A Symbolic Interpretation Of Ian McEwan’s The Cement Garden

Ian McEwan is one of the most outstanding novelists and playwrights in English literature.His sharp writing style and unique description style have always been talked about by critics.Critics have different opinions on McEwan’s work.His early works are often considered as "Concussion Literature” and he is also called "Ian Macabre”.These works are full of dark themes such as incest,murder,sadism and transvestites.The Cement Garden is one of them.Ian McEwan writes the novel The Cement Garden in a ridiculous way,reflecting a number of social issues at that time.This thesis reveals the theme of the novel by explaining the symbols in The Cement Garden.The thesis consists of five parts: introduction,three main chapters and the conclusion.The first chapter analyzes the symbolic meaning of concrete objects and abstract plots in the novel.Concrete objects include the house of Jack’s family,the garden,the cellar and so on.These buildings symbolize the advanced material conditions in British social life after the Second World War.Technology has enriched people’s material life,but at the same time it has destroyed people’s spiritual world.The part of abstract analyzes the psychological environment of the hero and heroine in the novel,including Jack’s dream,Sue’s inner world,and Jack’s reflections on his mother’s funeral.The second chapter explores the relationships within the family,including the relationship between husband and wife,the relationship between parents and children,and the relationship between brothers and sisters,and points out that the distorted family relationship symbolizes the emptiness of the spiritual world.The third chapter discusses social relations.Through the analysis of the relationship with relatives,friends,neighbors,and the relationship with people in society,it symbolizes the existence of apathy and indifference in different degrees in society.According to the above symbolic interpretation,it points out that the British people after the Second World War are in trouble in family relations,kinship and neighbor relations,and even social relations.People’s mental state is empty,and theyhave no clear goals for their own destiny and that of their country.