Houses are primary settings within the novel as well as symbolic representations of families in transition. The most salient symbolic structure is the house under construction, where the narrator and Cletus play on the scaffolding. The house, like the families of both boys, is in a transitional state. One family is being rebuilt and the other disassembled. The repeated references to scaffolding enhance the symbolic meanings. The word is derived from the Old French term eschafal, which means separation. Family separations unite the playmates. But when Cletus leaves the scaffolding the day before the murder, the boys will be separated permanently.

The symbol of the unfinished house is itself symbolized by a sculpture called “The Palace at 4 A.M” by Alberto Giacometti. The narrator explains that this skeletal wooden sculpture has always reminded him of the house being constructed on Park Place. He includes a lengthy quote in which Giacometti describes his inspiration for the work. Every night for six months, the artist and a mysterious woman created a “fantastic palace” from matchsticks that would topple in the morning to be rebuilt anew each evening. The palace existed in an eerie space where night was indistinguishable from day.