Calling For Harmony

Saving Fish from Drowning is Amy Tan, the Chinese-American writer’s latestwork. Having been publicized, the novel appears on the New York Times bestsellerlist, and ascends to the top ten, which has created a miracle in the history of her sales.The novel is defined as a ghost story, because the narrator Bibi Chen in the novel hasdied mysteriously at the beginning of the story, and she narrates the experience of agroup of American tourists travelling in China and Burma to the readers. By far, thescholars have studied the novel from the aspect of the gender, human caring, culturalmisunderstanding and conflicts and so on.Based on the previous study of the novel, this thesis interprets Amy Tan’s closeattention to nature, human beings and society in Saving Fish from Drowning from theangle of ecocriticism, revealing the author’s ecological consciousness and makes thepoint that in a rapid-evolving society human beings should pay attention to nature,care for all the living beings and learn to keep a harmonious relation with nature.The thesis consists of introduction, body part and conclusion. The introductionpart starts with a brief introduction of Amy Tan and her writing experience, the novelSaving Fish from Drowning as well as reviews and comments on the novel from homeor abroad, the theoretical basis and thesis statement.The main part interprets the text from three aspects. Chapter One shows AmyTan’s critique of man’s conquest and rule over nature through bad relations betweenmen and nature, and criticizes the fundamental cause of this negative relation—anthropocentrism. Chapter Two criticizes men’s eagerness for profits and indifferenceto others, and calls on people to shoulder responsibility for ecology. Chapter threecalls for man’s harmony with nature, and calls on people to get back to nature, fit innature and return to the harmonious interpersonal relation full of love and care afterobtaining some perception from nature.The conclusion of the thesis points out Amy Tan’s ecological consciousness andher watchful eye on our living environment.