Running in the Family Themes

Michael Ondaatje’s Running in the Family is often categorized as a post-modern memoir, though it relays much more of Ondaatje’s parents’ lives than his own. The narrative intersperses personal memories, contradicting accounts, and magical realism to convey as much of Ondaatje’s familial history in Ceylon (modern-day Sri Lanka) as Ondaatje can piece together, especially regarding his father, Mervyn, whom he barely knew. Although Ondaatje’s stated goal is to rediscover his Ceylonese ancestry and…

Alcohol plays a constant and dominating role in Ondaatje’s memoir. Although the author and his friends all drink—in the opening passage of the story, Ondaatje is drunk at a party—the effects of alcohol are primarily explored through the author’s father, Mervyn. Mervyn is a lifelong alcoholic suffering from “dipsomania,” the sudden overwhelming craving for vast amounts of alcohol punctuated by weeks of sobriety. Although Mervyn is gentle by nature, his drunkenness…

Ondaatje’s memoir is in large part an attempt to reconstruct his parents’ early lives and understand who they were in their youth and as adults. The stories he pieces together are revealing, but unflattering. As young adults, Ondaatje’s parents and their friends exemplify the spirit of the 1920s era in which they come of age: wealthy, irresponsible, and with little awareness of any real consequences in life. Ondaatje’s recounting of his parents’ generation suggests…

Ceylon (modern-day Sri Lanka) has a long history of colonialism. Between 1505 and 1948, the Portuguese, Dutch, and English Empires each ruled the country in turn, and Ondaatje regards these nations as “invaders who stepped ashore and claimed everything with the power of their sword or bible or language.” Although the various European powers reigned over Ceylon and although some of their citizens married Ceylonese people—Ondaatje’s family has some Dutch heritage—Ondaatje argues that none of…