On Ethical Identity And Ethical Choice In Coetzee’s Three Novels

John Maxwell Coetzee(1940-),the winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 2003,is a world-renowned writer.His novels explore the weaknesses and failures of human beings and seize "the sacred fire in human nature",which are rich in ethical significance.However,in South Africa,people don’t speak highly of him,because his creations are "not too South Africa".They think that he lacks the attention to the country and the people.Looking at Coetzee’s writing,we find that although his creations are"away" from South Africa,but at the same time they return to the ethnic issues in South Africa.Especially in his three works Waiting for the Barbarians,Age of Iron and Disgrace,Coetzee concentrates on the violence,conflict and discrimination in South Africa,showing the ethical thinking of a conscientious intellectual on the society of South Africa.Throughout the past studies,few scholars have focused on the ethical issues in these three works,therefore they have research value.So,this article will begin with the ethical environment to discuss the multiple ethical identities of the white protagonists in each work,then to analyze the ethical choice in ethical predicament.In the end,on the basis of the above content,it sums up the dynamic ethics changes of the three whites,reveals Coetzee’s ethics on ethnic issues in South Africa and summarize the ethical enlightenment for us.This article is divided into three parts,including introduction,the main body and conclusion.The first part is introduction,in this section,the authou mainly introduce the reasons for choosing the topic,then analyzes the the research status at home and abroad.At last,the author illustrates the research innovation,the research significance,the research technique of this paper.The second part is the main body of the paper,which is divided into three chapters.This part combines racial relations in different stages of South Africa to analyze the change of ethical identity and the corresponding ethical choice of the three white protagonists in different ethical environment.The first chapter is to analyze the change of ethical identity and ethical choice of the Old Magistrate in Waiting for the Barbarians under the ethical environment of atrocities in the 1960s-70s.He resisted the atrocities of South African society,rebelled against the laws behind the atrocities and the current injustice apartheid system of South Africa,and realized the perseverance of conscience,kindness and justice.The second chapter is to analyze the change of ethical identity and ethical choice of Mrs Curren in Age of Iron under the the ethical environment of the peak period of ethnic conflict in 80s.She took the humiliation of South Africa,restored racial relations with love,supported black women’s "non violent" resistance against whites,and realized redemption by taking responsibility,love and rebellion.The third chapter combines the ethical environment of ethnic reconciliation period in 90s to analyze the change of ethical identity and ethical choice of Lurie in Disgrace.During the period,he got rid of discrimination against women,put down the prejudice of South African countryside,dispensed the bias of animals,finally got rid of the discrimination against black South Africa and reached a reconciliation with the New South Africa and achieved moral sublimation.The third part is the conclusion.It mainly summarizes the changes of the ethical thought of the white protagonists in three different periods.That is the white people have formed the ethical thoughts of justice,equality and friendship on the racial issues,and from the outside deep into the reflection on themselves.It also sums up Coetzee’s ethical thoughts on racial problems in South Africa,he believes that white South Africans must undertake ethical responsibilities to improve the malformed racial relationship with the blacks;white people must insist on rational will and abandon evil.He also makes a ruthless approval of the root cause of racial problems,the unethical racial colonization policy.It also expresses the resistance of Coetzee to oppression and the appeal for love,which is still of great significance in the present era.