An Ecological Analysis Of Hemingway's Dualistic Concept Of Nature

As a great figure of"the lost generation",Ernest Hemingway enjoys a worldwide reputation in the history of modern literature. With the development of ecocriticism, it has become a new and popular trend to study the relationship between human and nature in Hemingway's writings from the ecological perspective.With ecocriticism as the theoretical support, this thesis aims at exploring Ernest Hemingway's ecological view implicated in his writing, and studying Hemingway's dualistic nature concept which possesses both ecological consciousness and anti-ecological consciousness by applying a combining approach of cross-disciplinary studies and textual analysis. The thesis is also to explore the formations of Hemingway's dualistic concept of nature. Therefore, the thesis indicates that the paradox of Hemingway's nature concept is actually a reflection of human's confusion when dealing with the relationship between human being and nature.The thesis consists of five parts. Chapter one outlines the literary theory of ecocriticism on which the thesis is based and then states the purpose and significance of this thesis. Chapter two focuses on the formation of Hemingway's dualistic concept of nature, which has much to do with his father's influence, religious influence, the catalyst of the hunter-naturalist tradition and his personal experience, etc. In chapter three and four, through the interpretation of Hemingway's writings, this thesis finds that Hemingway shares basic ideas of deep ecology and has ecological views on nature. Meanwhile, although he has ecological view on nature, Hemingway holds anti-ecological views on nature in his literary works. Therefore, Hemingway has a dualistic concept on nature. On the one hand, he advocates the returning to nature, the reverence for non-human life and natural world, and the criticism of human passion. On the other hand, his views are filled with the alienation from nature, the domination over nature, and the killing of animals. The thesis comes to a conclusion in chapter five. It points out that the academic values of the thesis.The five chapters are not only independent but interrelated at the same time. Through a study of Hemingway's dualistic nature concept from the ecocritical perspective, it turns out that man runs into a dilemma when confronting nature. Regarding nature as their friend and enemy at the same time, man's endeavor for balance often leads to tragedy, and the impulse for fighting and struggling inside man is doomed to destroy the nature they love most. Consequently, modern people should learn from Hemingway's ecological concept by taking a scientific approach, and draw inspiration from it.