Analysis of Ian McEwan's Novel and the Theme of Ego in Art

“My Purple Scented Novel" is a novel written by the English author Ian McEwan.

Betrayal and Consequences

The book tells the story of a betrayal that tramples on the sacred bonds of friendship and loyalty. It is a real crime, staining Parker Sparrow, a mediocre but ambitious writer, who takes away from his faithful friend Jocelyn Tarbet, a successful writer, a manuscript of great artistic value, which with appropriate modifications he presents as his own, overturning the fate that had been touched until then.

The mediocre writer achieves success, the successful writer, accused of plagiarism, is forgotten and falls into detested and detestable mediocrity. Yet deception and hypocrisy still play their decisive role, to the point that everything can continue as before.

The Theme of Ego

This brief history brings to the fore the theme of the relationship of each individual with his ego. If you then move in the field of art, this theme is much more pressing and significant.
McEwan skilfully traces the lines within which the artist operates, more than a psychological study his is an anthropological study. In a world so focused on the exaltation of the ego, like the one in which we live - think of the social function that allows anyone to showcase and exalt or expose their personality and the frequent use of selfie - not c It is absolutely surprising that even the art world amplifies and multiplies this tendency to the exaltation of one's own self. McEwan recalls how in the narrative the use of the first person dates back centuries, just think of Richardson's Clarissa Harlow which is nothing but an autobiographical novel.

Evolution of the Individual

McEwan focuses on a very interesting point: the individual, in his human history, from childhood to old age, develops different characters and feelings. He is many different people over time, who find a unity and a composition at the end of the existential journey. There is no doubt, however, that if we wanted to give a moral assessment on the exaltation of the ego, we could not fail to underline that most of the evils of our times derive from an exasperated individualism, which leads us to ignore the weaker and to exalt everything that pertains to the sphere of success and wealth.