Barbarian seems like a gimme, and I've got nothing against the idea, but I'm not a fan of the Berserker, and the idea of an ape choosing a Totem animal just strikes me as odd. They might like the novelty of being the more socially acceptable member of a group for once. Maybe he could make some Tiefling or Half-Orc friends. Trustworthy companions would help quite a bit in navigating through the civilized world, of course. Given the remarkable things disabled humans are able to do using just their feet, I'm confident an intelligent ape could accomplish quite a few things that their unintelligent cousins would find impossible. I'm certain he could manage hide armor, at the very least. Armor should be possible, too, at least something relatively simple like a chain shirt or even a breastplate. I don't know if they have the grip strength to use proper weapons, but I'm sure that a good D&D blacksmith could come up with something like a cestus or brass knuckles that an ape could use. They have better hands than most animals, though not up to human standards. Especially when they start talking, of course. They're humanoid, so they'd probably be more easily accepted as intelligent by the public at large. I think a gorilla would work pretty well, really. There are worse choices than a gorilla, is what I'm saying. Or possibly a rhino, after seeing that video of the zoo-break in Israel. I mean, my backup choices would be a bear or an elephant. An ape's Int is too high for the Awaken spell, but I'd bet most GMs would overlook that if they'd be willing to allow awakened animal PCs at all. I really and truly want to play an awakened gorilla.

Druid spell awaken 5e