The family unit
This novel is especially character-driven. It is essentially a social novel with a family unit as the setting. This family is amalgamated and tribal. Their tribal identity is Irish Catholic, but the imagery of tribal and family units even extends past the family in particular. For instance, Jack is amazed and transformed by his experience of Ugandan tribal culture. The family dynamics among these five sisters is Michael's main imagery experience of life.
Balancing opposite ideas
Michael's life is shaped by balances that are skewing toward off-balance. His intuitive approach to story telling and prose shows that he is constantly judging the behaviors of those in his family so he can arrive at some sort of balanced identity that will actually thrive in life. Kate leans toward the filial types of goodness: She is culturally, religiously, and morally conservative, and her traditional views make her the backbone of the family. Michael's father is on the opposite side. He won't marry Michael's mother, and he is fiercely competitive and individualistic.
Traditionalism and mysticism
Michael is embedded in a network of associations and assumptions, but each person has their own specific point of view that makes their sense of "goodness" unique. The obvious imagery for considerations of moral goodness and piety would be the religious imagery of the family's shared Catholicism. To the extent a family member abides by the assumptions of Catholicism, they are shown to be traditional. Jack breaks the mold when his radical conservatism leads him to an undeniable religious awakening. After his mystic transformation, the traditional folks treat him as scandalous and potentially heretical.
Money as imagery
The imagery that most affects the emotional dynamic of the home is the imagery of money and economy. These people work hard, but they still cannot quite make ends meet. The family men are nowhere to be found, and the impression the reader gets is that the men do not sacrifice their money to the family the same way Kate does. The women in the family suffer most when industrialism outmodes their ways of making money. There is a feminist argument in this portrait of money stress.
