What is the central theme of the novel?

How do the characters help develop this

theme?

. The novel, 'the village by the sea' by Anita Desai is about family and love in the
family. This can be shown in many ways in the story.
The central theme for the novel is family loyalty. Hari, the main character in the
novel has shown this theme. Hari comes back to his family because he has a desire to
provide a better life for his family, especially for his sick mother and his little sisters.
When he decides to come back, he brings a lot of money along with him which he gains
from mworking at the restaurant and as watchmaker. Haris family is a poor family.
Therefore, with the savings, he hopes that he can improve his familys condition. This
shows that Hari has the desire to provide a better life for his family. Next, Hari is willing
to spend his money for his sisters. This can be seen in the novel when Hari says
Before I go home, I will buy presents for my sisters. I will save all my watch money for
that. This shows that Hari is willing to help his sisters. He intends to give opportunity to
his sisters to enjoy their life as other children do. The other evidence identified in the
novel is when Hari wants to buy some pomfret, samurai and crabs for his sisters. Hari
says to Lila Shall we buy some? I have money. This shows that Hari is willing to spend
money for his sisters. He wants to fulfill his sisters wants which cannot be fulfilled
before due to the familys financial constraint.
Other than that, Hari also decides to take care of his mother and stay in the
village rather than going back to Bombay. When Hari mentions that I am not going
back to Bombay. I will stay here now, in my village, it shows that he wants to serve his
mother well. Hari wants to provide better food for his mother because his mother has
suffered from malnutrition problem. Hari is very concern towards his mother. This can
be seen in the novel when Hari mentions I will bring her back every month to the
doctor and the other evidence is when Hari says There will be eggs and chicken for
mother to eat, too This shows that Hari is concern towards his mothers health. He
wants to provide better food for his mother. Lastly, Hari wants to provide a better shelter
for his family. The writer states He would change it all: he would rebuild the hut, he
would work on it now that he was home and make it bright and cheerful and happy. This

shows that Hari is a responsible person towards his family. His position as a son of his
family gives him a great responsibility to take care of his family and one of

the

responsibilities that he holds is to provide a better shelter to live in.

The love for family is also shown through Haris father character. Although,
initially he is a rotten father and fails to fulfill his responsibilities as a father, in the end of
the story, he realises how bad he is when his wife becomes very ill and his children
have to seek for help from someone else. He decides to turn over a new leaf, and
accompanies his wife throughout her seven-month-treatment in the hospital in Alibagh
without drinking or having any debts. This can be seen when Lila tells Hari, He is in
Alibagh. He followed mother. When the De Silvas took her away, he was wild. Very
angry. He screamed and shouted and broke all our water pots. He was drunk, you see.
But he stopped drinking and followed her to Alibagh to see that she was properly looked
after. He has stayed ever since and never came back. Thus, love for family may
change a bad person to a good one.
Lila is one of the characters which upholds the theme of love for the family. She
gives up school to take care of the family. She had given up going to school long ago,
so that she could stay home and do the cooking and washing and look after the others.
(Desai, pp.11). Both Hari and Lila cannot go to school because the family does not have
enough money to support all the childrens school fees. Lila is the one who takes care of
her two sisters, Bela and Kamal, and also her sick mother. Every morning, she needs to
make tea for her two sisters before they go to school and also milk for her mother who
is sick due to an unknown disease. She sacrifices her share when she gives her mother
extra milk. This is shown in the line She stopped to add a little extra milk to it (Desai,
pp.10). The simple act of 'stopping to add extra milk to the tea' shows the reader that
she acts as a caregiver and she is very caring. Her relationship with her mother is very
strong because of her condition. She also sends Hari food while he is working. This is
clearly portrayed when Lila came down the path from their hut, a water pot held
against her hip with one hand and Haris lunch of a few dry chapattis tied in a cloth in
the other (Desai, pp.14). At home, Lila manages the household chores when her
mother asks her to sweep and go to the market (Desai, pp.11). She buys groceries like
rice sugar and tea (Desai, pp.27). Apart from that, Lila finds some way to survive and to

earn some money to take their mother to the hospital. The de Silvas always hire Hari to
clean their house in Thul for them but, because Hari has already gone to Bombay, Lila
has to take the job instead. Lila works to gain money to manage the familys needs. It is
depicted in the line If you wash and sweep and cook for him, he will pay you a salary
(Desai, pp.102). She works as maid to provide the best for the family. Lila even begs
Mr. De Silva to take her mother to the hospital and Mr. De Silva takes her mother there
without saying any word and even pays for her mother medical fees. In her stressful life,
the only place that she finds peaceful is the sacred rock. Every morning she goes to a
special rock and prays in front of it and she gives the rock flowers (Desai, pp.7). In the
opening chapter, it is mentioned that Lila took the flowers from her basket and
scattered them about the rock, then folded her hands and bowed. This shows that Lila
is very spiritual and has strong beliefs that she has most likely been taught from birth.
Her strong beliefs are shown when she comes to begin the morning with an offering of
flowers to the sea. Another point that is acknowledged is that she is an inquisitive
thinker through her prayers. When she prays she has time to think and reflect on what
her priorities in life are.
In addition, Lila also tolerates with her father for the sake of her mother. Her
father is a drunkard who is irresponsible about taking care of the family. Lila has to take
responsibility ever since she was a little girl. It was the smell she had known and hated
since she was a small girl. (Desai, pp.11). In this case, the smell refers to the smell of
alcohol. Lila is shown to have fear to her father. 'But no one dared tell him, least of all
her mother.' She has to become an adult very fast due to the circumstances. Sacrifice,
love, affection and devotion are the characteristics expressed through Lila's actions.
In conclusion, the love for family is clearly portrayed by Hari, Lila and Haris
father in various ways in the novel. No matter how bad the family is, it is still the topmost
priority in life that the members should realize.
1285 words
[Group Sidi]