The Cement Garden shows a lonely family. Jack, the oldest of the four children, is the narrator. Jack is fifteen years old and has to learn sex. After the deaths of his mother and father, Jack and Julie begin to take on the roles of parents and children in their families. This leads to the incest. Andrew Birkin contends that Jack develops a sexual instinct after the passing of his father. Jack is also eager to assume the role as father. Manish Shrivastava and Debashis Mtra claim that Jack is oppressed in his father’s first marriage. Julie is the surrogate-mother, trying to establish a traditional and loving family. The Fiction of Ian McEwan says Jack sleeps in the same room as his sister Julie, their mother. While he is expecting to have a baby again, the author also claims that Jack has a relationship with Julie. This paper will examine Jack’s abnormal sexuality and adolescent consciousness. It will also analyze Freud’s theories.
Jack’s strong sexual curiosity and urge can be seen in the puberty stage, which is an incentive for the inappropriate relationship with his older sister. Freudian theory says that Jack’s instinct for sexuality is instilled in him unconsciousness towards children and infants. Sigmund and Freud both noted that puberty converts infantile sexual behavior into a definite norm, while autoeroticism dominates most of the sexual impulse (72). Jack is a teenage boy who became addicted at 15 to masturbation throughout puberty. After his first ejaculation he begins to be more attentive to the taste and consistency of the milky liquid. The biological significance that masculine has to do with semen (98). Masturbation becomes an important but meaningless part Jack’s daily life. This helps him to become a man. Jack is becoming more aware of masculinity from this perspective. Additionally, masturbating is a common behavior among children. They begin this behaviour early in life. The adolescent sees that his genitals have changed and must choose an object as his sexual purpose. Freudian theory states that sex can also be divided into subjects and objects. The opposing gender acts in the role of an object. Jack is able to use Julie as a sexual subject in The Cement Garden. Jack is playing sex games with his sisters and imagines Julie’s bodily image. But he’s actually looking through Sue’s fingers. Jack is curious and lusty about his sister. Jack, fifteen years old, describes Julie’s feminine characteristics. Jack convinces Julie to try a handstand once more. He describes how her skirt fell over her head. Her knickers stood out against the pale skin of her legs. I could clearly see how her material was gathered around her flat, muscular stomach. Some black hairs rose from the white crotch. Although her legs were initially joined, they now move slowly apart, almost like giant arms (McEwan 20,). Jack is excited to see Julie do her handstand. Freud views the union of the sexual organs as a normal sexual goal (19). Jack’s gender change and increased sex consciousness can increase his libido. The unconscious desire Jack has for his sister is called Oedipus Complex. However, the first stage of the oedipal complex often included an obsession with his mother. Freudian psychoanalytical theory states that “mother” is initially the sexual object of people’s childhood. Then they seek out someone who loves them as much as their mother (Freud 40). Freud calls unconscious maternal affection Id because it is a satisfying instinct but against social convention. Jack is a good mother. Jack, aged eight, pretends to be sick so his mother can indulge him. Jack desires to control his mother’s life while the rest of the family is away. In his unconscious desire for control over his mother, Jack foreshadows his feelings for Julie. Jack continues to seek the love and care of his parents after his parents’ deaths, even though his maternal care is gone. His dream reflects his unconscious awareness.
Dreams relate to the interpretation of thoughts that have been suppressed because they are out of harmony (Freud 5). Jack’s dream saw my father and mother carrying deckchairs, towels and other items. I couldn’t keep pace. My feet were hurt by the large, round stones. The end of a stick had a windmill attached to it. I was tired and crying. My parents stopped waiting for me, but once I was only a few feet from them, they turned around and continued (McEwan63). Jack imagines that he will be left at the beach, and then return to his infant stage (Childs44). A primary mother is essential for children to have healthy relationships with all other objects. 454). Jack discovers his true nature after Jack’s mother’s death. Jack said that Mother’s death left him with a deep sense of adventure, freedom, and strength. No one has any right to judge Jack’s behavior (McEwan 35). He will take on the role as mother and “father” in his family. Jack’s love for Julie is more evident than his love for his mother. He stays clean, rarely masturbates and helps Tom to go back to sleep after waking up crying. Fiction tells of Jack’s alliance with Julie as a “mother” who is able to take over the role after his parents’ death. His father’s death gives him the opportunity to become a father and love Julie. He is dependent on Julie to be his mother, and Julie will take the place of Julie. 454).
Freud’s theory states that Jack’s family has no morality or traditional rules. This is called superego. Based on the oedipal complexity, Jack’s children are jealous of their oedipal competitors and will retaliate against them (Josephs 959). The father who seizes the mother’s affection is called the oedipal competitor. Jack’s father image is dominating, powerful and arbitrary. It contrasts with his mother. Jack states that although he didn’t murder his father, he felt that a part of him was being helped along the way. (McEwan, 7). Jack is masturbating after his father succumbs to a sudden cardiac arrest. This hastens his death. The father is also a symbol of the superego and inhibits the drive to Id. Jack’s father scolds Tom for not speaking to his mother in an appropriate way or not sitting straightly. Jack’s psychological growth is directly affected by the loss of the superego symbol. Andrew Birkin stated that the death of the father serves to remind Jack that his family is less stable and more susceptible to external forces (35). Jack lacks moral direction and superego which can block the unconscious pleasure principle. Jack dreams of masturbating with his mother. Then, his mother questions him about his father’s opinion if he continued to do so. Jack responds that both his parents are dead. Jack seems to be resisting the rules after his parents’ deaths. Jack is hostile towards Derek, his boyfriend. Derek is allowed to enter the family, breaking the existing structure (Ambler 4). In addition, he plays the surrogate dad role and gains power and authority (Mitra Shrivastava167). Jack doesn’t want his father to be a judge of morality and to rival Julie’s affection. Jack, on the other hand, longs to be a man in his family.
Jack’s distorted psychological state was caused by the lack of ethical guidelines, sexual awareness during adolescence and an unconscious desire to win the mother’s affection. Freudian psychological theories can be used to explain Jack’s transformation and growth. Freud’s sexual theory explains that Jack experiences a rise in sex awareness as he grows up and becomes more masculine. Jack doesn’t love his father but does love his mother. Julie, however, gradually replaces Jack. The Oedipal complex is related to the three psychic zones of Freud. Superego should suppress id. Social principles that disappeared with Jack’s death should also be used to suppress it. The story starts with Jack’s unrestrained masturbation. Julie and Jack have incest. This is not the traditional progression from childhood to adulthood, but rather a feeling of regression (Chalupsky 55).
