It also explains why the children can live in their own world. The setting perfectly reflects the emptiness of the children’s lives. The fact that the orphans live so isolated makes it possible that the story can develop so strongly and the orphans can live in such anarchy. All the other houses in the street are abandoned or ruined because at that place a motorway will be constructed. The house is situated in a desolated neighbourhood. The story takes place in the family’s house in an unnamed British city. In the case of the book the thing that is covered, and needs to stay hidden, is the secret that the orphans carry. The cement is cracked and later in the story Derek tries to fill the crack which raises the question what’s underneath the cement. The cement keeps occurring throughout the story. When the mother dies she gets buried in the cellar under a layer of cement. Another explanation is the grave of the mother. He orders a great amount of cement to cover his garden. The father loves gardening but becomes semi-invalid so he can’t work in the garden any more.
The title can be explained in different ways. There are some dialogues in the text but the overwhelming part is a monologue of the protagonist. Motives: Puberty, death, sexuality, orphans, human nature and a family secret.
Theme: Orphan hood that leads to anarchy. The children bury their mother under cement. Both the parents have died and the children are trying to take care of themselves and each other. The Cement Garden describes a traumatised family.
The cover shows two naked teenagers who are laying on top of each other but who are not in thoughts together. I chose The Cement Garden because the cover drew my attention.
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