Steinbeck's Ecological Thought Perceived From The Grapes Of Wrath

John Steinbeck, the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in1962, is one of the great American writers of the 20th century. In his entire prolific writing carrier, he creates the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath, published in 1939. The novel is so important that it is regarded as Steinbeck's best work, and one of the 20 books that have changed the USA. This dissertation aims at analyzing The Grapes of Wrath from ecocritic approach, in order to explore the ecological thought of John Steinbeck.This dissertation is divided into five parts. The Introduction presents a brief introduction to John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath and the critical reviews on the novel at home and abroad.Chapter One deals with the theory of Ecocriticism from two aspects. Ecocriticism was launched in America during the 1970s- 1980s in the face of global environmental deterioration or ecological degradation. The essential Thought of Ecocriticism is to examine the relationship between literature and the physical environment.Chapter Two elaborates John Steinbeck's ecological thought perceived from The Grapes of Wrath. In this chapter, at the beginning, introduction of the sources of John Steinbeck's ecological Thought is given; and then an analysis of The Grapes of Wrath is conducted in order to explore John Steinbeck's ecological thought. From the details of analysis, Steinbeck expounds that people are sentimentally attached to and depend on land and that John Steinbeck advocates harmonious relationships between man and nature; as well as between man and man.Chapter Three investigates the significance of John Steinbeck's ecological Thought from three aspects. First, John Steinbeck attacks the thought of"Anthropocentrism"in the west; second, John Steinbeck discloses the political, social, and economical roots of the eco-disaster. Finally, John Steinbeck awakens human being's ecological conciousness.The last part is the conclusion, in which the argument of this dissertation is to be restated: The Grapes of Wrath reflects the ecological thought of John Steinbeck which is meaningful for today's global sustainable development.