Dysfunctional Mourning

The primary theme of The Cement Garden is the dysfunctional mourning that Julie, Jack, Sue and Tom engage in following the death of their father and later their mother. The children grew up emotionally isolated from one another, their parents and the outside world. They have little hope of coping with Mother's death when she places the burden of caring for the family on Jack and Julie, and they decide to keep authorities from discovering her death to keep the family together. Dysfunction is inevitable.

Jack is the main character and expresses his emotional dysfunction as a teenage boy would. He is defiant, not only to his mother but to Julie—at least initially. He mourns through violent outbursts and his inability to control his temper, sometimes getting violent with Julie and later harassing Sue and Tom. He takes very poor care of himself hygienically until...