La Grande Maison

La Grande Maison is a novel by Mohammed Dib published in 1952 by Editions du Seuil. It is the first part of the Algeria trilogy (which also includes The Fire and The Loom ).

Plot
The story takes place in Algeria in 1939, it tells the life of a large and poor family. The hero is a little boy of around ten years old who is hungry every day.

Omar and his family live in a small room in Dar Sbitar (a group home where several families are crowded together and share the courtyard, kitchen and toilets).

Aïni, the mother, works hard to support her family, but the money she earns is not even enough to buy bread. She is distraught, with the daily complaints of her children. She curses her late husband who went to rest leaving her in misery. Grandmother Mama (paralyzed) is abandoned by her childreni; she is another mouth to feed.

Among all the inhabitants of Dar Sbitar, Hamid Saraj stood out, a cultured and respectable young man. He is therefore the symbol of revolt and awareness (he is a communist activist). His arrest upset the residents of the modest residence.

The approaching war gathered the inhabitants of Tlemcen in the streets. This spectacle amazed Omar and thrust him into the future, a man.

The novel closes with the family gathered around the table for dinner. Omar's smile offers a glimmer of hope for a new day.

Analysis
At the time of colonized Algeria, poverty and hunger consumed bodies and minds. From the beginning of the novel until its end, it is only a question of finding a little bread to satisfy hunger. Thus, bread becomes an end in itself. Omar throughout the novel never stopped thinking about bread.

This hunger transforms the characters. Aïni, for example, becomes "inhuman" even towards her mother whom she brutalized. Her behavior changes thanks to the baskets full of vegetables and meat that cousin Mustapha brought back. During the days that followed, Aïni stayed much longer with grandmother. The two women did not argue more. Grandmother stopped her whining. Aïni was considerate. The food has the power to transform the psychology of human.

The novel is part of a realistic story of the daily life of the people of Tlemcen. The author's theme is to show the reality of the colonized to promote awareness.

Adaptations
La Grande Maison was adapted for Algerian television by director Mustapha Badie in 1974, in the form of a series.