A Spiritual Ecological Interpretation Of The Child In Time

Ian Mc Ewan is one of the most influential writers in contemporary Britain and his works have won numerous awards.His novel The Child in Time,widely praised for its high attention to human spiritual world during social transformation,won the Whitbread Award in 1987.Until now,scholars have conducted extensive researches on this work from various perspectives,including narrative methods,themes,and ecology.However,there has been a limited amount of research on this novel from the perspective of spiritual ecology.Based on the theory of spiritual ecology,this paper attempts to analyze the process of the imbalance and reconstruction of the main characters’ spiritual ecology in the novel,aiming at exploring effective ways to maintain spiritual health.The Child in Time reappears human spiritual crisis of the Thatcher era through Stephen’s quest for his lost child and Charles Darke’s spiritual alienation.“Child” has symbolic meaning in the novel.The “lost child” is not only a reference to the lost child Kate,but also symbolizes the loss of purity,love and the simplicity.Although a series of economic liberalization reform measures by the Thatcher government have promoted the growth and prosperity of the British economy,they have also deepened social polarization and inequality.In pursuit of more wealth and a higher social status,people have drifted away from their natural state,lost inner goodness and purity within themselves and generally feel anxious,depressed and confused,which ultimately leads to vacuum of spirit,impotence of behavior and alienation of existence.In this novel,Stephen paralyses himself in the trauma of his daughter’s loss and Darke distorts himself in the pursuit of fame and wealth.The existence of humanity also presents a state of alienation.They are unable to communicate with themselves,with others and with nature.Finally,Stephen successfully gets out of spiritual dilemma by rebuilding love with his parents and wife,returning to nature and recovering purity.On the contrary,Charles Darke escapes from the troubled city and hides in the suburbs,indulges in child-like life and loses himself between fantasy and reality.He collapses and commits suicide at the end of novel.The interpretation of The Child in Time with the theory of spiritual ecology both broadens the research scope of the novel and highlights the writer’s humanistic ideals.By depicting the two main characters’ processes of spiritual imbalance and reconstruction,Mc Ewan not only reveals the various pressures and survival difficulties people are facing today,but also points out the direction for human beings to get rid of spiritual crisis: Only by facing difficulties and frustrations in life with a positive and optimistic attitude,breaking the shackles of fame and rediscovering the long-lost childlike goodness and innocence,can we achieve spiritual harmony and maintain mental health in the fierce social competition.