Bankers’ Ethical Consciousness In Arthur Hailey’s The Moneychangers

Published in 1975,the New York Times bestselling book The Moneychangers is the masterpiece by Canadian novelist Arthur Hailey(1920-2004).With the social background of 1970 s America and the high street banker images from the First Mercantile American Bank,this novel has been adapted into television series which was received enthusiastically by a host of followers.Hailey authentically depicts an ethical view in the contemporary American society with the manifestations of the modern bankers’ ethics in profession,family,religion,and business.Present domestic research has not yet touched upon the perspective of ethical literary criticism in analyzing The Moneychangers.This thesis demonstrates the ethical conditions of three bankers.In this thesis,the contemplation of Arthur Hailey on modern man’s way out of the ethical predicament within the modern materialistic world is expounded.This thesis contains five part.In the first part,the introduction on Arthur Hailey,the outline of the novel,literature review of The Moneychangers and the approach of ethical literary criticism are included.The second,third and fourth parts are the main body of this thesis,which respectively stands for the first,second and third chapter.The first chapter studies Alex Vandervoort’s ethical consciousness in the contemporary materialistic society of America.In the middle-late twentieth century America,the calling for rethinking about the relation between the rapid economic development and the wellbeing of the individual,society,and nature is required.In a time when the ethics on money,profession,and business become twisted,the independence and freedom of individual and family is being challenged.As the vice-president of the Bank,Alex has ethical values in both profession and business ethics,which appeal to take the corporate social responsibility and stabilize the Bank’s achievements.While thriving in his profession,Alex sacrifices his independence of individual life.He abandons his ethical identity as a husband to care for his wife Celia’s psychiatric problem.The tragedy of Celia’s mental breakdown makes Alex raise his ethical consciousness in his individual life and family.When Alex’s personal life with Margot is similarly challenged by his corporate life again,Alex balances his ethical identities for both dimensions.Due to his ethical awareness in the profession,family,and business ethics,Alex finally becomes the president of the Bank and gains the true independence as a modern man who survives in the contemporary materialistic society.The second chapter reveals Roscoe Heyward’s corrupted ethical consciousness toward the contemporary materialistic society.Driven by the material fulfillment,vice-president Roscoe abandons his professional ethics which endangers the Bank onto the edge of bankruptcy.In the meanwhile,Roscoe’s marriage is based on the materialistic ideology that the absence of love and sex makes him the ethical chaos towards the ethics of sex.Repressed from the marriage life without sexual behavior,Roscoe misinterprets the unethical relation with a prostitute to be love that he becomes addicted with the physical comfort even after realizing his committed sins.Roscoe’s desire betrays his ethical identity as a Christian and becomes ethically paralyzed which underlies that Roscoe will never gain redemption through his degenerated faiths.Roscoe’s committing suicide symbolizes modern man becoming sacrifice of the contemporary materialistic society.Meanwhile,the definition on ethical paralysis is the innovation of this thesis.Chapter three analyzes the continuity and alienation of the American Puritanism in the contemporary material society.The African American vice-president Nolan Wainwright establishes his ethical awareness with the traditional American value of Puritanism and achieves professional success though he comes from the lower class and ethnic minority group who used to be marginalized.As the head of the Security Department,Nolan is efficient with rigid moral standards while unconsciously being influenced by the mainstream culture of materialism.Nolan’s ethical confusion makes him take unethical or illegal means to achieve his efficiency for the Bank.Nolan’s constructed ethical consciousness through the traditional American Puritanism symbolizes that the traditional American values are still inhibited which guide the modern Americans.While Nolan’s ethical confusion,which is caused by the contemporary American mainstream ideology,underlies that the contemporary American values needs to be purified with rational will.The last part illuminates the conclusion of this thesis.With the approach of ethical literary criticism,this thesis concludes that to raise the ethical consciousness which conforms to the ethical order is the way out for modern man to survive in the materialistic society.Through depicting the American scene from the perspective of bankers,Hailey provides readers with ground on understanding the complex human nature as well as the social ethics which regulate human behavior.