What claims does the novel make about how memory works? About its importance and centrality to our lives?

All of the characters have broken relationships, and yet they come together despite their obstacles. How does the novel describe familial relationships? How do such bonds form and solidify, even in the absence of traditional structures?

We read the narrator’s thoughts and observations about the other characters, but no one comments on the narrator’s development. In what ways does the narrator grow as a person throughout the book?