Family is the most important thing that a person can have. How far is one willing to go in order to protect the ones he loves? That is the main question that is analyzed in Herman Koch’s The Dinner (2009), a sneakily disturbing novel set in Amsterdam, Netherlands that chronicles the uncovering of a terrible crime.

The main characters of this novel are two couples: a pair of conflicting brothers and their wives. They seem to meet at a restaurant for a festive occasion, but in reality, terrible things need to be said, and with every forced smile, the knives are being sharpened as the conversation slowly reaches its climax.

​The protagonist of this story is Paul Lohman in addition to 6 other characters: Serge Lohman, Claire, Babette, Michel, Rick, and Beau. Paul and Serge are brothers and Claire and Babette are their wives respectively. The main conflict of the novel is between the brothers, who are very different in character. Serge is a famous politician who is soon going to become the prime minister of the Netherlands. Serge has all the power. For instance, regular people have to book a table at the restaurant two months ahead, but Serge doesn’t. In contrast, his brother Paul is an ordinary citizen who is jealous of his brother’s status. His wife Claire is a supportive woman who always stands up for Paul and never criticizes him for any of his behavior. Eventually, it doesn’t end up being as good as it sounds. Babette is a supportive wife as well. She never complains about Serge and is the only one of many who accepts his character and stayswith him longer than a few months. She is also a caring woman who decides to adopt a child who she loves as much as her own. Michel is Paul’s son who has strong leadership qualities and is brave. Serge’s son Rick on the other hand usually follows what Michel does. He has a weak character and often tends to do what Michel tells him to do even though sometimes he doesn’t want to do it. Beau is that adopted son in Serge’s family. He is originally from Africa and he gets upset when Michel and Rick talk about his origin and status. This shows his weak character as well, one who avenges the “brother and cousin”.

​The structure of this novel is extremely interesting, written in Paul’s first person voice. This structure makes readers believe everything that Paul says, sort of agreeing to see the world from Paul’s eyes over the course of this book. However, Paul is an unreliable narrator which works perfectly to trick readers’ minds. In the end, looking at the situation outside of his perspective, Paul is very different from his thoughts.

For instance, Serge is very proud and irritating, but in reality, he is a pretty reasonable man who doesn't think of himself higher than his brother at all. Midway through the book, Paul in fact has a mental disease and tends to act violently when someone annoys him. This disease doesn't let Paul control his emotions and he gets out of hand a couple of times. He would even beat up his own brother. For example, when Claire gets sick and lives in the hospital, Paul has to deal with a lot of stress and responsibility as he has to take care of Michel all by himself. Serge and Babette come one day to visit him and offer him to take Michel to their house as they have better living conditions for a child. Paul gets furious and hits Serge in the face with a pan which causes bleeding. However, in the depth of his soul, Paul knows that he is losing control over the situation. This incident shows his weakness and hot temper.

Another unique structure is that the book is written as if it is throughout a dinner. Koch divides it up into some major sections of the dinner which are: aperitif, appetizer, main course, dessert, and digestif. What is special about it is that just like the heaviness of food grows from section to section, so does the story slowly growing to reaching its climax. Symbolically, the climax is told in the main course. Furthermore, all the information about the characters, events, and causes is sort of like flashbacks and Paul’s thoughts about the dinner.

With every course and smile, all the useless conversations fade out and the couples come down to talking about the real reason why they gathered. This reason being a terrible crime committed by their sons. Again as a flashback, Paul tells how he looked at Michel’s phone and saw a terrible video of them killing an innocent homeless woman at an ATM machine. One night, Michel, Rick, and Beau went to an ATM to withdraw some money in order to get a taxi and go home, however as they entered the ATM room they saw a homeless woman lying right in front of the machine. The woman smelled and the boys decide to play a joke on her. They startedthrowing different things at her including trash and a lamp. At this moment, Beau left as he didn’t want to do this “bad”  stuff. Finally Michel grabbed a gas can and threw it at her. Somehow it lit up on fire and burned the woman to death. The boys escaped but recorded a video before they left, which Paul saw. This case is now under a serious police investigation.

The only available evidence to the police is recordings from a camera that was in the ATM room, but the picture is too blurry in order for them to see faces. The couples discuss this topic and try to come up with a resolution. This is where each character shows how far they will go in order to save their loved ones, as if found out, Michel and Rick are going to face serious consequences. Paul, Babette, and Claire have the same opinion: forget about this and go on with their lives. Serge is the one who stands out. As he is running for prime minister, he wants to withdraw his candidacy and make Rick report himself. He thinks this way is fair and after the jail time there will be no feeling of guilt. However, Babette and Claire are strongly against this idea because it will hurt both Serge’s political career and the future of their children. Ironically, Paul is happy in the depths of his heart because he thinks that Serge is not good enough to be a prime minister. This moment shows that Serge is willing to give up his great political career for his beloved son and it means a lot. On the other hand, Paul, Claire, and Babette are willing to hide the truth and live with the feeling of guilt in order for their sons to have a bright future.

Some of the main themes of The Dinner are power, family, and morality. Serge is an obvious representation of power and control, whereas Paul is the opposite of it. Family is one of the most important themes of this novel. Paul, the main character, often thinks about the definition and characteristics of a happy family. He thinks the moment Claire stops telling him about everything is the moment when their happy family may vanish. However, there is an understanding in the end that sometimes hiding the truth is what really keeps a family happy. For example, if they tell the truth to the police, Michel would need to serve jail time which would destroy their family.

Also, Paul makes a contrast by often saying that while he has a happy family, his brother doesn’t. He thinks even though Serge has all the power and wealth, he still doesn’t possess the most valuable thing in the world: a happy family. Paul tells us how Serge and Babette always fight and that Babette perhaps stays with Serge only due to his wealth and status. This is a very ill relationship to have between a couple. The theme of family is also explored by telling how far each character goes to save their loved ones. Morality has a very vague definition in this story. This novel really explores the idea that sometimes something that seems moral to a normal person would actually hurt others. Koch wants to say that morality is not always a good thing in the real world. For instance, it seems moral to a normal person to tell the truth to the police and face the consequences, however the author proves this action wrong by showing that a lie can save a family from crashing.

From The Dinner, the reader learns that using no matter what ways and crossing no matter what laws, people should always save their family’s happiness and unity because family is really the most important thing we have.