Criticism Of The "Empire" And The Re-building Of Morality

Ethical intentions and moral values, as the most persistent concerns of literature, haveendured a proportionate popularity among writers and critics of every age. Empire Falls, as therepresentative work of the American novelist Richard Russo (1949-), involves abundant ethicaland moral factors.As the fourth factory town novel of Richard Russo, Empire Falls depicts a small town inMaine to mirror the American society and presents to readers a vivid picture of people’s lifeduring the last40years of the20thcentury. It portrays people’s religious confusion and survivalplight during that certain historical period with the abundance of materials and the absence ofbeliefs. It is argued that the novel manifests Russo’s intuitive look at the everyday man inAmerican society and implies his consideration of ethical issues.This thesis focuses on the ethical relationship between human and religion, human andhuman, and human and nature. Thus, it puts forward the research questions as follows: Does the“empire” of ethics and morality in the America society totally corrupt and collapse? Is there evena glimmer of hope for remaking moral standards? And in what way can the ethical order berebuilt?On the basis of ethical literary criticism, through elaborating on how people respond whenthe traditional moral values and behavioral norms that are believed to be absolute begin to bequestioned; investigating Russo’s moral intention and his strong sense of social responsibilityreflected in the novel, this thesis is intended to find approaches to these questions. Only bybuilding a balanced and harmonious ethical relationship between human and religion, human andhuman, and human and nature, can human beings get rid of the sense of loss and confusion, andcan their souls be purified.