Ian McEwan Advocates for Assisted Dying Rights for Dementia Patients
Novelist Ian McEwan has spoken out in favor of allowing assisted dying for individuals suffering from dementia, reflecting on the painful experience of his own mother. He expressed, “By the time my mother was well advanced and could not recognize anyone, she was dead. She was alive and dead all at once. It was a terrible thing.” McEwan also mentioned the emotional toll it takes on loved ones, describing it as “radioactive damage.”
His mother, Pamela, a journalist, passed away from vascular dementia a decade ago, while his father, Brian Glanville, a football journalist and novelist, died last year after battling Parkinson’s disease alongside a milder form of dementia. While McEwan’s term “radioactive damage” vividly illustrates the struggles of caring for someone with a degenerative illness, he questions the idea that those in advanced dementia stages are entirely “dead.” After all, how can one truly know what’s going on in another person’s mind?
One of the key insights McEwan gained while caring for his parents came from reading to them. He discovered that, in many ways, their cognitive abilities remained intact. Both of his parents enjoyed being read to until their final days and showed positive reactions to stories, poems, and novels. They could follow narratives and even recognize complex words. On one occasion, his father pointed out that McEwan wasn’t reading a series of memoirs in chronological order, a detail he hadn’t noticed himself.
Despite their enjoyment, neither parent could verbally express a desire for reading. McEwan stumbled upon this accidentally. His father would often sit quietly in a chair, seemingly disconnected from the world, unable to act without assistance. To an outsider, it might seem he was wholly absent. However, McEwan realized that Parkinson’s and dementia had hindered his father’s ability to initiate conversation. A certain brain function needed to connect with others had been impaired. It was through encouragement and engagement from family and caregivers that his father could communicate, with reading acting as a vital bridge that illuminated his cognitive capabilities.
McEwan observed a similar experience with his mother towards the end of her life. In a fleeting moment when she seemed unable to comprehend a story, he read her Doris Lessing’s delightful memoir about cats. As a cat lover herself, her engagement was immediate and joyful.
These experiences led him to the realization that silence or unresponsiveness in someone with a degenerative illness doesn’t necessarily mean they lack understanding or engagement. It highlights the importance of making an effort to connect.
Research supports that such findings are not unique to McEwan’s situation. Studies from the charity The Reader demonstrate that reading aloud can significantly impact individuals with dementia, enhancing fluency and communication in response to literature. An evaluation from Philip Davis at the University of Liverpool found that reading to dementia patients helped lessen their symptoms and improved their overall well-being.
Of course, McEwan acknowledges that there may come a point, particularly in cases of advanced Alzheimer’s, where meaningful connection might become impossible. For him, “death” is defined by the cessation of physical function. He believes individuals with dementia require advocates, which may also mean opposing assisted dying. He concludes that even as their world dims, there are still moments of pleasure and connection to be found.
