Family

Family is a major, dominant, and overarching theme found consistently throughout the novel Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding. Family, thematically, includes moral, emotional, and physical support, as well as love, compassion, encouragement, loyalty, and devotion to individuals who may or may not be blood-related, but still act in accordance with the traditional family structure. Family appears primarily through Bridget’s relationship with her children, and additionally, between Wallaker and his children, and Bridget and her mother.

Bridget’s children are very young, so she dedicates a considerable amount of time to their rearing and well-being. She loves them, cares for them, and encourages them, especially when things don’t go their way. This is true, for example, when Bridget encourages Billy following his failure to make the chess team. Bridget’s devotion to her children is strikingly clear through even the most...