An Understanding of Established Doubt

The relationship between the Church of England, the state and the public in Great Britain is as intricately woven as it is expected and, in many instances, presumed and taken for granted. Although McEwan is a professed and well-known atheist, his narratives and public comments on religion not only capture the nuances of life in the Church of England but align with the inquiring and questioning of many who would consider themselves members of the Established Church. This measure of perceptive comprehension has a special resonance because of the understanding that he demonstrates between the role of the church, its relationship to the larger Establishment and the public perception of these relationships. This chapter begins by examining the nature of doubt and scepticism in perceptions of the Church of England and demonstrates how McEwan's depiction of the church, its clergy, and its hymnody is often aligned with other writers. Critically, there is a larger question of how an atheist writer sees and portrays the Church of England and whether the doubt he expresses in fiction and in public commentaries is in fact part of the very nature of Anglicanism. In this respect, the ‘What if?’ aspect of McEwan's writings that Richard Bradford notes is pervasive throughout McEwan's texts is found here in multiple instances.

McEwan's ability to capture the public perception of the Church of England places him alongside other prominent twentieth-century writers including Alan Bennett, John Betjeman, and Philip Larkin, who similarly saw the church as part of British identity that could potentially transcend or surpass the temporal theological debates that govern its public character. His writings dwell on the cultural and societal image of the Church of England as a pres-ence within British society, whether in a nostalgic sense or with an awareness of current thought and writings. In this sense, McEwan's exacting perception and portrayal of the church relates no less specifically to his narratives than to the many scientific researches he has undertaken before several novels. Each can resonate with an easy familiarity to the specialist reader, while presenting a larger narrative to the reading public that frequently depicts the church as a societal fixture.