An Exploration of Identity and Generational Conflict in Graham Swift’s Last Orders
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53573/rhimrj.2025.v12n12.016Keywords:
Conflict, Choices and Fate, Identity, Memory, Post-war LifeAbstract
Graham Swift’s Last Orders explores the search for identity and conflict between generations. The novel focuses on tense relationships between fathers and sons. It shows how the values and choices of older generations shape the lives of the younger ones. During a final journey together, the characters look back on their past. They face hidden emotions and responsibilities passed down to them. Last Orders shows that identity is shaped by memory, relationships, and generational conflict, not by personal freedom alone.
References
Cooper, P. Graham Swift’s Last Orders: A Reader’s Guide. New York: Continuum. 2002.
Hurtung-Bruckner, H. Construction of History and Deconstructions of ‘Englishness’, ‘History and ‘Englishness’ in Graham Swift’s Last Orders. Institute fur Englische Philologic: Freie Universitat Berlin. 2012. Print
Malcolm, David. Understanding Graham Swift, Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2003.
Swift, Graham. Last Orders, London: Picador, 1996.
