Running in the Family
Introduction + Context
Plot Summary
Detailed Summary & Analysis
Asia Jaffna Afternoons The Courtship April 11, 1932 Honeymoon Historical Relations The War Between Men and Women Flaming Youth The Babylon Stakes Tropical Gossip Kegalle (i) Tabula Asiae St. Thomas’ Church Monsoon Notebook (i) Tongue Sweet Like a Crow The Karapothas High Flowers To Colombo Women Like You The Cinnamon Peeler Kegalle (ii) Lunch Conversation Aunts The Passions of Lalla Harbour Monsoon Notebook (ii) How I was Bathed Wilpattu Kuttapitiya Travels in Ceylon Sir John Photograph Tea Country “What We Think of Married Life” Dialogues Blind Faith The Bone “Thanikama” Monsoon Notebook (iii) Final Days Father Tongue Last Morning
Themes
All Themes Memory, History, and Story Alcoholism Ancestry, Homeland, and Identity Irresponsibility in the 1920s Colonialism
Quotes
Characters
All Characters Michael Ondaatje Mervyn Ondaatje Doris Gratiaen Lalla Gratiaen Aunt Phyllis Francis de Saram Susan Archer Jayawardene Philip Ondaatje
Terms
All Terms Dipsomania
Symbols
All Symbols The Human Pyramid False Maps Dogs
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Running in the Family

by

Michael Ondaatje

Running in the Family Terms

Dipsomania

An antiquated term for alcoholism, and particularly a form of addiction in which a person has sudden-onset, overwhelming cravings for alcohol. In Mervyn’s case, he manages to stay sober for one or two months… read analysis of Dipsomania
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