Food has both literal and symbolic resonances throughout Tropic of Cancer. As a motif, it shapes Henry’s depiction of his life in bohemian Paris, for the availability of food indicates whether or how well he is employed and provides opportunities to interact socially with his friends and lovers. In a symbolic sense, it grants him a philosophical lens through to contemplate writing, sex, and the value of material experiences.

Henry quite simply loves food, especially when he does not have it. He writes, “Food is one of the things I enjoy tremendously” (4) and claims, “I not only think about food all day, but I dream about it at night” (69). At various points throughout the text, he is willing to do almost anything for a meal, even an unappetizing one. When living with Nanantatee, for example, he says, “Bad or food what difference? Food! That’s all that matters” (79). However, he sees equal value in the physical sensations that accompany starvation. When he attends the concert at the Salle Gaveau on a very empty stomach, his awareness is noticeably heightened, as he proves with the assertion, “My mind is curiously alert […] as though my skull had a thousand mirrors inside it.