| Ian McEwan(Ian McEwan,1948—)is one of the most personal and influential writers in the contemporary British literary world.He has won many literary awards,including the Maugham Award and the Booker Award.He is good at sketching the uneasiness and fear of the survival of modern people,paying attention to many issues such as historical events,social changes,ethical crisis and so on.The family is usually the core place where McEwan’s novels are taking place.His writing of family problems is closely related to his personal experiences,and bears a profound brand of the times.This thesis focuses on the family ethics crisis in McEwan’s novels,firstly analyzes the damage of individual crisis to family ethics order,then discusses the impact of the changes of the times on family ethics,and finally based on the first two chapters,it analyzes McEwan’s influence on reconstructing the family ethical order attempts.The thesis is mainly consists of four parts.The introduction mainly tells Ian McEwan’s life experiences and works,as well as the current situation of McEwan’s research at home and abroad.It also clarifies the research ideas,methods and significance of the thesis.The first chapter is based on the characteristics of McEwan’s early creation that focusing on the analysis of hidden humanity,and reveals the negative influences of individual crisis on family ethical order.It manifested as individuals ignore family ethical identity and responsibilities due to emotional selfish alienation and inner autism,and the alienated power consciousness constantly squeezes the living space of family members,and also the individual also distorts the harmonious relationship of the family in the crisis of gender consciousness.The second chapter combined with the transformation of McEwan’s creative focus in the middle and later periods,discusses the impact of the external environment on family ethics from the social aspects of political intervention,emergencies,rational crises and feminism movement.And further highlights the writer’s concern and reflection in the process of family ethics changing from traditional to modern.Based on the analysis of the previous two chapters,the third chapter explains the various considerations made by McEwan in trying to restore the family ethical order from the individual level and the social level.For individuals,constructing a perfect self and correcting the defects of the behavior mechanism in the original family is the first step to reconstruct the family ethical order;from a social perspective,as a special social relationship,family also needs to cope with changes in the times.Marriage should develop towards a cooperative relationship of equality and mutual assistance,and also establish an ethical civilization centered on the well-being of children.In the end,McEwan tried to restore the essential functions of the family,that is,to reiterate the importance of the family’s establishment of individual family identity and responsibility and to provide its members witha protection net against trauma and threats.Facing the fragmented and fluid real life,the ethical order and moral consciousness are faced with comprehensive crises and challenges.McEwan paid attention to the current family ethical crisis from both individual and social levels.On the one hand,by reexamining the individual psychological world to adjust the inherent ethical imbalance.On the other hand,it reflects on the contradictions in the development of western civilization.He saw the plight of traditional family ethics and injected new factors into family ethics;at the same time,he was also calling for the return of love,responsibility and respect,trying to restore the essential functions of the family.Especially in the current situation where ethics are nearly collapsed,such efforts are of great significance. |
