4

This is a prose with testosterone overdose. Maybe even more masculine and badass than other Hemingway's books of short stories. There are real angry and very old fashioned men who fond of drinking, fighting, fishing and trying to make some money for their families. The last may seemed a little odd today since they are not very caring husbands — communicating with women just by simple phrases like "yes", "no", "sweetheart" or even commands or more than that, by smacking them up in the face. Children are not existing even in background though the author mentions them if speaking about Harry Morgan. However, this is just a first layer of dialogs. The second one is a description of what's going on with heroes with depiction of heroes' feelings, thoughts, facial and body expressions. And this alloy gives us that highly acclaimed, memorable style of Hemingway's texts.
I guess there is no need to tell much about those who "Have not". Everyone down there is struggling for survival in a complicated and a harsh world. Everything is ugly and turns out wrong.
If there is love, it is a Marie Morgan's kind of love for her distant and rude husband: she can only feel some almost animal magnetism to her spouse. Hemingway repeatedly mentions how she adores husband's movement and posture, like some kind of "exotic animal".
If you are renting a boat the man who hire you leaves you without paying a dime.
If you are trying to make some money from smuggling some liquor it ends up with losing an arm.
If you try to be hired to your friend's boat you end up dead.
If you try to run illegal business with some criminals — you end up dead fighting for your life. Remember, you are not Don Corleone.
This book actually fragmented into several stories that do not have real connection between them except for everything in them goes wrong and everyone is unhappy. These are stories about unnecessary persons which fail in their plans for the very own lives.
More than that many of them simply do not know what to do with the own lives either, since that life does not cost a nickel here.
The best illustration for this idea is a part with veterans at Freddy's. These are the people who survived the Great War but barely survive facing an economic problems. One of the characters, successful writer Robert Gordon, goes through this breath-taking journey as through all of nine circles of Inferno starting with the his very own Lust that leads to breaking with his wife, and becomes one of the reasons he got into the bar and ending up with Treachery being knocked out by bouncer who had liking for his rival in love. And as all sinners in Dante's Inferno, Robert Gordon deserved this punishment.
In another part of the book author describes thoughts of those who "Have" in an episode with yachts and their passengers. Everyone there is rich and must be joyful, but they all have their concerns. Reader is running through their lives and it is clearly obvious that they are not well.
There are no happy rich fellows on that expensive yachts, too. And I guess it is not a coincidence that in this very part, written about the most prosperous ones, Hemingway mentions suicide for the first time in the whole story book.
It's a kinda gloomy and morbid stories that take place in sunny land and sea — but kinda about men who have guts, as well. No happy ending.