Wolff is struggling to find his place in American society at the start of the memoir, and this struggle in some ways forms the core of the book. Wolff was expelled from high school and, thus, does not complete his secondary education. This would itself be at odds with societal norms, but it is made even more so by the fact that Wolff was attending a prestigious Philadelphia prep school at the time. He then swings in the opposite direction, joining a ship crew. He is unable to make this work either, as he earns the ire of a crew member for reasons (ostensibly) unknown, and is thus forced to desert. Unsure of his place, he joins the military, a small irony given his own anti-authoritarian streaks.

In Pharaoh’s Army explores the way people work in or against these kinds of institutions, of which the American military is, arguably, the largest and most powerful. Here, Wolff struggles to find his place; however, he also perceives the military as a means of gaining respect through institutional power. Wolff’s struggle to fit in is contrasted explicitly with his own father’s struggles—a former aeronautical engineer, his charismatic father spent his life as a con man.