Images Of Violence And War Ethics In Edward Bond’s War Trilogy

Edward Bond is one of the prominent left-wing dramatists in Britain in the twentieth century.His works,with the avant-garde,radical and extreme features,generate enormous vitality in the second wave of contemporary British drama.Most of Bond’s creations are based on the alienation of people under capitalism,the destructive contradictions in the social and political system,and the social demand for working-class culture.Through the description of images of violence,Bond tries to reflect the reality,criticize social issues,and discuss humanity and social ethics.In his childhood,Bond once experienced the bombing from German aircraft in World War II.The brutal war left a deep psychological trauma on him.Subsequently,his military experience in the national army once again made him aware of the ubiquitous violence in war.A close reading of Bond’s works reveals that war,as a form of violence,frequently appears in them,showing Bond’s aversion to it and his war ethics.At present,violence in Bond’s dramas has attracted some scholars’ attention,but few of them have explored Bond’s anti-war ideas and the war ethics from the violent form of war.Therefore,this thesis selects Edward Bond’s Red,Black and Ignorance,Great Peace and The Tin Can People as the study objects,which take the nuclear war as the background,combining the historical background that the works were created and the life experience of Bond to explore his anti-war ideas and the war ethics in his drama with the help of the analysis of violent images and the just war theory.The thesis consists of six chapters.The first chapter is the introduction,which mainly introduces Edward Bond and his major works,the updated domestic and foreign research on his drama,violence narrative,the theory of just war and so on.Chapter Two analyzes the violence under the totalitarian regime in Red,Black and Ignorance,discussing the just cause of fighting a war.Chapter Three analyzes the conducts in warfare in Great Peace.This chapter mainly explores the ethics of using nuclear weapons as a means of violence in war.Chapter Four analyzes the division of responsibilities after the violent war in The Tin Can People and demonstrates that post-war responsibilities are an inevitable requirement of a just war.The fifth chapter analyzes the motivation and social significance of Bond’s War Trilogy with the historical background and his individual growth experience.Chapter Six is the conclusion of the thesis.Through analyzing the violent writings related to the war in the drama,Bond’s aversion to war and his reflections on war ethics are demonstrated.In his opinion,in terms of the cause for fighting a war,violent wars launched under the pretext of aggression are unjust wars that violate war ethics;As far as ethics about the acts of force in war are concerned,behaviors in a war must be consistent with the reasons of a just war,and violence cannot be used without restrictions such as using destructive forces like nuclear weapons to slaughter civilians;For the part of ethics concerning post-war responsibilities,the ending of a war does not mean the disappearance of the hatred and anger brought by it.To achieve the fundamental purpose of justice is to restore a more peaceful and stable environment.And the subjects that shoulder responsibility for war may be diverse.From Bond’s war ethics narration,the writer’s opposition to war,appeal for the reconstruction of humanity and the pursuit of peace are conveyed,which show his deep humanistic care about the common people and his anti-war ideas.