An Interpretation Of Ecological Imbalance In As I Lay Dying

Faulkner is one of the most influential novelists in America in the20th century. In As I Lay Dying, Faulkner uses the funeral journey of sending the body of Anse Bundren’s wife to bury in Jefferson as the main clue. In the novel, Faulkner presents the relationship between man and nature, man and society and man and his inner world vividly and profoundly. In these relationships, he depicts all kinds of scenes, behaviors and feelings of human beings. Over the years, critics mainly focus on the themes of race, gender and war etc. when they make researches on Faulkner’s works. In fact, Faulkner also pays attention to ecological crisis and the relationship between human and nature, but relevant study is rare.This thesis tries to apply ecological criticism to analyze As I Lay Dying, namely, to use Leopold’s ecological holism and Lu Shuyuan’s ecological trichotomy to interpret the ecological imbalance presented in As I Lay Dying. In this thesis, analyses on the imbalance of natural ecosystem, social ecosystem and spiritual ecosystem are made and Faulkner’s ecological performances and ecological concerns in As I Lay Dying are focused on.Through the analyses of the text from the perspective of eco-criticism, it can be seen that Faulkner’s depiction of destruction on ecosystem serves as a foil to the theme of "dying". Not only Addie but also the whole ecosystem is dying. Natural ecosystem has been out of balance. There appear many social ecological problems. People’s spiritual ecosystem is in the situation of facing various crises. Faulkner uses the funeral journey to remind human beings of the existence of ecological crises, to uncover and denounce the destruction of modern industrial civilization on the balance of the entire southern ecosystem. Through the novel, Faulkner expresses his humanistic concern about the sustainable development of ecology and his hope to maintain the integrity, harmony and beauty of ecosystem.