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The Journey Of Saving

Posted on:2013-01-31Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:X YuFull Text:PDF
GTID:2235330395461587Subject:English Language and Literature
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
The lengthy novel Saving Fish from Drowning which Amy Tan has spent five yearsmeticulously creating could be regarded as another peak of the writer’s recent creations. Afterthe first works The Joy Club came into being in1989, and The Kitchen God’s Wife, TheHundred Secret Senses, and The Bonesetter’s Daughter in the following years, Amy Tan hasalready formed a distinct individual style, since all of these works describe themother-daughter relationship, involving the identity of Chinese immigrants as well as thecultural differences and integration between the East and the West at the same time. However,Amy Tan, in the novel Saving Fish from Drowning, has made a bold breakthrough andsurmounting to change her creative themes and expand her cross-cultural horizons. In thispaper, the author uses the method of the ecocriticism to analyze Amy Tan’s novel Saving Fishfrom Drowning. According to analyzing the relationships of man and nature, man and man,and the relationship of man and ego, people can see the sublimation of the theme—discovery.There are five parts in this paper, including Introduction, Chapter One, Chapter Two, ChapterThree and Conclusion.Introduction is mainly about Amy Tan’s life and major works, the novel Saving Fish fromDowning’s contents, and the domestic and international study about the novel. Meanwhile, itintroduces the definition and development of ecocriticism. It also shows the relationshipsbetween human and nature in Tan’s novels.From Chapter One to Chapter Three, these are the body of the paper. Chapter One is ananalysis to represent the destruction of nature. There are three structures in it. The first sectionreflects the destruction of nature that human make. By description of Burma government’sexcessive exploitation of nature resources, it shows the damage to the relationship of man tonature; At the same time, the author criticizes the American travelers who destroy natureduring their journey. Secondly, the paper reveals that the modern civilization not only destroysthe beautiful nature, but also makes distinction of social classes. In order to pursuit themaximum profits, people become indifferent and cruel, and they feel far away from each other.The third section is called distorted spirit of man. In the novel, the imbalances of ecology andsociety happen with the damage human spirit at the same time. In the novel, the group ofAmerican tourists belongs to the "lost communities", while although all of them have highsocial status, they are not in a normal situation both physical and psychological.In Chapter Two, the author reveals the discovery of nature in the perspectives of nature, society and human beings. At first, the paper studies human’s yearning towards nature.According to the description to the beautiful scenery in Lijiang, Yunnan area and Shangri-la, itshows people’s favor to nature. Through the U.S. tour members’ unconsciously adventure inthe original forest; it reflects that people’s discovery of the relationship between human andnature. The author expresses a kind of equality, dialogue and harmony of the ideal in thejourney of discovery. The second section is called complex contradiction of society. Thirdly,the paper analyzes the spiritual change during the journey.Chapter Three is return of nature. The first part is the harmonious relationship betweenman and nature. It analyzes American travelers’ understanding towards nature in the end ofthe novel. The animals and plants in the forest live in harmony as brothers and sisters. Humanis no longer a natural center and the master of all things in nature. The values of nature are notmeasured by mankind’s economic interests, but valued by themselves. Secondly, The secondpart is the return of relationship between man and man. The travelers finally help and loveeach other. In the end, each traveler achieves the return of their own spirits through goodtreatment and feeling of love.The last part concludes that Amy Tan’s novel concerns the relationships of man and man,man and nature. It has become the more and more important theme in her novel and it reflectsher, as a contemporary American writer, having independent thinking to human beings and themajor issues facing the world today.
Keywords/Search Tags:Saving Fish from Drowning, ecocriticism, anthropocentrism, return
PDF Full Text Request
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