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Anthony Keating Is Searching For Self-Fulfillment
Something destructive has happened to noble England, Margaret Drabble enlightens us in the two epigraphs that open "The Ice Age." Sure enough, the novel's main character finds himself enmeshed in an apocalyptic tale. "It was as though he had strayed into some charged field, where death and disaster became commonplace." (page 22) I genuflect to English literature's concern for values, and I no less feel that reverence toward this very fine book.

We must look to the plot for what has gone wrong with England. Anthony Keating, the main character, is a typical middle-class man of British society. He finds his fate in college by eventually pairing up with Giles Peters, a wealthy property developer, despite his high level of idealism. He is seduced by a materialist lifestyle. Anthony is thus a representative of "economic" England. He marries Barbara Cockburn and has four children, but "Babs" is an unfaithful type. He later finds a more agreeable union with Alison Murray, who has two children from a previous marriage with Donnell. Although Anthony's two brothers prosper, Anthony experiences trouble physically and financially. He has a heart attack, which forces him to plan rest into his life. His company, Imperial Delight Company, which he thought would make him wealthy, goes bust.

After buying a house in the country, Anthony has found time to reflect on the meaning of his life. Why does he feel a spiritual void? Anthony exhibits sound thinking and soul-searching and ultimately decides that Man must think about the nature of God and the possibility of religious faith. Alison's sensible and loving nature is a helpful complement to Anthony while they are together at High Rook House. Len Wincobank, a business associate whom Anthony admires, languishes in prison for fraud he has committed. Alison's daughter, Jane, who has travelled to Wallacia, a communist, East European country, is arrested and charged with hit and run. Alison visits with her and returns to England while she is still awaiting trial. When Anthony goes, however, at the urging of a Minister named Humphrey Clegg, he fails, through a mishap, to leave the country with Jane in the plane. He winds up in prison serving a sentence of six years for espionage. This is a disturbing irony.

Ms. Drabble describes the sinister economic conditions that have brought Britain's problems in. Materialism has had a negative impact on people's lives. The economy and materialism are unpredictable forces to the individual, who relies exclusively on them. Finances hold anxiety. Therefore, men like Anthony live with disillusionment. Materialism requires a value system in order to comprehend and cope with daily life. Society has thrown away its cherished values. It is no surprise, then, that Anthony says, "I have learned nothing." The sense of values in life can mean the difference between the rootlessness of Tim, an out-of-work actor, and Kitty Friedmann's well-knit family. Anthony achieves the realization that faith is necessary to man, but he is a doomed man.

The presumed hope of the coming generations, in the novel, is undermined by this atmosphere of materialistic difficulty. "Would they survive? How could one tell?" The only way out of this predicament is for people to give spiritual, i.e. ethical, values a higher priority in their community planning. Man needs God in life. Six years in prison is not a dignified destiny for Man. Ms. Drabble is absolutely lucid about Anthony Keating's remarkable potential as a Good Man. However, as a dying breed (of the old order), he cannot be sure that the next generation will choose honorable paths that will exalt Britain's diminished destiny. Let's hope so, one and all!