The Intergenerational Ethics In Gillian Flynn's Novels

Gillian Flynn is a contemporary American writer and producer.She has published three works,Sharp Objects,Dark Places and Gone Girl,respectively in 2006,2009 and 2012,in which she showed great concern on intergenerational ethical problems.However,most studies on her works focus on psychoanalysis,narratology and feminism,and few on literary ethics.Meanwhile,the research on Flynn's works focused on Gone Girl and ignored Sharp Objects and Dark Places,This thesis will discuss the intergenerational ethical issues in the three novels with literary ethical criticism,social psychology and other relevant theories.This thesis consists of six chapters,Chapter One briefly introduces Gillian Flynn's life,her literary creation achievements,and relevant information of the three works,as well as the research status of these works at home and abroad,and summarizes the research task,methodology and structure of this thesis.Chapter Two sorts out,classifies and analyzes the intergenerational ethical problems in Gillian Flynn's works,and categorizes the problems into three types:absence of parents'ethical responsibilities,excessive parental love,and utilitarian intergenerational relationships.Chapter Three mainly discusses the cause of intergenerational ethical problems in social psychology in Flynn's novels.Based on the theory of social psychology,this chapter analyzes the expanding misunderstanding between parents and children due to public opinion,intergenerational repression from one generation to the next,and the unstable nuclear family emotional system.Through analyzing the novels,it can be found out that the possibility of people suffering from psychological diseases is greatly increased in modern society,and the intergenerational ethical relationships between parents and children is in danger under the influence of various implicit or explicit mental diseases.Chapter Four reveals the cause of intergenerational ethical problems in values.The parents in Flynn's novels inherit the values of hedonism,while their children inherit the values of narcissism.The collision of different values makes the intergenerational relationships crack.Under the influence of the global subprime mortgage crisis and the rapid development of mass media,the cracks are gradually widened and eventually lead to the disintegration of the intergenerational ethical relationships.Chapter Five discusses Flynn's ethical ideals implied in her three novels.By revealing multiple intergenerational problems,Flynn has expressed her expectation of building an ideal society which embodies healthy and orderly parent-child relationships,and the social ideal of constructing a gender equality society.Chapter Six is the conclusion.In her novels,Flynn has revealed three kinds of intergenerational problems:absence of parents' ethical responsibilities,excessive parental love,and utilitarian parent-child relationships.The root of these problems lies in social psychological orientation and the conflicts between different intergenerational values.By revealing intergenerational problems and their causes in the novels,Flynn had expressed her concern about intergenerational problems in contemporary society,and conveys her social ideal,that is,to pay attention to the ethical responsibility of parents in the growth of their children,to build a harmonious society with healthy and orderly parent-child relationship and to construct a gender-equal society.