The Boy in Blackberries is about five years old and growing up in Wales. When the story begins he is getting his hair cut for the first time so that his mother can buy him a cap. After the haircut, they buy the smallest cap in the clothiers, though it is still slightly large on him. That night, the boy goes on a walk with his father, and they pick blackberries for themselves and the mother. When the boy and his father get home, they discover the lining of his cap is ruined from the blackberries they carried in it. The mother is furious, and the boy witnesses the first fight he has ever seen. He realizes that he, his father, and his mother are all different people, and he cries.