| Ian McEwan (1948-) is one of the most distinguished and influential contemporary British writers who is apt at the themes of human nature’s moral exploration. Sex, violence, murder, moral corruption and the theme of growth are the main concerns of subject matters in his works. His brilliant work, Atonement has won many literary awards since its very publication, such as Whitbread Novel Award, W.H. Smith Literary Award, National Book Critics Circle Fiction Award, Los Angeles Prize for Fiction and Santiago Prize for European Novel, and so on.Atonement in terms of the subject matter is a transitional work of Ian McEwan’s writing tendency, which shifts from the previous violence narration to the deep exploration of human ethics and human nature. What’s more, as far as the narrative structure is concerned, it’s also an integration of Ian McEwan’s superb talent for his exquisite postmodern narrative techniques.The reasons why Ian McEwan and his Atonement can stand out from enormous and prominent contemporary writers and enjoy a world-wide reputation rest with his distinct and unique writing style, straightforward depiction, bizarre and absurd themes which to a great extent uncover sensitive social problems and show the living state of modern people. And the critics’ unanimous views on Ian McEwan are that he is rich in odd and free imaginations, the extraordinary talent of story-telling and the unusual sensitivity in the degeneration of human nature. As the disgusting and horrific subject matters which come from ordinary life are explored in beautiful and precise language by Ian McEwan, his sensible perception and apathetic narration bring us a kind of unexpected black humor. For example, what the so-called impure subject matters from his pen are the real revelation of social diseases in modern society and human nature from an unconventional point of view. His undisguised description of the brutality of war and the psychopaths of society entertains readers and functions as cautionary words for this crazy and hypocritical world at the same time.According to the studies and researches that have been done on Atonement, the attention that paid to it by readers, scholars and critics at home and abroad has been on the increase. The cores of studies shift from the overall introduction of Atonement and Ian McEwan to the detailed studies based on multiple theories, such as psychoanalytical, narratological, ethical and new historical studies, etc. However, as for the systematic narrative ethics studies, there is relatively few articles. Since Ian McEwan is a great master of postmodern narrative techniques and of themes on ethical exploration, this thesis intends to analyze his delicate narrations about the characters’ ethical predicaments, the warfare and literary creation through a close-reading of the text, and then explore the ethical implications and ethical appeals that underlie in Ian McEwan’s various narrating techniques that are utilized in Atonement. There are six chapters in this thesis:Chapter one is the introduction to the study, including the introduction to Ian McEwan’s literary career, his masterpiece Atonement, literature review as well as the objective and significance of the study.Chapter two is the theoretical framework. This part makes a description at length of the emergence and development, distinctive features of narrative ethics and the practical significance of narrative criticism.Chapter three mainly talks over the ethics of story in multiple perspective narration together with the ethical implications that included.Chapter four is concerned about the ethics of narrating in narrative communication, especially in the metafiction structure of Atonement.Chapter five is also about the ethics of narrating in narrative communication, especially in the unreliable narration of Atonement.Chapter six is the conclusion part, which aims to summarize the ethical implications and Ian McEwan’s ethical appeals that reflected in his consummate postmodern narrative techniques. |
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