Confronting the Dogs of War: Violence and Caregiving in Ian McEwan's Black Dogs and David Grossman's To the End of the Land

What is it about?

The article examines the role of caregiving as a potential means of coping with situations of persisting violence that accompany a severe political conflict. I address this issue by analyzing the intertextual links between two novels that engage in the ethical dilemmas raised by traumatic conflicts: Ian McEwan’s Black Dogs (1992) and David Grossman’s To the End of the Land (2008). Though the two novels differ in terms of language, culture, and time, both—interestingly—explore the nature of conflict through the ancient metaphor of the “dogs of war”: each is punctuated by a scene describing a violent struggle with wild dogs that crystalizes the ethical issues driving the story. Comparing these parallel scenes reveals essential differences in how the two novels conceptualize conflict and its resolution. I propose reading this difference as Grossman’s reflection on, and reframing of, McEwan's position in Black Dogs, analyzing it in light of the differing historical backdrops of the two novels. Black Dogs, I argue, should be understood in light of its historical backdrop of absolutist political ideologies, specifically Fascism and Communism. The novel laments the breakdown of love and care in human relations when these are confronted with irresolvable conflicts in which empathy and communication can offer no solution. To the End of the Land, by contrast, is set within the context of the Arab-Israeli struggle, and traces the aftermath of battles that are often close to home and involve quasi- brothers. Here, the novel points to the political implications of caregiving, by casting it as an appropriate way to deal with situations of violent confrontation.

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