On The Ethical Redemption Of Orphans In Kazuo Ishiguro’s When We Were Orphans

When We Were Orphans is the fifth novel written by Japanese-British writer Kazuo Ishiguro,a world-famous Nobel Prize winner.Based on the background of Shanghai which was surrounded by Japanese Army during the Second World War,the novel tells the story of the protagonist Banks,an orphan who returns to Shanghai to explore the truth of his parents’ disappearance in order to solve a puzzle that haunts him.This fine piece of writing takes the orphan Banks’ journey of seeking parents as the main line,describes the predicaments suffered by different types of orphans in contemporary society,and explores the ways to get out of the quandaries.Kazuo Ishiguro and his works have attracted attention of the scholars at home and abroad.However,the researches on When We Were Orphans are mainly focus on the perspectives of identity,trauma,narrative techniques,image of China and post colonialism.Based on the former studies,this thesis applies the theories of ethical literary criticism to analyze the ethical predicaments,ethical choices and ethical redemptions of different types of orphans to open up a new angle of research on this excellent work.Based on this,this thesis is mainly divided into five chapters.Chapter one is a part of introduction,which mainly introduces Kazuo Ishiguro’s life and creations as well as the synopsis of the story of When We Were Orphans.It also organizes the relevant researches on When We Were Orphans at home and abroad,and introduces the basic theories of ethical literary criticism applied in this thesis.At the end of this chapter,the feasibility and significance of taking the ethical redemption of different orphans in the novel as an object of this thesis are expounded.Chapter two studies the ethical predicaments encountered by different types of orphans in the novel.This chapter summarizes the orphans in the novel into three different types: the orphans under the dual cultures,the orphans who lost their parents and the “outcasts” of the family.Orphans of different types encounter different ethical dilemmas.The protagonist,Christopher Banks,is in a predicament because he cannot find a sense of belonging in a certain culture.He longs to return to his former hometown,Shanghai,to find out the truth of his parents’ disappearance,but because of the influence of British culture and Western colonialism,he has a feeling of rejection towards Shanghai,which was once his hometown.This kind of ambivalence makes him in a dilemma.The heroine,Sarah Hemings,lost her parents when she was a child.The lack of family ethics distorts her ethics of love.She is unable to make clear the meaning of life,and constantly wandering among the men in the upper class.As an orphan in the extended meaning,the “outcasts” of the family,Banks’ parents quarreled all day because of their different views and values,and the harmonious ethical family relationship no longer exists.Chapter three analyzes the ethical choices of orphans in the novel.By making different ethical choices in the face of ethical predicaments,three different types of orphans have different consequences.Faced with the predicaments caused by dual cultures,some orphans choose to escape from the dilemma and indulge themselves in illusion,while others face up to it and find way out in the dual cultures.Some of the orphans who lost their parents could not achieve their self-independence while take their happiness and hope in other people.But others chose to keep learning,be independent and stronger,and strive to achieve their self-worth.Under the chaotic family ethics,the “outcasts” of the family are wandering between irrational escape and rational self-denial.People who choose rationality adhere to the moral principle and get rid of the predicament.Chapter four probes into the orphans’ ways of ethical redemption in the novel.As a detective,the protagonist Banks explores the truth of his parents’ disappearance,and finally finds his own identity under the dual cultures and gets rid of the identity crisis brought by the orphan identity;the orphans who lost their parents since childhood establish their independent personality through the pursuit of knowledge and command;under the confrontation between human factors and animal factors,“outcasts” in the family finally insist on the rationality of love and responsibility.Although the ethical relationship between Diana and her husband is broken,her son Banks lives a rich life as she wishes.From this point of view,she gets rid of the ethical dilemma caused by the alienation of the conjugal relation in her own way.Chapter five is a part of conclusion.Conclusion part focuses on the ethical and moral values and emphasizes the importance of moral principles and self-worth in combination with the ethical redemption of orphans in the novel.The novel appeals to people to pay attention to the ethical problems of orphans and points out the way of redemption to those who are in the same trouble with orphans.