An Interpretation Of Cormac McCarthy's Environmental Ethical Stance Through Animal And Wilderness Images In All The Pretty Horses And The Crossing

This thesis intends to analyze Cormac McCarthy's environmental ethical stance on human-nature relations, and his opposition against anthropocentrism in All the Pretty Horses and The Crossing, the first two out of his Border Triology. This discussion is to be based on the analysis of the animal images and wilderness images in the two novels, and will lead to a more thorough understanding of McCarthy's meditation on how human and nature should coexist with each other.The thesis starts with a brief introduction to both Cormac McCarthy, a writer unfamiliar to Chinese readers, and his works, specifically All the Pretty Horses and The Crossing. Following the first part comes the second chapter where the origins and development of the applied theories are elaborated. In this chapter, anthropocentrism and environmental ethics are discussed separately. Also in this chapter a special focus is placed on two topics of primary concern of environmental theorists, namely, animals and wilderness. Outstanding figures in each school of thoughts are also introduced in the second chapter to give the readers a whole picture of the theoretical foundation of this thesis. Chapter three and chapter four stand as the main body as they integrate existing theories with a discussion of details in McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses and The Crossing to uncover the writer's environmental concerns. In the third chapter, the thesis focuses on how McCarthy masterfully uses animal images like "horse" and "she-wolf" to undermine traditional anthropocentric discrimination against non-human living creatures. Though there are some places in the novels which are doomed by the writer's limitation on human-animal relations, the writer is, on the whole, an active advocate of the harmonious coexistence between human and animals. Based on the previous chapters, chapter four tries to interpret the author's environmental ethical standpoint in a more detailed manner. This chapter is sub-divided into two parts. In the first part which involves animal images, Paul Taylor's well-known "four duties" to nature is employed and combined with McCarthy's depiction of "horses" and the "she-wolf. It may be safe to conclude McCarthy is environmentally ethical when the thesis finds McCarthy's animal images and the way the protagonists of the novels get along with the animals abide by Taylor's rules, widely-recognized criteria in judging an act environment-friendly or not. The second part is mainly on "wilderness", another topic currently under heated discussion. Again theories and details in the novels are integrated to interpret how the writer looks at "wilderness", and thus gives the readers another chance to peep into McCarthy's positive stance in revering and loving nature. But McCarthy's respect is also shadowed by a little fear to the might of nature which is sometimes cruel and unpredictable. Through all discussed above, this thesis intends to reach the conclusion that Cormac McCarthy is not only a masterful depicter of the western scenery and horseman life, but is also skilled at implanting environmental ethical values into his descriptions. Therefore, McCarthy's readers may find something more rewarding when appreciating his works, and an environmental ethical way of thinking could spread as vibrantly as the novels themselves do.