Ian McEwan – The Children Act – Comment.

 

One never equates a high court judge with the emotion of sensitivity. We are led to believe that justice is blind, and the sword of the law is fair to all without bias. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. We are for better or worse human beings who have biases based on education, rearing and our life experiences. There is no doubt for those who are paying attention, that politics enters the court arena, pulling life and death situations in a certain direction despite the law. In the case of Fiona Maye, our protagonist in this profound novel, a high court judge in the Childrens Court in London, deeply understands the Law, and appears to understand the many follies of the human condition. A particular case described in the novel, emotionally enters her personal life, her marriage, bringing into question the nature of her very soul.  

I remember knowing a young lawyer in Melbourne who, after years of education and attaining her qualifications, thought it noble to work in the family courts. My friend was bright, beautiful, and well intentioned. She only lasted a year because of the heartache of representing parents in divorce cases and abused children. She never looked back and began working as an actor in toothpaste commercials. After hearing some of the horror stories she experienced, I did not blame her for leaving the profession. Our protagonist in The Children Act, however, has a greater belief in the Law, and her own wisdom to rule on the side of Justice.  

In children’s law, though, every case is never black and white.  

The case in question is of a young lad of seventeen who has contracted leukemia. He is in desperate need of a blood transfusion. The young man’s parents are Jehovah’s Witness, and a blood transfusion defies God’s Will according to their Elders interpretation of various Books in the Old Testament. The court case does not rest on theological debate; the argument is what is in the best interests of the patient, and his general welfare. The lad is two months shy of his eighteenth birthday and considered a minor. The twist is the boy chooses to die a terrible death rather than receive the blood transfusion against God’s Law. 

Judge Fiona Maye decides to visit the young man in hospital and listen to his arguments for death in accordance with his religion. Once visiting the lad, she makes her decision, and finds her emotional life impinged upon by various experiences that follow. 

The Children Act is a sensitive and beautifully written piece designed to cause us to think about important social and moral question about love, relationships, and the importance of ‘meaning’ on one’s life. 

A wonderful novel.