Point of View

The point of view of The Cement Garden is that of Jack, the narrator and a fifteen and sixteen year old boy whose Mother and Father die while he is still that age. He lives in a large, quiet and isolated home in the country, surrounding by old, worn down prefabricated houses. He has no friends at school and his family keep to themselves, having practically no visitors besides friends of Tom's.

Jack is an ordinary teenage boy in many ways. He fights with his mother and sister, feels distant from his father, takes poor care of his hygiene and fights against acne. He masturbates frequently—twice a day—and thinks about sex often. However, as Mother nears death and dies, it is quite clear that the events are too much for Jack to handle. He reacts to her death in odd ways, as...