Freudian Slip

Freudian Slip: Henry Chinaski

Henry “Hank” Chinaski is the thinly veiled alter ego of Charles Bukowski. In Bukowski’s autobiographies such as Factotum, Ham on Rye, and Post Office, Chinaski plays the role as the anti-hero protagonist who embodies Bukowski’s vision of “the lost souls of America” (Timur). Many of the events Henry Chinaski goes though are very real; portraying the side of American life that most people pretend does not exist.

Chinaski’s life almost completely mirrors Bukowski’s life, as he and Bukowski grew up with abusive parents, had a love for women and alcohol, and never held a stable job for a long period of time. Chinaski also shares the same “machismo” attitude as Bukowski, and many of the people whom Chinaski encounters resembles someone in Bukowski’s life (For example, Jan, Chinaski’s live-in girlfriend is similar to Jane, Bukowski’s live-in girlfriend). Most of Bukowski’s ideas and thoughts presented in his poetry are found in the thoughts of Chinaski in his novels, also suggesting that Chinaski is also the speaker in many of Bukowski’s poems.