Family

Family is a prominent theme in the novel. Mr. Biswas’s family is broken up because of unfortunate circumstances, and he never really has a close relationship with his mother, his brothers, or his sister. His mother seems unable to deal with life around her, and especially not Mr. Biswas’s needs. As Mr. Biswas is maneuvered into marrying Shama, he finds that he has taken on a very large family—fourteen daughters and two sons—to go along with her. It is Shama’s family that creates most of the conflict that occurs between Shama and Mr. Biswas. Up against the Tulsi family, Mr. Biswas feels helpless. The theme of family continues in the birth of four children to Mr. Biswas. His attitude toward his own family is very complex: at times, he feels they are an alien interference in his life, and at other times, he...