Dilemma And Redemption:Mental Illness Writing In Ian Mc Ewan’s Novels

Mental illness imagery is one of the common imageries in Mc Ewan’s novels,and it carries a rich biological,social and psychological connotation.This paper seeks to explore the imagery of mental illness presented in Mc Ewan’s novels and how he uses mental illness as a medium to represent and reflect on the dilemmas of modernity.The thesis aims to clarify that Mc Ewan’s writing on mental illness essentially reflects the ills of modernity,in which rationality has become increasingly narrow and one-sided,to the extent that it has eventually developed into instrumental rationality,and people are faced with various existential dilemmas in a society dominated by instrumental rationality.In such a social context,more and more individuals develop a sense of anxiety and crisis,and there is a large-scale spiritual crisis,which leads the author to express his reflections on the abuse of reason.The body of the paper is divided into three sections,in addition to an introduction and a conclusion.The first part examines the types and characteristics of mental illness in Mc Ewan’s novels,dividing mental illness into mild mental disorders and severe mental illness.Mental illness in the early novels mainly explores the instinctive desires and repressions in the irrational consciousness of human beings,intertwining psychopathy with murder,death and incest,with gothic gloom and horror,presenting a "shocking " aesthetic effect;The writing of mental illness in the middle and late novels is characterised by a precise and coldly scientific narrative.The second part explores the causes of the mental illness of the characters in Mc Ewan’s novel and explores its metaphorical significance.Firstly,the author reveals the plight of human existence in the evolution of modernity through the writing of mental illness.At the individual level,illness represents the life aspirations and value dilemmas of individuals in different historical periods,mainly in the form of identity anxiety,loss of freedom and loss of subjectivity.From a social perspective,illness is a metaphor for the disorder of family and society,mainly in terms of the alienation of individualized family ethical relations and the "existential anxiety" of risk society after the disintegration of traditional communities,while pointing to the dilemma of modernity represented by illness,whose ideological roots are closely related to the erosion of instrumental rationality.Secondly,Mc Ewan’s novel expresses a rebellion against the patriarchal order and a reflection on scientific rationality by showing the conflict between the irrational state of mental illness and rationality.The writing of illness in the novels is an external artistic representation of aesthetic modernity.The works portray irrational subjects with abnormal mentalities and misbehaviour to confront the authority of reason and to reflect on the alienation of the human spirit and the disorder of society under the encroachment of instrumental reason.The third part explores the redemption of mental illness in Mc Ewan’s novels,that is,the rescue of modern man from his spiritual crisis through nature,art and ethics,by,firstly,"distancing" himself from alienated social reality,and,secondly,by caring for external empathy and rebuilding the ethical order.This remedy implies the author’s hope for the dissolution of the dichotomy between the rational and the irrational,the integration of science and literature,and the abandonment of self-centredness in dealing with the Other,moving from the self to the Other.