Tropic of Cancer

Paris is central to almost everything that happens in Tropic of Cancer, for it is present not only as a setting, but as a character in its own right, shaping Henry’s relationships, worldview, and literary production. During his composition of the novel, Miller actively studied guidebooks about the city, particularly those that included the history of literary Paris. In fact, a number of descriptions in the novel are taken directly from these guidebooks, picked apart, and put back together to better reflect Miller’s memories and emotions. But for both Miller the writer and Henry the character, the city is not just a part of various literary and intellectual histories; instead, it exists primarily as a material realm in which unending consumption—of food, goods, visual experiences, and most of all, sex—is the driving force of everyday life.

From the beginning of the novel, Henry connects Paris directly to sexualized women. He writes, in an early scene, “Nothing better between five and seven than to be pushed around in that throng, to follow a leg or a beautiful bust, to move along with the tide and everything whirling in your brain” (16). There are certain streets in the city that attract sex workers, and he describes being almost overwhelmed by their bodies while traversing these spaces.