An Interpretation Of Graham Swift’s Waterland In Perspective Of Eco-ethics

Graham Swift is a famous contemporary novelist, who has been active in Britishliterary arena since1980s. Waterland, as one of his best-known books, has receivedextensive attentions and studies as it was published in1983. It is a rich and complicatedbook, which tells the reclamation history of eastern Anglia Fens, the developmentalhistory of the Atkinsons and the personal history of the protagonist Tom Crick. Besides,it discusses the relationship between human and nature. This essay tries to analyze theecological ethics consciousness in the novel from eco-ethics perspective that human andnature are supposed to coexist peacefully.This thesis includes four chapters besides the Introduction and Conclusion. Thefirst part introduces Swift’s life and creations; then makes a brief introduction to thenovel Waterland and its literary review at home and abroad; at last it states the generaloutline of the thesis.Chapter One puts forward the definition and development of ecological ethics andthe basic thoughts of it, which includes Paul W. Taylor’s respect for nature theory andAldo Leopold’s thought of land ethic.With ecological ethic thoughts, Chapter Two probes into Waterland in depth todescribe the ecological problems and the survival predicaments which the human beingsare facing. It mainly manifests from the exploring of the imbalance between human andnature based on the analysis of nature’s value. The fens-dwellers constantly reclaimedthe Fens thus brought negative impacts on its water, land and the animals in differentdegree, whereas the natural environment also affect the fens-dwellers’ physical andpsychological condition. For instance, the natural disaster, flu and other diseases decayhuman’s body, while the flat, dull landscape of Fens drive the fens-dwellers intosuperstitious and get a sense of loss.Chapter Three discusses the imbalance between human and human in the Fensfrom three aspects. The first aspect is the unbalanced relationship between the “landpeople” and the “water people” which also embodies in history and in reality two parts.In history, the conflicting attitudes toward nature caused the sanguinary conflicts between them; in reality the “water people” becoming employees of the “land people”,and the gap between the rich and the poor is widening. The second aspect is theimbalanced relationship between man and woman in the Fens. Due to the loss of ethicsand morals, the ugly phenomenon such as abuse of woman, incest and so on occurred inthe Fens. The last aspect studies the negative effects of modern industrialization whichembodies in the two World Wars’ influence on the Fens and its residents as well as theanxieties about the end of the world threatens by nuclear annihilation. It also reflects theauthor’s critique of the human industrial civilization as well as anxiety of human losingmoral principles.Chapter Four mainly explores the literary and realistic significances of ecologicalethical interpretation of the novel, which would help us to understand the characteristicsand values of Swift’s novel.The Conclusion makes a brief summary of the thesis. The idea of ecological ethicsruns through the whole history of human development. Influenced by the thought ofanthropocentrism, many a crisis has been caused by the Atkinsons in the Fens. Andbecause of that the relationships between human and nature as well as between man andman fall into problems, such as the devastation of natural ecological environment andsocial moral crisis. As an outstanding contemporary novelist, Swift, with acute insight,reveals the calamitous consequence brought by human’s violating the laws of nature. Heenlightens human beings that in order to avoid “the contemporary nightmare” and “theend of the world”, and leave a bright future for next generation, we should respectnature and builds the world into a harmonious place where human can live a poetic life.