Ham

Ham : Hebrew חָם, according to the Table of Nations in the Book of Genesis was a son of Noah and the father of Cush, Mizraim, Phut and Canaan. Ham's descendants are interpreted by Moses, Flavius Josephus and others as having populated Africa and adjoining parts of Asia.

Midway through LIA, Joanna Burden sets out a plate of ham, and Christmas ends up throwing the plates against the wall. It is interesting to see this scene in the context of the name Ham, as opposed to the food, because Ham son of Noah is thought to be the father of all nations stemming from Africa and Asia. By Christmas saying this, he could be paying homage to his ancient ancestor. Ham’s son was cursed by Noah, because Ham did not cover his father when he was naked and drunk. Here, we see the idea of a predetermined way of being- a son having to deal with the sin of his father- which is seen in Joe Christmas (his childhood), and the other characters in the novel.

// He heard his voice say aloud, as if he were playing a game: “Ham,” and watched his hand swing and hurl the dish crashing into the wall, the invisible wall, waiting for the crash to subside and the silence to flow completely back before taking up another one // (LIA 238).

See Wikipedia entry on Ham (name): [|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ham_(son_of_Noah)__]