To Have And Have Not

A conversation between Richard and Helen Gordon reveals both Richard’s affair with Helene Bradley and Helen’s infatuation with Professor MacWalsey. The dissatisfaction between the couple comes to a head as they fight over money, affection, and desires. Helen reveals that MacWalsey proposed to her and that she plans to accept, seeing that she and Richard are not officially married, a fact she believes makes her a “damned fool” (185). In her anger, she mentions an abortion he forced her to have and uses it as proof that their love was always a lie. Richard slaps her across the face.

Richard then reminisces about the passionate afternoon with Helene and recalls her husband, Tommy, walking in on them. Though the voyeuristic ménage à trois seemed normal for the Bradleys, it was not for Richard, who quickly left. Helene’s final remark that he was not “a man of the world” (190) reminds Richard of Helen’s own beliefs about him, and he sinks into a depression when Helen says she is leaving. He asks her to wait until morning, and then he heads to the Lilac Time bar.