An Ethical Analysis Of American And British Science Fictions

Science fiction has been considered to be the kind of non-mainstream literary form sinceit was born. Even though there are still some famous critics, such as Harold Bloom, SusanSontag, making comments on them, they put more emphasis on structure, narration or socialsignificance. However, the argument on the morality in science fiction has never been stopped.With the development of literary critical approach and the modern technology, people have tofocus on the significance from a totally new angle, which combines science, morality andpeople's real life. It is the ethical critical approach.The concept of ethical literary criticism was raised by Professor Nie Zhenzhao in 2004.It is a new but effective way to analyze science fiction. In this thesis, this new criticalapproach is used to analyze some representative American and British science fictions, andthe following conclusion is got through the analysis: The ending of the novel is up to therelationships of the ethical ideas of the author's, the time's and the protagonist's. If theprotagonist's behavior follows these ideas, there will be a happy ending, and if his or herbehavior does not, it will be a tragic one.The thesis consists of five parts:Introduction. In this part, the author defines science fiction and literary ethical criticalapproach and puts forwards the central argument.Chapter One. The Conflicts and Tragic Ending.In this chapter, the author focuses on the argument that if the protagonist's behaviordoesn't follow the ethical ideas, there will be a tragic ending. Frankenstein, The Island of Dr.Moreau, The Invisible Man and The Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are taken as the exampleto illustrate the author's argument.Chapter Two. The Harmony and Happy Ending.In this chapter, the author takes Robbie, Runaround, First Law, Slaughterhouse Five andFoundation series as the examples to illustrate and prove the argument. And summarizes thatif the protagonist's behavior follows the ethical ideas, there will be a happy ending.Chapter three focuses on the readers' acceptance and the creation of science fictions.Conclusion. In this part, the author sums up the whole thesis and draws a conclusion.