A Research Of Ethical Writing In Ian McEwan’s Novels

The novels of the British author Ian Mc Ewan(1948-)are distinctive and his place in contemporary Western literature cannot be ignored.Since he began writing in1957,Mc Ewan has continued to write.In 1987,after writing The Child in Time,Mc Ewan’s style changed markedly.There was less horror in his work,and his focus on violence began to fade.This is replaced by an examination of the broader social dimension,with a particular focus on ethical issues.As Mc Ewan’s work is rich in ethical issues,this dissertation focuses on the concepts of “self” and “other” in Levinas’ s ethics of the other,as well as the literary ethics criticism of “ethical identity” and “ethical dilemma”.The ethical judgments,moral condemnation,ethical choices,ethical confusion,ethical identity and ethical dilemmas faced by the characters in his five novels written from the 1990 s to the present are systematically and ethically.These five novels are Black Dog(1992),Solar(2010),The Children Act(2012),Nutshell(2016)and Machines Like Me(2019).Admittedly,it would be more ideal to include all of Mc Ewan’s novels in the scope of this dissertation,but given the limited space and capacity for research writing,this dissertation will focus on the ethical writing of individuals,families and societies that are representative of these five novels.The paper is divided into four sections.Firstly,the introductory section provides a detailed introduction to Mc Ewan himself and his writing,a general analysis of the current state of research on Mc Ewan at home and abroad,and points out the shortcomings of the research.On this basis,the Western ethical criticism involved in this paper is sorted out,and the relevant theories of otherness ethics and literary ethics adopted in this paper are clarified.The rationale for the selection of the thesis,the scope of the object of study,the methodology of the study and its significance are also elaborated.The second part is the first chapter,in which Mc Ewan’s writing is both shaken by the aftershocks of English history and confronted with the crises of a treacherous era,both of which are sources of his creativity.This chapter adopts a socio-historical critical approach to trace the historical and ethical environment of British society in which Mc Ewan’s works were confronted,and analyses in detail the two crises of the times that Mc Ewan’s works faced: the crisis of social beliefs and the crisis of ethics and morality,through the two works Black Dog and Solar.The third section is the second chapter,which clarifies the three main types of ethical writing in Mc Ewan’s novels: personal ethical writing,family ethical writing and social ethical writing.The first section focuses on the personal ethical writing in Mc Ewan’s work,using The Children Act as an example.This section uses Levina’s ethics of the other as an entry point to examine The Children Act,and uses theories related to “self” and“other” to analyse Fiona’s ethical judgments and ethical choices in the ethical situation of the Other.The ethical judgements and ethical choices made by Fiona in the ethical situation of the “other” are analysed using the theory of “self” and “other”.On this basis,the moral condemnation of Fiona as the “self” towards the “other” is clarified.The second section illustrates the ethical writing of the family in Mc Ewan’s work,using Nutsell as an example.This section uses the theories of “ethical identity”and “ethical dilemma” in Literary ethics criticism to analyse the transformation of the ethical identity of the main character “I”,a baby,and Trudy,the mother,in the family.It also examines the consequences of the “Hamlet-like” ethical dilemma caused by incest on the family members.The third section uses Machines Like Me as an example to illustrate the social and ethical writing in Mc Ewan’s work.This section adopts the theories of “ethical confusion”,“ethical dilemma” and “scientific choice”in literary ethics criticism to explain the confusion of ethical identity and ethical dilemma between human and artificial intelligence.It also suggests that a new ethical code should be established in the human-machine ethical relationship to avoid ethical confusion.The fourth part is the third chapter,which aims to draw moral lessons from works such as Solar,The Children Act and Machines Like Me through the “didactic function” of literature.On this basis,the significance and reflections of Mc Ewan’s ethical writing are explored,with a view to presenting a more comprehensive addition to the study of Mc Ewan’s ethical writing.