American Poverty
American poverty is right at the heart of this novel. The reader is constantly reminded of just how close Henry is to poverty. The urgency to find shelter and food is always lurking behind a few dollars. The state of his wallet is always highlighted as he starts each day. His entire life is built behind how much he has, and it isn't much.
Henry's poverty doesn't begin nor end with him, it's inherent to his family. All he inherited from his parents was debt that he couldn't possibly pay. Henry is a convict which means job prospects are lacking. His son will probably inherit his parent's and grandparent's debt, forever unable to escape the trappings of poverty.
Wealth Inequality
Henry's situation is not so different from so many people around the world who live in poverty or paycheck to paycheck. Their status level in the world is documented in this novel. While there are so many people like Henry who are constantly aware of their weak spending power and insufficient pay, the few others are so cash-rich that they are ignorant of reality. Capitalism was meant to bring more jobs and common prosperity, but it ended up only benefiting the elite few. The working man was left toiling for the same pay rate his entire life.
Familial Issues and Social Decay
Henry had been in prison serving a five-year sentence for selling drugs. His wife is a drug addict who abandoned them. Junior, their son is forced to come to terms with a broken family at such a young age. In the same way that Henry's parents failed at building a strong parental foundation, he will also fail to do the same for his son, who's most likely fated to repeat this undying cycle. The overall society has repeatedly failed to address these issues which is a direct result of the failure to build a solid foundation for future generations to thrive.
