From Short Story To Novelette:Changes In ’the Bear’ And Faulkner’s Ecological Ethics

William Faulkner (1897-1962) is one of the greatest modern America writer in the twentieth century. His work "Yoknapatawpha County" effectively reflects the history of the south and various problems of the reality in America, and also shows his close attention to the south people’s spirit."He expands human cognition with the brilliant way" and in1949he received the Nobel Prize for literature.Before the novella "The Bear" which was created in1942, there had published a blueprint of "The Bear". The successful rewrite greatly expands and deepens the theme and made "The Bear" become the masterpiece. The historical background of the novella "The Bear" involves many generations of the seigneur family, the story not only reflect the history and reality of problems in south vividly but also traces back to explore the reason. In the novella Faulkner solved social contradiction with moral means, which embodied his ethics and morality. This paper studies the text change of "The Bear" and Faulkner’s thought transmutation in the way of close reading. At the same time, with the ethical literary criticism method from three perspectives "ethical environment","ethical identity" and "ethical choice".There are three parts. In the first chapter, the paper discusses the domestic and foreign research situation of the novella in recent years and the possibility of interpretation with the ethical literary criticism method. In the second chapter, the paper thoroughly explores the changes in "The Bear". The author not only represent the wilderness and civilization with different moral connotations, but also tried to find a way for race problem and ecological crisis in the southern United States, it shows his sympathy for the suffering of mankind and profound thinking. In the third chapter, I will discuss the influence of "The Bear" in modern society. Faulkner hoped people who suffered a lot could make a choice and be responsible for the consequences of their actions. In the end, the paper will point out that humanitarian spirit of Faulkner embodies deep historical consciousness and sense of social responsibility, which have become the spiritual heritages in modern world.