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Universität Mainz

Department of English and Linguistics

British Studies

SS 2008

Seminar: Thatcherism in British Literature

Writing Thatcherism:

The Inevitability of Interconnectedness

Written by

Seda Canpolat

Juli 1, 2008

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents 2

1. Introduction 3

2. The Inevitability of Interconnectedness 4

a) Michael Owen′s Interconnectedness with the Winshaws 4

b) Narrative Devices of Interconnectedness 6

3. Writing Thatcherism 9

a) Objectivity and Bias 9

b) The Role of the Novelist 11

c) Michael Owen: A Guardian of Standards ? 12

4. Conclusion 15

Works cited: 16

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1. Introduction

The 1980s marked a watershed in British history. Margaret Thatcher′s rise to power stirred up

the country, for she took hitherto unprecedented and contentious measures to shape the

political landscape of Britain. Her agenda, amongst others, encompassed the privatisation of

formerly state-owned industries which brought "popular capitalism" into being (Seldon /

Collings 28). This new mindset saw to it that greed was no longer outlawed. Apart from this,

she uncompromisingly clamped down on trade unions and led Britain into the Falklands War.

In a speech in 1999, Tory MP William Hague was fulsome in his praise of Mrs Thatcher,

who, according to him, had had the courage to set the British people free from the

intimidation of trade union barons as well as from planned economies (cf. Hague).

But this is just one side of the coin. Against this, historians like Eric Evans propound that

Thatcher must be seen as a "damaging and divisive failure" who created a Britain that was

"less tolerant, more greedy and far less humane" (Seldon / Collings 91). Her opponents held

her responsible for the demise of community spirit because it was she who encouraged and

provided a framework for individuals to pursue their own materialistic interests. The "Iron

Lady" polarised society: she was either adored or demonised. It is precisely this antagonism

which has provided a fertile ground for writers. To see this, one just needs to look at the

outpour of hatred directed against self-seeking Tory villains. Jonathan Coe is a recent and

eminent English novelist who views Thatcherism and its aftermath critically.

Coe′s satire

What a Carve Up!

(1994) offers a "view of postwar Britain as typified by one

greedy, ruthless English family, the Winshaws" who seem to have imbibed the very ideology

of Thatcherism (Harrison). The novel′s unsuspecting protagonist, Michael Owen, is

commissioned to write the legacy of this influential family. In the course of the novel, it turns

out that Michael′s life becomes more and more intertwined with the Winshaws. According to

Terry Eagleton, Coe not only contrives to reveal "the individual′s inevitable entrapment in the

hegemonic forces of late capitalism" but also captures the "gritty social realities of the1980s"

(qtd. in Thurschwell 29).

The present paper will focus on Michael Owen′s character and seek to examine his

interconnectedness with the Thatcherite system as epitomised by the Winshaws. Furthermore,

it will trace how Michael, despite his professed aversion for the Winshaws, drifts ever more

deeply into their clutches. Since Michael is employed in the writing profession, the problem

of writing from within the system will be considered as well. Finally, it remains to be seen in

what ways and to what extent he becomes entrapped in the system he utterly claims to detest.

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2. The Inevitability of Interconnectedness

Born in 1952, Coe′s protagonist Michael was raised on the outskirts of Birmingham where he

spent a carefree childhood (cf. Coe 89). His father worked for a local engineering firm and his

mother was a teacher. At the age of nineteen, he married his girlfriend Verity and got

divorced after three years (cf. Coe 147 f.). Knowing very early that he was destined to be a

writer, he set out to write fiction (cf. Coe 161). During a trip to a friend in Sheffield in 1982, it

is, as he erroneously assumes, "purely by chance that [he finds himself] writing a book about

the Winshaws" (Coe 87). This undertaking differs from his two novels in that it is supposed to

be non-fictional or more specifically, a legacy.

a) Michael Owen′s Interconnectedness with the Winshaws

It is through Tabitha Winshaw′s request that Michael is commissioned to write the legacy

of the Winshaw family. She becomes "the patron and sponsor" of his book (Coe 3). What

Michael does not know yet, is that a mystery appertaining his parentage connects him to the

Winshaws, namely that Lawrence Winshaw is responsible for the death of his biological

father, Jim Fenchurch (cf. Thurschwell 31). For this reason, Tabitha feels that she has to make

reparations for her brother′s nefarious crime (Coe 220).

The first step into the world of the Winshaws is thus taken when Michael accepts Tabitha′s

"pretty cosy financial arrangement" which enables him to afford a flat in Battersea (Coe 114).

Struggling with his desperate financial situation and overdrafts, Michael has little hesitation in

accepting the annually paid five-figure salary which allows him to live quite comfortably off

(cf. Coe 61, 87 f.). On account of this arrangement, Michael has to delve into the history and

lives of the Winshaws. The insights resulting from his research disclose in how his far his life

and his "personal tragedies" are "inextricably bound up with the Winshaws′ activities" (Head

36). The Winshaws embody all the evils that Thatcherism is associated with. This self-serving

breed holds the levers of power: Henry, for instance, is a back-stabbing politician, Mark an

opportunistic arms dealer, Dorothy the empress of an agrochemical corporation and Thomas a

corrupt investment banker.

Michael′s foster-father represents only one of a great many victims who are struck by the

wheelings and dealings of the Winshaws. First, his father′s hard-earned pension fund is

embezzled by Thomas′ bank (cf. Coe 324). But this is only the prelude. His father is later, in

the true sense of the word, poisoned by Dorothy Winshaw′s lethal deep-freeze food. At home,

Michael notices that their deep-freeze is "stacked with more than twenty cartons of ...