An Ecocritical Study On The Spiritual World Of The Male Characters In Song Of Solomon

Toni Morrison, one of the most influential writers in contemporary literary world, is the first female black writer to claim the 1993 Nobel Prize for literature. As an African-American writer, she describes vividly the life of the black in America and probes deeply into the spiritual life of the black. Her novels represent the spiritual problems the black have, explore the history of the black and so on. Most of the black in her novels are suffering from spiritual problems.Song of Solomon is her third novel that depicts the life of the black. Losing the connection with their ancestors and being influenced by the white-dominated culture, many of the characters have spiritual problems. This thesis studies the male characters'spiritual world from the perspective of ecocriticism, especially on the basis of the theory of spiritual ecology. It consists of four chapters, plus the Introduction and the Conclusion.The Introduction concentrates on Toni Morrison and some of her representative works, the literature review of Song of Solomon and the questions discussed in this thesis.Chapter One is about the theoretical foundation of this thesis. This chapter gives a brief introduction to ecocriticism, including its rise and development, especially the theory of spiritual ecology which is the theoretical basis of the thesis, including the related concepts of spiritual ecology proposed in the west as well as in China.Chapter Two analyzes the spiritual world of the male characters in specific conditions. Macon Dead II is crazy about material possessions and shows no love for his family members and people around him; he is indifferent to people as well as nature around him. He worships materials and thinks that the material wealth can help him win anything; at the same time, he models after the white and behaves like the white, so he has a whitened heart. He is indifferent, materialized and whitened. Born in a wealthy black family, Milkman is impressed with his father's fondness of material possessions and has no knowledge of the tradition of the black, and he is barren in his spirit before he gets help from his aunt. Guitar is the victim of the racial discrimination in the novel;he has no normal love in his heart and all he has is hatred of the white and taking revenge on the white.Chapter Three explores the causes of the male characters'spiritual problems. Macon DeadⅡalienates from nature, estranges himself from his family members, and loses his connection with the traditional culture of his race. Milkman has no knowledge of the traditional culture of his race and has no sense of belonging in his life before he searches in the south. Guitar's spiritual world is polluted by the racial discrimination.By analyzing the spiritual world of the male characters and searching for the causes, the author of the thesis proposes some ideas to construct a healthy spiritual world in Chapter Four. And the ideas include getting close to nature, recovering and passing down traditional culture and so on. The ideas are also applicable to better people's spiritual world in modern society.In the Conclusion, a summary is made about the research. The author of the thesis points out that the ecological study on the spiritual world of the male characters in the novel is suggestive to the construction of a harmonious society: people should respect nature and get close to nature, attach importance to the traditional culture, and cultivate good interpersonal relations. By doing so, can people possibly live happy lives both materially and spiritually.