Tropic of Cancer: Analysis of Major Characters
"Tropic of Cancer," a novel by Henry Miller, presents a complex exploration of its major characters, serving as a lens through which readers can examine themes of identity, artistic struggle, and existential despair. The central figure, Henry Miller himself, is portrayed as a semi-autobiographical character navigating the bohemian landscape of Paris as he seeks to break free from the constraints of his past life in America. He exhibits a dual nature, embodying both a passionate appetite for life and a deeper sensitivity that contrasts with his rough exterior.
In stark contrast is Van Norden, a cynical American newspaperman who epitomizes the dullness and self-indulgence Miller seeks to escape. His character is marked by vanity and a lack of awareness, serving as a foil to Miller's artistic aspirations. Other supporting characters, like Fillmore and Germaine, further reflect the novel's themes; Fillmore represents arrested development and eventual defeat, while Germaine is admired for her authenticity and strength. The character Mona introduces a sense of mystery and emotional complexity, drawing from Miller's own experiences. Together, these characters create a rich tapestry that illustrates the struggles and aspirations of individuals searching for meaning in a chaotic world.
Tropic of Cancer: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Henry Miller
First published: 1934
Genre: Novel
Locale: Paris and Dijon, France
Plot: Autobiographical
Time: 1930–1931
Henry Miller, the narrative consciousness of the novel, a somewhat transformed, semiautobiographical elaboration of the author. He is a man of indeterminate middle age, an indi-gent, aspiring writer who is visiting Europe to escape from the conditions of life in the United States, which he believes are responsible for his artistic and economic failures. After trying to conform to the conventional rules and requirements of middle-class society in America, he is struggling to survive as a kind of underground man in the bohemian realms of Paris. Convinced that his true nature has been suppressed by his failed attempts at various mundane jobs and two marriages, he has recast himself as an artist/hero, a rebel, and a kind of gangster of erotic aggression. He is mostly appetite, for both sex and food. Although it is not as immediately apparent, he is also a man of feeling and sensitivity. He is essentially an observer; he demonstrates his kinship with the historical tradition of great art in Paris through his extremely inventive use of language, employing verbal styles of expression charged with the energy of the anger and joy with which he confronts everything. His spirit remains strong in the midst of conditions that crush nearly everyone else with whom he associates. His heartfelt tributes to the subtle beauties of the city, its architecture, and its rivers and streets register his deeper, more humane and more gentle side. As he progresses through the eighteen months or so that the novel covers, the manner in which he skips from one incident, episode, and location to another suggests entries in a journal, a record of the final phases of his development as the artist who will write the book.
Van Norden, a newspaperman of sorts, also American, who represents the worst aspects of the society from which Miller is trying to escape and who also exhibits the author's worst traits carried to excess and with no redeeming qualities. He is vain, stupid, consumed by self-pity, and completely oblivious to the extraordinary features of the city in which he feels trapped. His only interest seems to be the seduction of women, whom he regards as little more than versions of sexual mechanisms and to whose human qualities he is completely blind. He “wakes up cursing” and tries to obliterate his psychic numbness with the gratification of sensory demands. Ultimately, he is a homicidal monster, though not in the conventional sense. He is a killer of the soul, and his murderous tendencies destroy every life he touches, including his own. Miller uses him as a powerful contrast to the life to which he aspires, a life that is animated by the “spark of passion” Van Norden lacks. Other characters named Carl, Boris, and Moldorf are variations of Van Norden.
Fillmore, a relatively young American trying to live in the style of the carefree bohemians of legendary Parisian society. Like Van Norden and Carl, he is a case of arrested development, an adolescent who has no real sense of himself. Also like Carl, he is forced into a pitiable retreat from life. At the conclusion of the novel, Miller helps Fillmore onto a boat headed back to England and then to America. Fillmore is a beaten man whose defeat is presented as a contrast with Miller's survival.
Germaine, a prostitute, who is praised by Miller for her lack of pretense and is admired for exhibiting some of the same characteristics that the narrator relishes in himself: guts, fire, stamina, courage, and cunning. Although she is primarily presented as another version of the members of an essentially nondistinct conglomerate of women named Tania, Llona, and Irene, some aspects of personality and singularity emerge, suggesting an individual more than a sexual device.
Mona, a beautiful, dark young woman who had been involved with the narrator prior to his arrival in Paris and who spent some time with him in Paris during his first days there. She is a characterization of Miller's second wife, Jane Smith, and represents a mysterious and valued woman who is still a factor in the narrator's existence.