The Slap Book Summary, Themes, Characters & Synopsis

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About the Book- The Slap

Title	The Slap
Author	Christos Tsiolkas
Publication Year	2008
Publisher	-Allen & Unwin (Australia) -Penguin (U.S./U.K.)
No. of Pages	496 Pages
Language	English
Genre	Contemporary Fiction
Setting	Melbourne, Australia
ISBN-10	9780857896520
ISBN-13	978-0857896520

Characters

The main characters of “The Slap” by Christos Tsiolkas are:

Hector ➜ He’s a dad who slaps a child at a barbecue.
Aisha ➜ She’s Hector’s wife.
Rosie ➜ Rosie is Hugo’s mom, and she’s upset about the slap.
Gary ➜ He’s Rosie’s husband and Hugo’s dad.
Anouk ➜ Anouk is a friend of Rosie’s and a TV producer.
Manolis ➜ Manolis is Hector’s dad.
Connie ➜ She’s a young girl and a friend of Hector’s son, Rocco.
Richie ➜ Richie is Hector’s best friend.
Hugo ➜ Hugo is the child who gets slapped.
Rocco ➜ Rocco is Hector and Aisha’s son.
Bilal ➜ Bilal is a friend who’s there at the barbecue.
Jonno ➜ Jonno is another friend at the barbecue.

Themes

The themes of “The Slap” by Christos Tsiolkas are:

Parenting and discipline ➜ How parents raise and discipline their children.
Cultural differences ➜ Differences between people from different cultures.
Family and friends ➜ How relationships within families and among friends can be complicated.
Right and wrong ➜ What’s considered right or wrong in different situations.
Gender and sexuality ➜ Issues related to male and female identities and sexual orientation.
Morality ➜ What’s considered good or bad behavior.
Class and money ➜ Differences in social class and wealth.
Growing up ➜ How children and teenagers learn about the world.

Synopsis

The Slap is a story about a group of friends and family who come together for a barbecue in Australia. At the party, a grown-up man named Hector slaps a naughty kid named Hugo. This slap causes a lot of trouble and makes everyone upset.

The book tells us about what happens next and how this slap affects the people’s lives. It talks about family problems, fights, and different people’s feelings. Each chapter is from a different person’s point of view, so we see how everyone feels about the slap and what they do about it. It’s a book that makes you think about how we treat each other and what is right or wrong.

Summary

The Slap (2008) by Australian author Christos Tsiolkas depicts the drama that occurs when a young parent hits his neighbor’s misbehaving child during a BBQ. The story is set among a group of young, middle-class families in Melbourne. The Slap was twice adapted for television by Australian and American producers and received the 2009 Commonwealth Writer’s Prize.

Hector, a second-generation Greek Australian businessman who is prosperous and attractive in his forties, is the protagonist of the opening chapter of the book. For friends and neighbors, he and his Indian Australian wife Aisha are hosting a cookout.

Hector stops to talk to Connie, the young assistant at Aisha’s veterinary clinic, on his way to the shops, and we find out that they are having an affair. Hector masturbates as he gets back, thinking about Connie. Hector chooses to end their relationship later because she has been invited to the BBQ.

When the visitors arrive, we welcome them. Hector spots Gary, the very intoxicated husband of Rosie, an old acquaintance of Aisha’s. The affluent visitors are aware of Gary’s self-consciousness due to his working-class upbringing and low-paying profession.

Hugo, the four-year-old son of Gary and Rosie, is acting cruelly toward the other children. Hector’s cousin Harry takes him up after a tantrum. Harry smacks him when Hugo kicks him.

Gary vows to sue Harry right away. Rosie rushes to her son’s side. The visitors start to leave.

The narrative then shifts to Anouk, an acquaintance of Aisha. She hasn’t told her much younger lover that she is pregnant. She actively pushes for a provocative screenplay at work since she is aware of how her hormones are altering her behavior.

Hugo should have been smacked, Anouk claims to Aisha over the phone, but Aisha objects. When the three of them get together later for drinks, Anouk warns Rosie that she is raising Hugo inappropriately.

Anouk asks about getting an abortion and leaves her job to start writing a book.

Harry’s is the next point of view. He is shown to be conceited, prejudiced, and prone to violent fantasies in his inner monologue, including the idea of stomping Hugo’s head. He is also involved in an affair.

His wife, Sandi, has made efforts to mediate an amicable resolution to the slapping incident. Harry, Sandi, and everyone else are invited to a party that Gary and Rosie host. Harry is belittled by Rosie, and Harry again scares Hugo by toppling a chair. Rosie worries for her safety when she discovers that Harry’s wife has been bargaining with Rosie behind his back.

We hear through Connie’s perspective that Hector has stopped their relationship and that she is disappointed in him. She lies to her closest friend Richie in retribution, claiming that Hector sexually assaulted her. We discover that Connie lives with her aunt and that her father has passed away. The smack, in Connie’s opinion, was unacceptable.

We learn more about Rosie’s history with Hugo from her point of view. She had a tough time bonding with him because of his rough delivery. When the baby was six months old, she almost considered leaving the wailing infant, but this time proved to be a turning point. Hugo has been her entire universe ever since. She is thinking of destroying Gary’s condoms to conceive a second kid since “Hugo needs a brother.”

In front of the judge, Rosie and Gary filed a complaint against Harry, but it was rejected. Gary starts to drink a lot after feeling frustrated. As Rosie’s life starts to fall apart, she finds herself lying to her friends and family. Her friends beg her not to get in touch with them when Gary makes racial slurs about them one day. Gary is unconscious when she arrives home, lying on the grass.

Manolis, Hector’s father, is the next character to speak. He and his wife discuss their conflict with their daughter-in-law Aisha while visiting a funeral. They disagree with Aisha’s decision to ignore their nephew Harry in support of her friend Rosie.

As she makes her way to a conference and engages in sexual activity with a colleague—her first act of adultery toward Hector—Aisha’s perspective is changed. Hector is going through a midlife crisis in the meantime. He acknowledges having an affair with a teenager (but omits Connie’s name), and Aisha also acknowledges her adultery. Hector agrees to transfer to a different school district, which calms Aisha’s ire and leads to the couple’s reconciliation.

Richie, a homosexual buddy of Connie, serves as the final point-of-view character. They discover a photo book with a photograph of the young Hector as they are watching Hugo. Richie took this picture. Richie feels humiliated beyond measure when he meets Hector at the pool.

Hugo spits at a stranger as Richie carries him from the park to his house. Hugo is asked to apologize to Richie, but he refuses. Hugo is pulled by Richie by the arm, and he sobs as he gets home. Rosie rejects Richie’s account of what happened. Richie claims Hector raped Connie until Rosie corrects him and tells him it’s bad to hurt others.

Connie admits that she made everything up as Gary and Rosie race to notify Aisha. She claims Richie is fixated on Hector and provides the stolen photo as evidence. His mother smacks his face in disgust. Richie returns home and overdoses. In time to save her son’s life, his mother arrives home. The characters come to terms with one another thereafter.

About the Author- Christos Tsiolkas

Name	Christos Tsiolkas
Date of Birth	August 12, 1965
Place of Birth	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Education	Bachelor of Arts (RMIT University)
Famous Works	– Loaded (1995) – The Jesus Man (1999) – Dead Europe (2005) – The Slap (2008) – Barracuda” (2013)
Literary Genre	Contemporary Fiction