Egoism a message in this book?

Why does egoism seem to be a big part in this book? (Ex: Sampath escaping to comfort himself, Kulfi caring only for her son and food, Mr. Chawla trying to make his perfect life, Pinky concerned about her appearance) What message is Kiran Desai trying to say when she makes the characters seem so self-centered?

I agree with you that it seems as if every character in Hullabaloo was focused on the pursuit of their own happiness. I think that maybe Desai did this to make her characters more human. No one can be completely altruistic and everyone at some point has been a little selfish. So, instead of making her characters saint like, the selfish personalities brought out their humanness. Also, while Sampath was the main character, Hullabaloo was written from an omniscient point of view. Therefore, we got a look inside the heads of every character and saw their true personalities. If the book had been primarily from Sampath’s point of view we may not have even noticed the egotistical ways of the other secondary characters such as Mr. Chawla. From Sampath’s point of view it might have seemed as if his father was only looking out for his best interest and not just trying to make money. Another solution could be that Desai was trying to point out the common error of being selfish and how it can damage a family and even a town.

I agree with Kelseyg13. In making the characters slightly selfish, she makes them more human, therefor easier to relate to. I have found that a book is easier to read if you can relate to the characters and that was probably Desai's goal while writing this book.