Tropic of Cancer Themes
Sex
Where to start?There's no two ways about it: Tropic of Cancer is absolutely littered with sex, so much so that the novel was initially banned for its explicit sexual content. Miller doesn't shy awa...
Writing
Henry Miller loves to wax poetic about writing. In Tropic of Cancer, he pretty explicitly talks about the book itself, even describing it as "growing" inside him. But when does this guy get the tim...
Time
Ah, modernism. These guys and gals just loved thinking about and playing with time. In Tropic of Cancer, Miller references everything from the prehistoric era to a future filled with robots. And he...
Poverty
In Tropic of Cancer, Miller survives day to day, meal to meal, hotel room to hotel room, and prostitute to prostitute. But it seems like poverty is more of a blessing than a curse for Henry. It ser...
Suffering and Disease
The title of the book—Tropic of Cancer—says it all. Miller is living in a place where disease and discomfort are the norm. And you know what? He seems to like it that way. It's all part of life...
Mortality and Death
It's no secret that in Tropic of Cancer, Henry Miller is obsessed with sex. But what about that other obsession? You know—death. He actually associates the two pretty strongly; and for good reaso...
Friendship
As messed up as they may seem, much of Tropic of Cancer about Henry's friendships with other expatriates, oddballs, and artists. These guys all support each other's (not-so-healthy) lifestyles thro...