poor state at the end of The Great Gatsby.
The moral emptiness of society makes Nick decide to leave New York after Gatsby‘s funeral. Nick
originally comes from Minnesota and is a real Midwesterner. He leaves his hometown during his twenties
and has mixed reactions to life on the East Coast. He is attracted to the fun-driven and fast-paced lifestyle
of New York, but at the same time he finds this lifestyle grotesque. Nick‘s inner conflict is symbolized by
his feelings for Jordan Baker: he is attracted to her vivacity and sophistication, but he is repelled by her
dishonesty and lack of consideration for other people. When Gatsby dies Nick realizes that the fast life on
the East Coast is a cover for the moral emptiness that is present in New York. Nick decides therefore to
return to Minnesota in search for a quieter life with more traditional and moral values.
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Morality and wealth in To Have and Have Not
Ernest Hemingway‘s novels always include some sort of moral story, and To Have and Have Not is no
exception. The main character of the novel is Harry Morgan, a fishing boat captain who organizes fishing
trips. Harry is a real Hemingway hero: tough and a man of action, not of words. The novel is set in the
1930s and it features The Great Depression prominently, with many characters having problems making
ends meet. While in The Great Gatsby the wish for material items and wealth is most important to the
main characters, Harry Morgan is more concerned about providing money and food for himself, his wife
and children. Besides, what Harry is striving for is freedom to do what he wants.
The haves versus the have-nots
Harry Morgan‘s boat is his only source of income, and with his boat he organizes legal party-fishing trips
for whoever hires him. Yet, not all his costumers prove to be honest. Harry‘s first fishing charter client in
the novel is a wealthy businessman called Mr. Johnson, who charters the boat for three weeks. He has
not paid anything in advance, except for a hundred dollars for several necessities. Harry feels quite
nervous about this, but he says
I was thinking three weeks was a long time to let him go, but if he was
good for it what difference was there? He should have paid every week
anyway. But I‘ve let him run a month and got the money. It was my fault
but I was glad to see it run at first. It was only the last few days he made
me nervous but I didn‘t want to say anything for fear of getting him
plugged at me. If he was good for it, the longer he went the better.
(Hemingway, ―THHN‖ 7-8)
At the fishing trip that follows, the goal is for Mr. Johnson to catch a marlin. But the man refuses to follow
instructions and loses a huge fish, along with Harry‘s tackle and line. He blames Harry for his failure to
catch any marlin and refuses to pay for the fishing equipment he broke. Harry, although unhappy with this,
makes a deal with Mr. Johnson to split some of the costs and as Mr. Johnson has to get the money from
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the bank, they agree to settle the payment the next day. Harry‘s fears become reality, when Mr. Johnson
does not show up the next day. Eddy, Harry‘s helper and friend, goes to Mr. Johnson‘s hotel where he
finds out Mr. Johnson has left Cuba. Harry has missed out on almost $ 500 in charter fees and $ 300 for
the damage that has been done to his fishing equipment. The wealthy citizens of America are depicted as
having no morals in To Have and Have Not. Mr. Johnson, the wealthy businessman, is a good example as
he represents the ‗haves‘ of society. He leaves Harry, a ‗have-not‘, with damage to his boat and
equipment which Mr. Johnson caused himself, without paying anything to get it fixed. As Harry does not
have any money, there are no possibilities for him to have his things fixed, which also means that he
cannot organize new trips and earn money. Johnson takes away his ability to make money while he
himself retreats back into his wealth.
Harry is stuck on Cuba and he needs money to go to his wife and children in America. With 14
cents left Harry then makes the critical decision to take part in illegal activities. The first job he takes on is
ferrying illegal Chinese workers to Florida. When he receives his payment, he kills the contractor and
wealthy businessman, Mr. Sing, and sets the workers ashore inside Cuba. This may seem immoral not
only because Harry is making money illegally, but also because he kills the man who hires him. When
Harry‘s helper Eddy asks him why he killed Mr. Sing, Harry tells him: ―to keep from killing twelve other
Chinks‖ (Hemingway, ―THHN‖ 39). The wealthy Mr. Sing is trying to become even richer by planning a
scheme of which Harry was part: he would kill all the Chinese workers on the boat and take the money
they had paid for the trip.
In the third part of the novel, Harry is involved in another illegal activity: he carries a boatload of
illegal rum from Cuba to America. He is wounded during a run-in with the Cuban government officials, and
as a result loses an arm. He also loses his boat to the American Customs Service. They do not find the
rum though, as he manages to throw it overboard without being seen. His last job before he dies is to steal
back his boat and ferry revolutionaries from the United States to Cuba. While Harry is busy with these
illegal activities, his friends are working in depression-relief projects or low-paying menial work. Yet Harry
feels, that with two children and a wife he cannot take this kind of work. He needs to do everything he can
to make enough money to feed his family. Although the activities that Harry is participating in are immoral,
he does it for the right reasons and he protects the twelve Chinese workers from a man that is taking
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advantage of them. Harry is nothing like the person that Earl Rovit describes as ―utterly lacking in dignity,
and morally unscrupulous,‖ or how Sheridan Baker sees him: ―totally ruthless and totally immoral‖ (qtd. in
Cobbs 3). Harry‘s dignity is apparent in his determination to take care of his family in his own way, not
choosing for the depression-relief projects. And Harry does have morals, in contrast to the haves,
although he becomes immoral when he lets himself in with illegal business.
Society
The way in which American society is represented in To Have and Have Not does not alter significantly
throughout the story, it is clear from the beginning on that the novel criticizes American society of the
1930s and its morals. Rich Americans are depicted as vile and self-obsessed, and according to John L.
Cobbs they ―present a scathing picture of sexual depravity, greed, [and] spineless parasitism‖ (2). In Key
West the rich tourists and poor residents live so near to each other that the contrast between the haves
and have-nots is emphasized. The good characters in the novel are working-class people, while the
antagonists are idle rich folk. Mr. Johnson, for example, is a wealthy rich man, who leaves without paying
Harry for his services and the damage he has done to Harry‘s equipment. The rich man leaves the poor
one, not giving the penniless Harry what he is entitled to.
There is a wide gap between rich and poor in the novel, to the extent where the rich are indifferent
to what happens to the poor. Leo Gurko rightfully argues in his book Ernest Hemingway and the Pursuit of
Heroism that To Have and Have Not emphasizes the absolute separation of rich and poor through the fact
that ―neither has any contact whatever with the other‖ (144). He illustrates his point by citing the passage
where Morgan is dying on his boat, which is brought in from the sea and passes the yachts of the rich.
According to Gurko ―Morgan‘s boat passes theirs at a slow funeral pace, without recognition or
acknowledgement of any kind. This scene symbolizes the gulf that exists between the classes‖ (144).
Gurko makes a right assertion, as the rich are depicted several times as being only busy with their own
problems, although these seem trivial in comparison to the problems of the poor.
The sanctity of marriage is also featured prominently in the novel. Several times the focus shifts
from Harry‘s loving marriage with Marie to a pair of tourists: Richard Gordon, a mediocre writer, and his
beautiful, though unhappy wife Ellen. When Richard comes home one day after having slept with yet
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another woman, his wife decides to leave him for another man. Richard has been unfaithful to her so
many times, that she believes it is better to leave him. On their vacation she has fallen in love with another
man she and Richard met in a bar, but he is an alcoholic who goes out every evening. The wealthy are
here depicted as having no morals because they seem to cheat, while Harry and Marie, the have-nots, are
always faithful to each other and they stay together until the end.
Not only does Richard sleep around with other women, he is also very selfish and does not stay
true to his own ideas. Ellen ―laments even more that he has become a fashionable writer, changing his
politics to fit the whims of the times, lacking any real feeling for those involved,‖ (4) according to Toni D.
Knott. During their last moments together Ellen tells Richard: ―if you were just a good writer I could stand
for all the rest of it maybe. But I‘ve seen you bitter, jealous, changing your politics to suit the fashion,
sucking up to people‘s faces and talking about them behind their backs‖ (Hemingway, ―THHN‖ 130).
The novel shows Hemingway‘s class consciousness as he draws a sharp contrast between the
different classes Harry Morgan finds in America as well as in Cuba. When the rich appear in the novel
they are depicted as vile and self-obsessed, while the poor residents of Key West are featured as
depraved, hungry and are referred to as ―Conchs.‖ Harry Morgan seems very aware of the class he
belongs to, and also very well knows the difference between him and the people of other classes. The
black man, for example, that helps Harry on his boat is not treated respectfully, and Harry refers to him
usually as a ―rummy.‖ This was Hemingway‘s first attempt at writing about class struggle as he himself
supported the left-wing in politics.
There is also a lack of concern for others that Hemingway criticizes. It is most obvious in the
scene where Harry has returned wounded, near death, from a smuggling trip. On the dock a crowd has
gathered, and police wait for Harry‘s yacht so they can carry Harry off his boat. He has survived, but his
mate and helper, Albert, has been killed and thrown overboard by Harry. As the crowd watches the police
cover the dead bodies of the bandits, Albert‘s wife, Mrs. Tracy, comes running up the pier and starts
screaming. The crowd does not respond to her in a helpful way, they seem to be interested only in seeing
the woman and her emotions, the people in the back even start ―shoving and elbowing to get to the dock
side‖ (Hemingway, ―THHN‖ 173). When two Cubans run into the crowd and shove everyone away, Mrs.
Tracy falls into the water. Two coast guard men save her, while ―no one in the crowd had made a move to
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aid her‖ (Hemingway, ―THHN‖ 173). Hemingway describes how special the people in the crowd feel to
have witnessed all of this:
The crowd was disappointed when the bodies were covered but they
alone of all the town had seen them. They had seen Mrs Tracy fall into the
water and they had, before they came in, seen Harry Morgan carried on a
stretcher into the Marine Hospital. When the sheriff ordered them out of
the yacht basin they went quietly and happily. They knew how privileged
they had been. (Hemingway, ―THHN‖ 173)
The crowd is happy that they have been present at this scene, but nobody cares for Mrs. Tracy or the pain
she feels. She is left alone without anybody comforting or caring for her. Although Hemingway does not
make clear whether the crowd consists of affluent tourists or poor Americans, a large amount of them
would have been tourists, as they stayed in their boats at the harbor. Here they are depicted as uncaring
for others and cold. This is what the people with money are represented throughout the whole novel,
leaving the have-nots to be the morally good.
Morality and wealth in Manhattan Transfer
In a novel that deals with so many different characters and their lives, set in a time that was financially
problematic for many, there are many examples of the morality of wealth. Several characters work their
way up from rags to riches, some are born into wealthy families, and a few characters come specifically to
America to find work and a better way of life. The lives and problems of Dos Passos‘s characters are all
intertwined, but their main connection is the same city which in The Great Gatsby is the center of excess:
New York.
Making money
The ideal to work ones way up in society does not seem apt to Jimmy Herf, who is born into a wealthy
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family. Nevertheless, when his mother dies, Jimmy is left at a very early age in the care of his uncle Jeff
and aunt Emily. Chapters into the novel, Jimmy appears again – now sixteen years old and wearing a
necktie. He eats lunch with his uncle, who is now his guardian, at one of the fanciest clubs in New York.
Jeff explains to Jimmy the importance of his future and a proper career, as he finds that ―I have not
noticed that you felt sufficient responsibility about moneymatters‖ (Dos Passos 114). He advises Jimmy to
follow his own son, James‘s example and work his way up in the family company. While Jimmy seems to
agree with his uncle, once outside the club he gives vent to his thoughts: ―Uncle Jeff and his office can go
plumb to hell‖ (Dos Passos 115). The course in life that Jimmy‘s uncle and aunt have defined for him is
not at all what he wants. Jimmy starts to live his own American Dream, by going into journalism and
becoming a reporter for The Times. Through his job he grows into a radical full of anger at capitalist
society and the injustice it brings with it. More than once he states his dissatisfaction with the way his life
is going and how he is fed up with the work he does. Although Jimmy does what he wants, and not what
has family expected of him, he still is not happy. When he runs into Joe Harland, an older cousin of his, in
the city, Joe tells Jimmy that he will ―never get anywhere with that attitude‖ (Dos Passos 225). He also
says: ―Poor dear Lily was so proud of you… She wanted you to be great man, she was so ambitious for
you,‖ to which Jimmy responds: ―I didn‘t say I wasn‘t ambitious‖ (Dos Passos 225). He mentions to Joe
that he would like to go to the war. He indeed goes to the war, and when he comes back he has married
Ellen. They soon separate, however, and near the end of the novel Jimmy runs into his old friend Congo
who has become enormously wealthy. He takes a ride in a limousine with Congo, and declares:
―[…] if I‘d been God and had to decide who in this city should make a
million dollars and who shouldnt I swear you‘re the man I would have
picked. […] The difference between you and me is that you‘re going up in
the social sale, Armand, and I‘m going down . . .‖ (Dos Passos 342)
Although Jimmy used to have more opportunities than others, he decided to pursue his own dream which
does not result in gaining a fuller life or climbing up the social ladder, but actually in a decline of his living
standard and his fall down the ladder. Jimmy cannot be accused however, of being immoral: he lives his
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life the way he wants to, and does not harm anybody with it. He is not interested in being affluent and
leaves his family when they try to impose their rules on him. He follows his heart and lives the way he
believes is right.
The love of Jimmy‘s life, Ellen, is the daughter of a businessman who is doing quite well in life.
Although Ellen, as a young girl asks ―daddy, why arent we rich?‖ Ed asserts that ―there are lots of people
poorer than us Ellie‖ (Dos Passos 65). Ellen becomes a successful actress in later years, something she
seems born to do, and pursuing a career on stage is her dream in life. She also enjoys the attention that it
brings her and far from minds the many suitors who show their interest. Even though Ellen is living her
dream, she is restless. She is not happy with being a drama actress and after the man that she has
always loved, Stanwood Emery, marries somebody else, she has affairs with numerous men but she
never truly loves any one of them in return. She quits acting quite abruptly, and leaves for Europe to
become a Red Cross nurse. When she returns to America, her life has changed: she has a son and a
husband, and she finds a job outside of the theater. It seems like Ellen has finally received what she
wants, but still Ellen‘s dream is empty. After having divorced Jimmy she marries a lawyer, George
Baldwin, to whose marriage proposal she responds: ―I guess I can stand it if you can George‖ (Dos
Passos 335). When Ellen has what she wants, she finds that it was not what she thought it would be. Ellen
seems to share with The Great Gatsby‘s protagonist Jay Gatsby the irrationality that comes with wanting
something so much that it clouds one‘s judgment. She is desperately looking for a man, but the only one
who she really wants carelessly chooses to marry another woman. This results in Ellen becoming careless
herself with other people‘s feelings, like Jimmy‘s, and her sleeping around with numerous men.
Besides the wealthier citizens of the city, there are also people from outside of New York who
come to the metropolis in the hope of making a (better) living. Bud Korpenning is one of them. He is a
young man from the country, who has been physically abused by his father. He is looking for work and
one of the first people that he talks to, tells him to get a haircut and shave if he wants to get a job in New
York, as ―it‘s looks that count in this city‖ (Dos Passos 16). Bud is hopeful and asks people he meets on
the street where the best place is to find a job. He is advised to go to city hall, and his first job is washing
dishes at an eatery. He does not like his work there though, as he complains: ―Hell this aint no job for a
white man‖ (Dos Passos 49). When we see Bud later on in the novel, he helps a ―gray-haired woman‖
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(Dos Passos 67) carry a pile of coal up to her apartment. She tells him she will give him a dollar for his
trouble, then serves him some lunch. After he has eaten, the woman gives him a quarter. When Bud asks
for the dollar she had promised him, she accuses Bud of not being grateful and sends him out of her
house. Bud seems to be focused on making a better living for himself, but his attempts to make something
of his life always fail. Early on in the novel we already see that Bud cannot take any more, and he commits
suicide by jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge. Bud is desperately trying to pursue the American Dream, but
he meets with so many adversities, that the dream is never within his reach. He is a good person, though
this does not mean that he meets with good people.
The novel is filled with other characters who try very hard to become wealthy. Ed Thatcher, Ellen‘s
father, is a businessman who fully believes in the concept of the American Dream: being responsible for
one‘s own success and working one‘s way up. He practices what he preaches, slowly making his way to
the top. Nevertheless, Ed is sometimes confronted with his own mediocrity and fear of taking risks: ―Take
a plunge and come up with your hands full, pockets full, bank account full, vaults full of money. If I only
dared take the risk‖ (Dos Passos 107). Together with Bud, Ed Thatcher believes in the real American
Dream. However, while Bud does not get to live the American Dream, Ed Thatcher does. Congo Jake is a
cabin boy on a French ship in military service when the reader first meets him. He dreams of making it in
America, and abandoning the service. Jimmy meets Congo through another friend, and when he does
Congo is a barkeeper. After Prohibition has been instated, Congo makes a substantial amount of money
through bootlegging. When Jimmy meets Congo at the end of the novel, he tells Jimmy to ―call me
Armand. I‘m married now; Armand Duval, Park Avenue‖ (Dos Passos 341). Like Gatsby and Harry
Morgan, Armand finds his wealth in prohibition. Gus McNeil is a milkman at the start of the novel, who is
hit by a train and then receives a large amount of money after he files a lawsuit and becomes involved in
politics quite successfully. Gus has worked its way up the social ladder, although it all falls into his lap –
even the lawyer that takes care of the lawsuit asks Gus to hire him, Gus only has to say yes.
Like Jimmy, Stan Emery and Joe Harland, follow a same path of destruction after being born into
a wealthy family. The latter, Jimmy‘s cousin, was once highly successful in the stock market, and was
called ―the King of the Curb‖ and ―The Wizard of Wall Street‖ (Dos Passos 103) years ago because of his
enormous success in stocks. Now, though, Joe is a middle-aged drunkard who begs his family members
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for money. Stan Emery is the son of a wealthy businessman and studies at Harvard. He is thrown out of
school and starts drinking heavily. In a drunken state he dies in a fire.
Capitalism
Manhattan Transfer is highly critical of American capitalism as it also harms the morality of society.
Phineas Blackhead, for example, is the head of an import and export firm. One of his associates, Densch,
wants them to back the reform candidate, George Baldwin, who is running for office in the mayoral
election. Blackhead opposes this idea, because he has always supported the other party, of which Gus
McNeil is an important figure. It is too late, though, for Blackhead to give his opinion, as Densch already
has promised to back the reform candidate because ―I consider it my duty as a citizen to help in cleaning
up the filthy conditions of bribery, corruption and intrigue that exist in the city government‖ (Dos Passos
295). This situation leads to a financial scandal, where Blackhead and Densch‘s company fails for
10,000,000 dollar. Each character blames the other for bringing down the company, and while Densch
leaves New York City, Blackhead seems to suffer a breakdown. Capitalism corrupted Blackhead which is
indirectly the reason for the company‘s downfall. Blackhead is not the only one corrupted by capitalism,
Gus McNeil is as well. He used to be a milkman, but when he becomes rich he turns into a reactionary
politician. He turns his back on the class he used to belong to. When talking to Joe O‘Keefe, a sergeant in
the war who now fights for jobs for returning veterans, he claims that ―a national bonus means taxes to the
average business man and nothing else‖ (Dos Passos 284). Gus has lost sight of the needs of the class
he used to belong to, and now only thinks of the wealthier people in the city and their wants. Although Gus
is making a better life for himself and moving on up the social ladder, capitalism has corrupted his morals.
Not only does capitalism have this effect, having much money or not being able to gain so much
money is a heavy weight to bear for some characters. Stan Emery is one of the characters who breaks
down under the pressure of too much wealth. He cannot handle the possession of all the money he and
his family has and rebels against it, which leads to his dismissal from Harvard and ultimately to his death.
Another character, Dutch Robertson, suffers from the fact that in capitalistic society New York, he tries to
get work but never succeeds. Dutch is a war veteran who cannot find work although he is hopeful he will.
He falls back to such a level of poverty that, when he is hungry and thirsty, he reads of a successful hold
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up in a paper and decides to turn to desperate matters with his girlfriend Francie. They are arrested not
long after the hold up and Dutch is sentenced to twenty years in jail. In the search for wealth Dutch loses
sight of morality.
Capitalism also makes gaining money and materialism more important as a goal in some
characters‘ lives. To James Merivale, for instance, material wealth and social success is very important.
When he returns from the First World War he quickly gets a job at his father‘s firm and starts working his
way up the company‘s ladder. Even Ed Thatcher, the humble businessman who believes in working his
way up, sometimes daydreams of being ‗Millionaire Thatcher‘ and at one point even fantasizes about a
swarm of dollar bills flying over the city. Other, minor characters also observe New York City‘s citizens
obsession with money, like Emile who states that ―it‘s the coin they‘re after. They don‘t want to fight
people; they want to do business with them‖ (Dos Passos 31). Alice Sheffield, who has an affair with an
Englishman called Buck, agrees to his proposal to go to Calgary with him. He claims that in Canada ―the
name of Buckminister has rather more weight than in the U.S.‖ (Dos Passos 338), to which Alice
responds: ―Oh I know darling, it‘s nothing but money in New York‖ (Dos Passos 338).
Dos Passos himself was in his early years as a novelist himself a socialist, which he shows in this
novel through his criticism of capitalism. Not all characters get a fair chance, and as everyone is trying to
reach the top in Manhattan Transfer, some have to give up their battle. Bud, for example, does not get
anywhere and he ends up taking his own life because he cannot take any more humiliation. In socialism
everyone is completely equal, and to accomplish this, things have to be taken away from the rich, which
should be given to the poor. This is not the case though in this novel, as the wealthy seem to stay as rich
as they are, while the poor do not receive anything. Capitalism is portrayed by Dos Passos as cruel and
unjust.
Society
The American society, and especially the New York society, Dos Passos portrays is full of people who are
trying to get ahead in life, but who are not doing it for themselves; instead they are trying to Keep up with
the Joneses. A newly married couple from the Bronx, William and Bertha Olafson, visit an apartment on
Riverside Drive. The man is an assistant manager at Keating and Bradley Sanitary Enigneers. He is
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impressed by the house but tells his wife, Bertha, that ―it‘s a lot of money‖ (Dos Passos 47). She, however,
insists that they ―we can afford it now, of course we can. We must live up to our income … Your position
demands it . . .‖ (Dos Passos 47). Bertha imagines what it would be like to life there:
Just think Billy that we are going to live here, on Riverside Drive. I‘ll have
to have a day at home . . . Mrs William C. Olafson, 218 Riverside Drive . .
. I wonder if it is all right to put the address on our visiting cards. (Dos
Passos 47)
Bertha is not realistic about their financial situation, but only thinks about what others might think of them,
living in a house on that particular street.
After World War One, people believed that everything in life would get better – a real belief in the
American Dream was present then in society. After the war ends a festive period commences, where
everyone celebrates victory and believes that change is going to come to the country. Not soon after,
when things return to normal, people start realizing that things have not changed at all. The poor are still
poor, jobs are still scarce and the soldiers coming back from war do not receive what they were promised.
The Victorian morals are lost but nothing has replaced them. Society is empty with everyone caring about
themselves, while they are trying to become wealthy and keep up with others.
When Jimmy leaves at the very end of the novel, he plans on going ―pretty far‖ (Dos Passos 360)
away from New York, where capitalism corrupts people and society‘s morals. The society that he belongs
to has not changed, his life has become worse because of his problems, and it seems fair that he would
want to leave the people there and find a purer society somewhere else. Jimmy is likely to go west, like
Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby, as he can go no further east than he already is, and he desperately
wants to leave this side of America where society‘s morality is at a low point and he does not agree with
the way life is lived.
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Morality and wealth in all three novels
Wealth tends to immoralize the people that have or accumulate money in all three novels. This is apparent
in several aspects of the novels, but not every novel includes every aspect. The most immoral characters
in The Great Gatsby are without a doubt Tom and Daisy Buchanan. They despise everyone who does not
belong to their class and they will do whatever lies in their power to keep outsiders from entering their
social class. Besides, they also scorn the people who belong to the group of the ‗new money‘, and try to
keep far away for them. Especially Tom dislikes Gatsby so much because he belongs to that certain
group. In To Have and Have Not it is not so much contempt as it is disrespect that wealthy people have for
the people who are not rich. Mr. Johnson leaves Harry Morgan with damage to his boat and fishing
equipment without paying, and the crowd at the end of the novel breathlessly watches how a woman
emotionally breaks down, without anybody doing anything to help her. In Manhattan Transfer Gus McNeil
turns his back on the class he once belonged to, because he is now rich. He has become a politician after
receiving an enormous amount of money, but he now works for the rights of businessmen and not for the
working class he used to belong to.
All three novels contain characters who gain their wealth through prohibition. In Manhattan
Transfer it is Congo Jake, who is originally from France but comes to America to search for the American
Dream. He finds it when he becomes very affluent through bootlegging. He changes his name to Armand
Duval and he buys an apartment on Park Avenue. In The Great Gatsby the protagonist is a bootlegger,
and he also buys an expensive property: a large mansion on West Egg. Harry Morgan smuggles alcohol
himself from Cuba to America, although Harry believes that it is his way to wealth, the smuggling trip fails
and Harry earns nothing.
Materialism is more important than morals in The Great Gatsby as well as in Manhattan Transfer.
In Fitzgerald‘s novel the goal that Gatsby is pursuing is to regain Daisy Buchanan as his girl, and to make
her his wife. Gaining wealth is not his main goal, but he knows that with a full bank account Daisy is more
likely to choose him than as a sergeant in the army without money. Money is important in Manhattan
Transfer, as several characters only work to gain wealth. James Merivale is a good example: he comes
from a wealthy family but has to go to the war. When he returns from Europe he quickly gets a job at his
family‘s company, and works his way up. He is only interested in material possessions and social success,
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and does not care much about anything else.
In both Manhattan Transfer and To Have and Have Not a political view is apparent. Hemingway
shows his class-consciousness through the differences between all the classes that are featured in the
novel, and Harry Morgan‘s realization of his own position in this system. Dos Passos shows his leftist view
when he criticizes capitalism through the uneven division between what the rich have, and what the poor
have. John W. Aldridge argues that Dos Passos wants to show that ―the real victims of the system were
the working classes and that the real evils of the system stemmed from wealth and power‖ (71). The poor
do not really get ahead during the time of economic setbacks that the novel deals with, while the wealthy
stay rich and they do not give anything (literally or figuratively) to the poor.
Society in all novels is corrupt and has lost many values associated with the American Dream. In
The Great Gatsby, morality has come to a low point. Tom confesses that he has had several affairs
outside his marriage and with that violates his marital vows. Someone who is dishonest in the novel is
Jordan Baker. She is incurably dishonest, and the story‘s narrator Nick does not seem to mind. Besides
Nick, no other character who has had contact with Gatsby for the last months of his life comes to his
funeral. They do not even send a card or a wire. It shows that the Toms, Daisys and Jordans of society do
not care about anything else besides themselves. Hemingway also argues this in his novel in one of the
last scenes of the novel where a woman finds out her husband has probably died, and the crowd that has
gathered only looks at the desperate woman interested in her pain, no one interested in helping her.
People in the crowd feel privileged that they were present at this scene, thinking they are so much luckier
than those who were not there.
The Pursuit of Happiness does not lead to actual happiness in the three novels. It has been
corrupted by the desire for wealth and the societal immorality that wealth brings with it. In The Great
Gatsby neither Daisy nor Tom seem happy in their dysfunctional marriage, Nick loses a close friend, and
Gatsby dies. Harry dies too, and he leaves a wife who does not know how to continue without him. In
Manhattan Transfer Ellen is unhappy, even though she is getting married, which should be a happy time
for most, and Jimmy leaves the city to find happiness and leaves the society that he is so discontented
with. In The Great Gatsby and Manhattan Transfer both Nick and Jimmy leave the East Coast to find a
society in west America where morals and values are still honored.
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Conclusion
All in all, morality in 1920s and 1930s American society is heavily criticized by Fitzgerald, Hemingway and
Dos Passos. Shakespeare‘s famous words from The Merchant of Venice ―all that glisters is not gold‖ best
describe what these novelists want to show: there is an ugly side to wealth that takes away people‘s
morality. The societies they depict are all full of bootleggers, wealthy people who disrespect poor people,
and materialism and capitalism. This is exactly the sort of society all three writers wanted to escape from
when they left America. They left their home country because they felt that their values could not operate
in postwar America and they felt spiritually barren, and with the critique in the novels they propagate these
feelings. It is possible to draw a parallel between the Lost Generation that leaves America, and Jimmy
Herf who leaves New York at the end of Manhattan Transfer. If Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Dos Passos, and
the other writers were asked ―how fur ye goin?‖, they would probably also have answered: ―I dunno . . .
Pretty far‖ (Dos Passos 360).
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Works cited
Adams, James Truslow. The Epic of America. New York: Blue Ribbon Books, 1931. Print.
Aldridge, John W. After the Lost Generation: a critical study of the writers of two wars. New York: The
Noonday Press, 1959. Print.
Callahan, John F. ―F. Scott Fitzgerald‘s Evolving American Dream: The ―Pursuit of Happiness‖ in Gatsby,
Tender Is the Night, and The Last Tycoon.‖ Twentieth Century Literature 42-3 (1996): 374-395.
Web. 12 Jan. 2011.
Cobbs, John L. ―Hemingway‘s ―To Have and Have Not‖: A Casualty of Didactic Revision.‖ South Atlantic
Bulletin 44-4 (1979): 1-10. Web. 12 Jan. 2011.
Dos Passos, John. Manhattan Transfer. London: Penguin Group, 2000. Print.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Ware: Wordsworth Editions Limited, 2001. Print.
Gurko, Leo. Ernest Hemingway and the Pursuit of Heroism. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company,
1968. Print.
Hemingway, Ernest. A Moveable Feast. New York: Scribner, 2009. Print.
- - -. To Have and Have Not. London: Arrow Books, 2004. Print.
Knott, Toni D. ―One man alone: Dimensions of individuality and categorization in To Have and Have Not.‖
Hemingway Review 17-2 (1998): 1-6. Web. 12 Jan. 2011.
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