"Cat's Cradle": Reflect On After Modern Human Ecological Environment

Eco-criticism has ecological interactions between mankind and nature, mankind and society as well as mankind and their own. It is an overlapping study of human and environmental issues, and it describes the social life of human beings in terms of natural ecology, social ecology and spiritual ecology. Therefore, a perspective of eco-criticism ensures a more comprehensive study of ecological, social and spiritual problems, and turns out to be a more in-depth diagnosis of various"tumors"in modern human society. Man is the causer of their nightmares as well as the future savior on their own. This thesis applies this eco-critic perspective to decode the novel Cat's Cradle, written by contemporary American writer Kurt Vonnegut. It probes into the drawbacks and hidden dangers of socio-ecological environment of the past-modern era. Vonnegut reflects on the predicament of human existence and also shows deep humanistic concerns. This thesis consists of six parts: Introduction, four chapters, and Conclusion. As a prelude, Introduction summarizes the current research status of Kurt Vonnegut and his works. The first Chapter gives a brief description of the theory of eco-criticism. Based on the three main aspects of socio-ecology -- natural ecology, social ecology and spiritual ecology, the following three chapters construct an appropriate social environment for post-modern human beings through the vision of Kurt Vonnegut. Conclusion is an overall summary of the previous parts and it also brings forward the practical significance of this thesis.