to find a worthwhile occupation. Protagonist Like his previous autobiographical novels, Ham on Rye centers on the life of Henry Chinaski, this time during his childhood and teenage years. Throughout the course of the novel, Bukowski develops his misanthropic anti-hero character that is seen in his other works like Post Office and Hollywood. Chinaski, growing up poor in Los Angeles during the Great Depression, is shown developing into a sarcastic loner. This stems in large part from his home life, in which he is beaten frequently (often for no reason) by his father. He becomes alienated from the children at school simply for somehow being different in a way that none of them could ever coherently articulate. The post-facto rationalizations they concoct for their hostility, however, involve his inability to play sports and his being viscerally revolted by cruelty to animals, the latter being one of the favorite past-times of neighborhood men and boys alike. The grotesque-looking boils of his acne vulgaris will eventually turn their excuses for hating him into an ostracizing trifecta. Chinaski has been compared to both Frankenstein's monster and Kafka's Gregor Samsa, because of his alienation and outcast resulting from his "monstrous" appearance. He often resorts to violence when confronted with those who alienate him, giving him a tough guy image to his peers. However, he rarely is completely confident with his own abilities and often second-guesses himself. Themes As a prequel to Bukowski's previous novels, Ham on Rye depicts the origin and development of many of the reoccurring themes of his work as well as the persona of Henry Chinaski. Some of the major themes: Relationships between parents, children, and economic circumstances. Henry’s father becomes increasingly abusive towards his son as the family sinks further into poverty. Disenfranchisement and the myth of the American Dream. As the young Chinaski witnesses the economic failure of his struggling family, he becomes increasingly disillusioned with the idea that success is based on personal merit and hard work. The underlying superficiality of societal values. Henry notices a disconnect between society’s supposed values and his personal experience. Rather than a nation dedicated to freedom and equality, he finds a country based on the abuse of power (between himself and his father, teachers, stronger/wealthier students) and obsessed with appearance and displays of wealth, “A whole god-damned nation of assholes driving automobiles, eating, having babies, doing everything in the worst way possible,