This thesis sets out to examine the treatment ofudmoral values in the work of Graham Greene, Muriel Spark, IrisudMurdoch and Doris Lessing.udChapter One provides a context for subsequent work;udand considers some possible stances to the treatment of moraludvalues in fiction; that is, it suggests they can be reflected,udreinforced, questioned or rephrased. It reflects, too, onudsome aspects of contemporary society and thought which relateudto the overall topic.udGraham Greene's treatment of moral values is examinedudin Chapter Two. Novels like Brighton Rock reveal that a tensionudexists between the moral and the spiritual; and it isudargued that he often questions the finality of moral judgements.udIn Chapter Three, Muriel Spark's approach to moraludvalues is aligned with his; for she too envisages man's souludas of paramount importance. Her satirical bent, however,udensures that much of her fiction is devoted to the portrayaludof man's lack of moral values.udThe consideration of Iris Murdoch in Chapter Fourudargues that she tests out many of her philosophical hypothesesudwithin her fiction. Her sympathetic but speculative examination of the difficulties inherent in the moral life is comparedudto George Eliot's; though the former's attempt to rehabilitateudChristian concepts is seen as radical.udChapter Five traces the evolution of Doris Lessing'sudfiction from her criticism of African society to her embodimentudof a mystical view of life. Moral values are crucial to theudMartha Quest novels, where she endeavours to substitute newudnotions of the moral for conventional views. Later, her Sufiudbelief largely causes the ethical to disappear.udThe Conclusion suggests that though these novelistsudoften treat moral values speculatively, this response springsudfrom an intelligent appraisal of the contemporary world. Alludstress the need for the individual to be self-responsible; andudtheir clear-sighted treatment of moral issues aids such audprocess.
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