The purpose of this research is to compare the use of symbolism in two of Iris Murdoch's novels, The Sea, The Sea and The Nice and the Good. The plan of the research will be to set forth the pattern of ideas in the texts and then discuss ways in which Murdoch employs symbol to make resonant moral meanings.
It has been observed by more than one critic that Murdoch's novels are typically set in suburban London (Parini 75; Grimshaw 554), in part a reflection of Murdoch's own adult life, which was spent in a modest Oxford neighborhood in England. Yet in The Sea, the Sea and The Nice and the Good, much of the action takes place along the seacoast, and in both novels, the sea operates as a powerful symbol for the vagaries of life experience that are at once most serene and most chaotic. Weather, especially weather that is bound up with the sea, can be construed symbolically in each of the books. Another symbol that comes to the fore is that of religion, which is also a source of both serenity and chaos, although as used by Murdoch religion is perhaps more properly considered as a departure point for the theme of the vagaries of goodness, or the moral life well lived.
The cultural context for the appearance of The Nice and the Good was 1968, a year that witnessed what can be described as a "sea change" in Western culture. The Vietnam War was raging and dividing the US; two major assassinations occurred in America; European capitals (notably Prague and Paris) were in turmoil. In that environment The Nice and the Good appeared, and its principal line of action has to do with the protagonist's discovery of a distinction between so-called "nice" people, who consider themselves "good" and real goodness. That distinction is discovered in a setting of complete chaos and real physical danger, since John Ducane achieves his epiphany while stranded in a sea cave that may at any minute flood and drown him.
The premise of The Nice and the Good i...