Education and Upbringing as a Means of Manipulation in the Authoritarian Society in Ian McEwan’s The Child in Time Cover Image

Manipulacija odgojem i obrazovanjem u autoritarnom društvu prema romanu Dijete u vremenu Iana McEwana
Education and Upbringing as a Means of Manipulation in the Authoritarian Society in Ian McEwan’s The Child in Time

Author(s): Milica Rađenović
Subject(s): Comparative Study of Literature, State/Government and Education, Theory of Literature, Sociology of Education
Published by: Filozofski fakultet, Sveučilište Josipa Jurja Strossmayera, Osijek
Keywords: Democracy; family; individual; indoctrination; system;

Summary/Abstract: This paper analyses the role of education and upbringing in the authoritarian society in McEwan’s The Child in Time. The manipulation of upbringing and education allows covert encroaching on the family intimacies and the individual freedoms, altering the society and its set of values according to the wishes and desires of a small group of people who have power in their hands. McEwan uses the pervasiveness of upbringing as a social phenomenon to give a perfect insight into one society and its ideals. Upbringing has a key role in indoctrination and in forming the individual’s attitude toward authority. By describing the making of the alleged handbook for upbringing, which was commissioned by the Government, McEwan deals with the relationships between the system and the individual, between public and private, between individual freedoms and public interest.

  • Issue Year: 3/2016
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 169-184
  • Page Count: 16
  • Language: Croatian