The Sense Of Ecological Crises In The Grapes Of Wrath

The Grapes of Wrath is regarded as one of the masterpieces of John Steinbeck, who is a recognized prominent writer in American literature of 20th century. Written in the period of American Great Depression in the 1930s, the novel is an ecological novel, displaying various ecological crises during that time. In the novel, Steinbeck artistically discloses the disharmonious relationships between man and land, between man and man, between man and himself. This thesis attempts to explore Steinbeck's sense of ecological crises in the light of natural ecology, social ecology and spiritual ecology.This thesis falls into four chapters. Chapter 1 is devoted to the natural ecological crisis, the disharmony between human beings and the land in Oklahoma. In order to get more profit from the land, both the tenant farmers and the large landholders exploit and overuse the land in Oklahoma, which destroys the harmony of the local ecosystem, even results the occurrence of dust storms and the phenomenon of agricultural migration. Chapter 2 goes to analyze the social ecological crisis which refers to the hostility between humans. There are two kinds of hostile relationships in the novel:the one is the contradiction between Californian residents and the Okies, and the other is the whites'racial discrimination and injustice to Native Americans. Chapter 3 discusses the Okies'spiritual ecological crisis. In the migration, they must suffer the loss of attachment to the original environment including home the land, the loss of ecological self, social responsibility and humanity. Chapter 4 explores Steinbeck's three solutions to the ecological crises during the 1930s. For curing the disharmony between man and land, Steinbeck calls on people to respect and love the land; to overcome the hostility in society, he calls upon people to reconstruct the virtue of hospitality among strangers; he builds the sense of collectivism in human heart so as to solve the spiritual loss.Based on the above analysis, this thesis comes to the conclusion that having a strong sense of ecological crises, Steinbeck not only criticizes the natural, social and spiritual ecological crises in the process of rebuilding the world but also shows his meditations on the harmonious ecosystem.