The Ethics Thoughts Of John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck(1902-1968)is a famous contemporary American novelist,receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962.From 1929 to 1961,he wrote a lot of novels,novellas and short stories,introspecting the confusion of the society,paying attention to the bottom of society,and reflecting the modern civilization.These works contain distinct features of the age and various ethical value,drawing wide attention from western scholars in recent years.Influenced by ideology of special period and inadequate Chinese version of the novels,the research of Steinbeck in China is fragmentized in form and insufficient in understanding the ethics thoughts.This dissertation aims at using ethical literary criticism and other research methods to explore the ethics thoughts of all the novels of Steinbeck in multi-dimension,and make a warning and reference for the development of contemporary China based on scrutinizing holistically the text of his novels.On the basis of the overall outline of Steinbeck and his works,the present situation of the domestic and foreign research on Steinbeck is investigated in the introduction part,especially the development and deficiency of the research on Steinbeck's ethics thoughts.In addition,this part discusses the construction process and the main point of Literary Ethics in China and the west,and further clarifies the research path and significance of Steinbeck's novel ethics.In order to understand the whole picture of the ethics of Steinbeck's novels,the main part does the research according to three dimensions such as "man and the world","man and society" and "man and man".There are four chapters in this dissertation.The first chapter and the second chapter in the dimension of "man and society" discuss respectively the "survival ethics" and "consumption ethics";The third chapter explores the "interpersonal ethics" from the dimension of "man and man";The fourth chapter studies the "ecological ethics" in the dimension of "man and the world".The first chapter focuses on the "survival ethics" thoughts of Steinbeck's novels.Steinbeck mainly concerned the plight of "oppressed and enslaved people:in Of Mice and Men,In Dubious Battle,The Grapes of Wrath and The Moon is Down,which convey the ethical thinking of "in the face of survival threat what should people do?"In these four novels,Steinbeck delivers these "survival ethics" thoughts:Extreme economic oppression will not only destroy the material life of human beings,but also human's spiritual life;Social oppression will lead to violent movement,but immature social movement with ethical paradox can hardly win the fight against social injustice;When life being threatened,violent confrontation is necessary,but the upper classes of society should be deliberate to the betterment of society and culture improvement,and the ultimate hope is always help and love each other;In the course of a life-and-death struggle,prudence and calmness,tolerance and courage are equally important.The second chapter consentrates on the "consumption ethics" thoughts of Steinbeck's novels.Steinbeck expressed "the ethical dilemma in consumption society"in Cup of Gold,The Pearl,the Wayward Bus and The Winter of Our Discontent,where his ethics thoughts mainly include:Money makes man blind and inflation;in a society that money is everything,poverty will make the mankind lose the control of life,but having money is no helpful in winning happiness back;Commodity society not only will shape the desire,but also will impel the aggrandized individual to smash and grind against each other recklessly,so that human will lost in the pursuit of material prosperity;In such a society,people who want to stick to the moral bottom line will lose their dignity,thus caught in a moral paradox.The third chapter hightghts on the "interpersonal ethics" thoughts of Steinbeck's novels.This part argues on the conflicts of being far away from society,mainly explores the subject "how people can avoid hurting each other" in the two novels The Pastures of Heaven,East of Eden and a short stories The Long Valley.Steinbeck conveys these interpersonal ethics thoughts:paranoia and arrogance is the main cause of personal injury;to get the real interpersonal harmony requires not only good,but also the wisdom and courage to face darkness and imperfection;the repression of each one in gender relation will result in the distortion and damage to both.The fourth chapter analyses the "ecological ethics" thoughts in Steinbeck's novels.This part mainly focuses on To a God Unknown,The Rea Pony,"Monterrey trilogy" and Americans,Travels with Charley in Search of America.As"a non-recognized father of ecological ethics",Steinbeck conveyed a series of ecological ethic thoughts in his novels,including respecting the nature and revering nature forces;harmoniously interacting with the nature and learning strength and wisdom from nature;reflecting of modern life style and modern values and enjoying life in a comfortable and harmonious life style.