An Eco-critical Study Of Lord Of The Flies

Today with the rapid development of economy, though our living level is gradually raised, the natural environment around us is worse and worse. The problems of global warming, ozone depletion, acid rain, the resource crisis of fresh water, energy shortages, decreasing resources of the forest and the desertification of land, etc are increasingly serious, which makes the ecological environment be worse and worse. It tells us to pay more attention to the man-nature relation and review the behaviors of human beings.Nowadays, human centralism develops to the summit. Combining with the symbolism of Lord of the Flies, this thesis introduces the novel from the perspective of the ecological criticism and analyzes the value of the island to reveal the living situation of human in the novel:the bad man-nature relation will lead to the self-destruction and many battles among men. The children come to the island of refugees, from firstly getting along with the island to later crazily damaging the environment of the island, from living based on the island to later destroying completely the island, which reflects the man-nature relation and man-man relation. What’s more, how an originally picturesque paradise on the earth is gradually becoming the Eden which is, in the hands of the Adams, on fire, what situation Eve is in, which enriches the new interpretation and reading of the novel on mythological themes which has the general meaning. At the same time, this novel will make the understanding on the condition of the modern world for us, which enables us to really realize the balance of the nature law and the responsibility in maintaining the rule of the nature. The thesis studies the ecological ideas of Golding through discussing the modern relationship among men, women and nature which is showed in the novel. The ideas include the man-nature relation and men-women relation. In general, the relationship of three aspects introduces the principle which is advocated by the novel:people must learn to live in harmony with the nature and stop exploiting, polluting and destroying the nature. As it was mentioned, only by being in harmony with the nature, can man have a happy, prosperous, civilized life and the nature of man is eternal.Firstly, this thesis briefly introduces the novel Lord of the Flies. Then the thesis elaborates on the substance of the novel that we should maintain ecological nature and the man-nature relation through quoting the relevant studies at home and abroad and introducing its research purposes and meanings. The thesis puts forward the theory of ecological aesthetics through analyzing the novel. Secondly, the thesis elaborates that people should be in harmony with the nature through describing the beauty of utopia and the disappearance of utopia made by the human behaviors. Then, we analyze the lack of women in the novel and it is just the call exactly for the rebuilding of men-women relation. In the long period of time, the women are subject to men in western society and their statuses are lower than men. The novel Lord of the Flies has inherited the tradition of the desert island novel which ignores the women’s situation and makes it worse. However, the real intention of Golding doesn’t advocate that men oppress women, but reveals the importance of women.