"Betrayal" And "Benison": A Study Onthe Ethical Narrative Of The Sense Of An Ending

Julian Barnes is regarded as one of the “Three Giants of ContemporaryBritishLiterature Circle”.His novel,The Sense of an Ending eventually helps him win the Man Booker Prize,the highest award in Contemporary English Fiction.This novel inherits his previous writing style.On the form,he highlights the postmodern writing techniques and breaks the bounds of history and reality;on the content,he focuses on the daily life,reveals major ethical topics such as love,marriage,death,betrayal,benison,incest and regret,and exposes the ethical consciousness and ethical tragedy of the characters.The Sense of an Ending not only reflects Barnes' superb skills in narrative,but also through the narrator,Webster's memory completes the expression of ethical emotions,which demonstrates author's deep humanism.This thesis includes five parts:The introduction summarizes Barnes' works and previous researches.It explains the main study methods and relevant conceptions appearing in this novel,especially generalizing the conceptions of “narrative ethics” and “ethical narrative”,laying the foundations for the development of this thesis.The text is divided into three parts.The first part extends around the “enigma” of the narrative.Creating this enigma involves unreliable memories and insufficient materials.Webster's memories are unreliable and Veronica's response exaggerates the conflict of the subject consciousness of the two,thus establishing the unreliable narrative of this novel.Sarah is the main character in this story and her last words and belongings are insufficient materials forming the enigma.Though Robson isn't involved in this event,his suicide is a real representation of “history”,that is,the reliability resulting from the encountering of unreliable memories and insufficient materials;moreover,he plays a role of “presupposition metaphor” in Adrian's final fate.Because of Webster's unreliable narrative,the whole story becomes complicated and confusing.Sarah's last words and Robson's suicide further form the enigma narrative making it a riddle hard to solve.The second part mainly discusses the process of “decoding”the narrative in this novel.Historic material evidence is the key to decoding and “unreliable factors” exist in the material evidence facilitated by the narrative.Sarah's “storytelling” and her belongings' “story suspension” make Webster have many questions and take a first step to ask the truth.The “cumulative odds formula” in Adrian's diary and the presupposition of “If Tony..” at the end of his diary allow Webster to realize that he is related with Adrian's suicide,however,he isn't clear about the responsibility he should bear,so he is indulged in endless moral reflection.The letters,full of curses and sinister words,which Webster writes to Adrian and the postcard of “atoning for crime by death” announce the self deception of Webster's memories and the Webster's indelible moral responsibility for Adrian's suicide.The third part discusses the ending of the narrative and uncovers the truth of narrative ethics.The disappeared love between Veronica and Webster is the beginning of these four people's troubles.Webster's selfishness and falsehood make him send the curse letters and the postcard of “atoning for crime by death”,finally affecting the love between Veronica and Adrian and becoming the vital factors which cause Adrian to fall into the incestuous love with Sarah.Adrian feels desperate in this incestuous love.Facing the taboo of marrying his mother,Adrian is lost in the dilemma of “betrayal” and “benison”,and in the end,he maintains the normal ethics with his suicide.Webster distorts the truth in his memory,and reconstructs the whole story in the process of asking for the history”.The truth after his reconstruction enables him sink in infinite regret.He fails Adrian and Veronica.While approaching his ending,Webster gradually identifies his own morality and bears the increasing qualms of conscience in the rest of his life.The conclusion sums up this novel's characteristics of ethical narrative.By the way of “metaphor within story”(Robson's suicide),this novel completes the presupposition of Adrian's fate and the event organization.Through “substitution outside the story”,including the substitution of characters and contents,this novel achieves the aim of thinking over ethical questions.Barnes skillfully designs the organization of this novel from “enigma” to “decoding” and to “ending”,constructs ethics in the narrative of disclosing history,reveals major ethical topics such as incest,betrayal,regret and responsibility and achieves the deep expression of ethical conceptions,thus maintaining ethical orders.