Tropic Of Cancer

The following are quotes from the book: "Revolutions are nipped in the bud, or else succeed too quickly. Passion is quickly exhausted (31)." "We are living a million lives in the space of a generation (32)." "The evolution of this world which has died but which has not been buried (44)." Human beings created many different cultural civilizations, rules, and values. There were some changes and revolutions in the history. However, generation to generation, they followed the traditional rules. We are living in the stream of time. In many cultures, sex was considered evil, and societies became allergic to Henry Miller type of expressions. Today, society has changed, and people are now more open about sex. Thus, Henry Miller was a pioneer of the sexual revolution. .
             Through "Tropic Of Cancer," Henry Miller also tried to condemn materialism. The story was about the daily life of an American guy in Paris. On the first page of "Tropic Of Cancer," he stated, "I have no money, no resources, no hope, I am the happiest man alive." Although he was poor, he was rambling around the town, sleeping with a lot of women, and enjoying life in Paris. He was telling us that happiness was not about money, but it was related to our minds or how we lived. Since he lived in both New York and Paris, he often compared and contrasted the differences between the cities in this work. He portrayed New York as a symbol of materialism and Paris as a "Promised Land" of humanity. According to Henry Miller, "New York makes even a rich man feel his unimportance. New York is cold, glittering, malign. The buildings dominate. New York! The white prisons, the sidewalks swarming with maggots, the bread lines, the opium joints that are built like palaces, the kikes that are there, the lepers, the thugs, and above all, the ennui, the monotony of faces, streets, legs, houses, skyscrapers, meals, posters, jobs, crimes, lovers .