The writing of bioethics and criticism of life politics in McEwan's novels are the focus of research. His works often involve clinical medical practices such as psychopathology and euthanasia, but pay less attention to ethical issues within the healthcare system. Works such as "Saturday" and "The Children's Act" explore the moral dilemmas and power implications in healthcare decision-making through the roles of doctors and judges, revealing problems in the modern Western healthcare system.

The Concrete Text of Writing Bioethics

Bioethics originated in ancient Greece, developed through the philosophy of life in Europe and America in the 19th century, and the rise of medical ethics after World War II. It was officially proposed by American scholar Porter in 1970. This discipline focuses on the intrinsic value of life and conducts ethical scrutiny on medical technology, gene editing, euthanasia, and other related fields. In literary criticism, bioethics is a cutting-edge perspective that focuses on the ethical issues of life sciences in literary works. McEwan's novels explore bioethics through narrative techniques, focusing on self-awareness of life, the value of life subjects, and social metaphors of disease. His works can be divided into two categories: philosophical reflections on life phenomena, and depictions of disease symptoms and medical cases. McEwan emphasizes individual autonomy in life, such as exploring euthanasia in "Amsterdam" and focusing on the suicide of depression patients in "Children in Time". He also portrays the pain that chronic diseases bring to patients through omniscient narration and character narration, such as the description of Huntington's disease in Saturday. McEwan also focuses on the identity perception of amnesia patients, such as the portrayal of Alzheimer's disease in "Children of Time" and "Saturday". In addition, he also explores the moral judgments faced by patients with sexual psychological disorders, such as the description of De Klerabot syndrome in "Love Cannot Be Endured". McEwan's novels question the reliability of character narratives through the juxtaposition of narrative structures, highlighting society's moral harshness towards mental patients.

The moral dilemma of implementing the principles of bioethics

Deeply explored the depiction of moral dilemmas in the implementation of bioethical principles in McEwan's novels. By analyzing medical cases in works such as "Atonement" and "Saturday," the ethical challenges faced by healthcare professionals in clinical practice are revealed. The nurse Brioni in "Atonement" embodies the principle of "favoring the patient" in her nursing work, despite self blame for professional mistakes in end-of-life care. Saturday "portrays the moral choice of doctors between protecting patients' privacy and personal grievances through the story of neurosurgeon Beroan. In addition, the novel also touches on the lack of autonomy in the lives of minors, such as cases of children from Jehovah's Witnesses families refusing blood transfusion treatment in the Children's Act, and conflicts between families and hospitals during the separation surgery of conjoined twins. Through these cases, McEwan criticized the deprivation of individual life autonomy in the modern medical system and the two-way ethical choices between doctors and patients in medical behavior. At the same time, the novel also reflects the interference of political forces in individual life, reflecting the author's profound thinking on the politics of life.

Critique of Life Politics in the Examination of Bioethics

Foucault proposed the concept of "right to life" in 1976, emphasizing the political intervention of the state apparatus and ruling class in the autonomy of individual life. McEwan's novel showcases how the state machinery intervenes in public life and carries out disease control through the narrative space of hospitals. In the Children's Act, the confrontation between hospitals and patients' families reveals the inherent violence within the state and its parental system, where Adam is unable to decide on his own whether to live or not. Foucault pointed out that hospitals introduced a disciplinary power mechanism, making patients the objects of control. In McEwan's novels, doctors establish authority through professional terminology and provide treatment to patients, reflecting the intervention of life and political power. In Saturday, Dr. Beroan established authority without objective assistance, relying solely on subjective impressions and industry jargon, and turned the tide of the fight. The novel also depicts the suppression of power in the sanatorium, such as the harsh and slow treatment of Beroan's mother Lilian in the sanatorium in Saturday, and the terrible experience of Jeremy's mother-in-law in the sanatorium in Black Dog. Through these narrative scenes, McEwan portrays the reality of individual life autonomy rights being violated. In addition, medical relationships are also subject to power struggles within the healthcare system, such as the hierarchical system that restricts Beroan's career growth in Saturday. McEwan's novels vividly depict the damage of diseases to individual life processes through narrative scheduling, and incorporate ironic narrative language into the portrayal of medical images and ethical scrutiny of medical cases. The freedom of individual life choices is subject to the triple constraints of medical discourse, hospital discipline, and national governance, and the body is confined within the medical discourse and system of power operation, demonstrating the core narrative intention of the modern Western medical landscape.