What If Robots Surpass Man Morally? Dehumanizing Humans, Humanising Robots in Ian McEwan‟s Machines Like Me

I. INTRODUCTION 

 Globalization best characterizes the twenty-first century. As a major contemporary phenomenon, it contributes to the proliferation of an intertwined network of relations all over the world. Particularly, Roger Sanjek‟s following words describe the major characteristic of the contemporary world: “Rising tides in the movement of information, commodities, and people characterize the contemporary world”

 [1]. The movement of information and people is made possible in the twenty-first-century context because “we […] live in a globalizing social reality, one in which previously effective barriers to communication no longer exist” 

     [2]. On the other hand, the lack of healthy interaction among people and societies despite the basis of contemporary life on dialogue and communication explain the major paradox of the present century. As an author in contemporary British fiction, Ian McEwan deals with this paradoxical nature of the contemporary period. At this point, his fictional and nonfictional works are worth mentioning to understand his view of life and hence appreciate his critical approach to the issues of the contemporary age, which he finds problematic.  Ian McEwan is a writer who is sensitive to humankind. For him, human beings have the freedom of making their individual decisions and expressing their opinions in daily life. This is particularly exemplified in his works of fiction