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Chapter 1
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Family Matters, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Family and Happiness
Dishonesty
Religion
Money and Relationships
Forgiveness
Summary
Analysis
Roxana, her husband Yezad, and their two sons Murad and Jehangir enter Jal and Coomy’s. Murad and Jehangir are excited to see Nariman and rush to hug him. Roxana tells them to wait for their grandfather to sit down, and Nariman thinks about the toll that Parkinson’s is taking on his body. Roxana and Coomy begin to bicker about how best to budget for expenses. Yezad tries to resolve the conflict by saying that they all have money concerns, but Coomy says money is tighter for them because they have to cover Nariman’s expenses.
Jehangir and Murad both rush to hug Nariman when they arrive at the apartment, suggesting that Nariman has people in his life who love and care for him deeply. The boys’ reaction contrasts sharply to how Jal and Coomy approach Nariman, as Coomy especially seems to feel like caring for Nariman is a burden. In this passage, Yezad also comes across as someone who tries to keep the peace.
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Themes
Jal and Coomy collect toys, which they keep in a closed case. Before dinner, Murad takes a toy monkey from the case and begins playing with it. Coomy is furious and says to Murad that he’s not supposed to play with the toys in the case. Yezad and Roxana try to step in, but before they can do anything, Roxana slaps Murad across the face. Roxana reproaches Coomy, but Coomy doesn’t back down. Nariman tells Coomy to forget about what happened, and Coomy berates Nariman for having an affair with Lucy while he was married to her mother, Yasmin. Coomy adds that Nariman ruined Yasmin’s life. Roxana works to make peace with Coomy. Coomy puts the toys away in the case before going to the kitchen to make dinner.
Coomy’s volatile and violent response to Murad playing with the toy is telling. Namely, Coomy’s abuse of Murad shows that she can be self-centered to the point that she no longer cares about others’ autonomy or wellbeing. Though Roxana is angry with Coomy, she attempts to make peace with her, suggesting that Roxana believes Coomy cannot easily be reasoned with. The toy collection in itself is also notable, as it symbolically suggests that Coomy and Jal cling to an unrealistic, idealized idea of childhood in which they think that not only toys but also children are meant to be insulated from the ills of the world. That idea is darkly ironic, considering how Coomy has just violently lashed out against Murad.
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Themes
While Coomy is making dinner in the kitchen, Roxana and her family give Nariman the gift they’ve gotten him for his birthday. It’s a walking stick, and Nariman says it’s beautiful. But Coomy then comes to the living room and says she can’t believe that they got Nariman a walking stick. She adds that his Parkinson’s and osteoporosis make walking difficult and explains that he fell while out on a walk the day before. She says that if he gets injured again, they’re going to send him to recuperate at Roxana’s house. Yezad says they would be glad to have him, but Coomy and Jal have a seven-room apartment for just the two of them and Nariman, while he (Yezad) and Roxana have a two-room apartment for their whole family.
Coomy then serves dinner, and Nariman asks why they’re not using the fine china. Coomy responds that they can’t risk chipping the dishes, but Nariman insists on using them. Nariman and Coomy argue, and eventually Coomy gives in and transfers the food to the fine china. The food is spicy, which leads Yezad to suggest turning on the ceiling fan. When they do, though, dust falls from the fan and into the food. Coomy cries that the food is ruined, but Roxana reassures Coomy that the food is still good. After dinner, they go together to the balcony. When Roxana announces that she and her family have to leave, Nariman feels dejected and lonely.
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Themes
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After Roxana and her family leave the apartment, they wait for a bus. Two drunk men approach the bus stop and begin singing a lewd song and directing the words of the song at Roxana. Yezad tells the men to stop and says he’ll punch them if they don’t. Then the Chenoy family gets on the bus. On the bus ride home, Murad and Jehangir ask Yezad and Roxana why they don’t live with Yezad’s family in the large house where that family once lived. Roxana explains that Yezad’s three sisters are fiercely protective of him and instinctively dislike Roxana as a result. Yezad says that Nariman giving them the apartment where they now live, in a building called Pleasant Villa, was the best option.
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