Ethical Confusion In The Autobiography Of My Mother From The Perspective Of Ethical Literary Criticism

Jamaica Kincaid is not only one of the most important writers of West Indies descent in contemporary America but also one of the most influential novelists in contemporary English literature.The Autobiography of My Mother is universally recognized as her most representative work.Up to now,scholars in China and abroad have done research on this novel from various perspectives,such as the relationship between men and women,power and identity,colonialism,and growth,but very few have paid attention to the ethical theme in it.Based on ethical literary criticism,this thesis attempts to explore the ethical confusion in the novel and provide suggestions to solve the problem.From the perspective of ethical literary criticism,it can be seen that the novel deals with ethical confusion in the African American community,which is mainly manifested in two aspects:perversion of ethical relationships and loss of ethical identity.In terms of the former,mother and daughter become enemies to each other;friendship develops to rivalry in love;doctor and patient change to immoral lovers.Besides,characters in the novel have lost their ethical identities as parents,as a wife,or as a member of a certain race.Such ethical confusion can be attributed to both external and internal factors.The external elements include colonial domination,patriarchal authority,and social discrimination,while the game of Sphinx,internalized racism,and abnormal self-consciousness constitute the internal factors.To solve the problem of ethical confusion,it seems necessary to get social order back on track and awaken the lost ethical consciousness.By exposing ethical confusion among the African American community in the novel,Kincaid intends to criticize various forms of oppression in American society,especially racism and sexism inflicted on African American women at that time.