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Abstract Cement Garden, a novel written by Ian McEwan, is about a story of a special family. The unhealthy family environment plays a negative role on adolescents’ growth.
The thesis briefly introduces the main characters: Jack, Julie, Sue and Tom. Then, the thesis analyzes the three themes of the novel: puberty, death and fear. In the end the narrative style of the thesis is analyzed. 54293
Based on the analysis, it is found that the tragedy is caused by unhealthy family environment. Adolescents are frightened about life and can not face their parents’ death and life after that because of lack of love from their parents.
Keywords: Bildungsroman; Death; Fear; Unguided adolescence
摘 要《水泥花园》是英国作家伊万麦克尤恩的作品。这部小说讲述了一个非常特殊的家庭的故事。在这个不健全家庭中，几个处于青春期的孩子成长受到严重影响。本文简单介绍了故事的主人公：杰克、朱莉、苏、汤姆，然后分析了小说的三个主题：青春期、死亡、恐惧。最后分析了小说的叙事风格。通过分析可以看出：处于青春期的孩子们由于缺失父母的关爱、无法正确面对父母去世及以后的生活而对生活与外界社会充满恐惧，导致最后走向社会对立面的悲剧。
关键词: 成长小说；死亡；恐惧；错误的成长
Contents
1. Introduction 1
2. Characters in the Story 1
3. Theme of the Novel 3
3.1 Puberty 3
3.2 Death 3
3.3 Fear 4
4. Analysis of Author’s Narrative Style 5
5. Conclusion 9
Works Cited 10
1. Introduction
The Cement Garden is the story of a mother and father’s death and the children’ dysfunctional attempts to cope with their loss. The story begins with Father, Mother, and their four children, Julie, Jack, Sue and little Tom living together. Things are well, for the most part, although Jack, the narrator, is somewhat isolated from the rest of his family, feeling distant from his father and fighting with his mother and Julie, along with harassing Tom for attention from the others.
When Father dies, Mother and the children are left alone. The family is already isolated from the rest of the community; they have few friends and no one visits the house. Mother grows sick and only the children know. She tells Julie she is going to die but they hide it from Jack, Sue and Tom until it is too late for her to inform the three children. Soon the mother passed away, leaving the all four children on their own in the cold and dark cement garden or the society, here begins the story.
But this novel has its special features to be different from other bildungsroman. It is what I want to discuss.
2. Characters in the Story
The main character is Jack. He is fourteen and when his parents are both dead, he is at first very hard and keeps a big distance between him and his brother and sisters. But when his youngest sister tells him that and she tells him that he smells (he hadn’t washed himself for a while) he gets a stronger relationship with his brother and sisters. He is entering puberty and he begins to learn about love, sex, relationships and begins to act rebellious. Brother Tom, and Sisters Julie and Sue. In the end of the story, Jack and Julie commit incest .Jack tells the whole story, so it’s told in first person. We look through his eyes. This is a contemporary story. The whole story is told in chronological order. There are also some flashbacks in the book, for example when Jack thinks about the game he played with Julie and Sue when they were younger.