The Boys from Biloxi

The Boys from Biloxi is a legal thriller. However, it’s ultimately a story about two families, the Malco and Rudy clans. Themes of familial identity and legacy are prevalent in the story, starting with the depiction of the families’ histories. Both families are of Croatian descent and have immigrant backgrounds. Both are, in their own ways, immigrant “success stories” (a problematic and outdated label because classifying immigrants into “successful” versus “unsuccessful” can lead to anti-immigrant sentiment). Lance becomes the biggest crime boss on The Strip, while Jesse becomes a successful lawyer, the first local lawyer of Croatian descent—and a legend of sorts: “Jesse Rudy’s success became the source of many proud stories on the Point” (28).

In this story, familial identity is intrinsically tied to the family business. Professionally, both Hugh and Keith follow in their father’s footsteps. Lance explicates this specifically when he sees Hugh getting involved in his clubs as a teenager: “[Hugh] was showing no interest in college and that was fine with Lance as well. The boy was needed in the family business” (102). Meanwhile, Keith picks up Jesse’s “crusade” to “clean up the Coast” (61). For both the Malco and Rudy families, the family business is male-dominated; this helps emphasize the strong bond between father and son in each case.