Darkness beneath light
The main theme explored in the novel is darkness between light. On the outside, Biloxi, Mississippi, the town at the center of Grisham's novel, is known for its glitz and glamor. It is home to scores of beaches, resorts, and the seafood industry. It is a town of wealth.
Beneath the surface-level sheen and light, though, there is tremendous darkness in Biloxi. Beneath the shine and luster of the town, there is gambling, prostitution, a bootleg liquor operation, the mafia, contract killers, and awful drugs.
That contrast intensifies the main conflict of the novel and gives some texture to the novel and the town at the center of it. In fact, Grisham uses this contrast to personify Biloxi and give it human characteristics.
Moving in different directions as one ages
The main conflict of Grisham's novel focuses on the conflict between the Rudy and Malco family, whose sons, Keith and Hugh (respectively), grew up as best friends. But as the two grew up, their lives went in different directions. Keith became a lawyer like his father; Hugh worked in his father's seedy nightclubs.
As the two became increasingly different people as they aged, conflict erupted between the two which ultimately resulted in legal proceedings, as well as pain and heartbreak for both families. They became friends as quickly as they became enemies and adversaries.
The Law
In all of Grisham's novels, the law and lawyers play a massive part in the story. In The Boys from Biloxi, Keith's father is a legendary prosecutor, while Keith becomes a hugely successful lawyer. Hugh's father, on the other hand, becomes a massively successful nightclub operator likely involved in the underground, seedy business of Biloxi. Hugh follows suit and works in his father's nightclubs. For Keith's father and Keith, the law is their profession and is a daily part of their lives. For Hugh and his father, the law is something that comes into their lives as conflict erupts between the Rudy and Malco family.
