An Eco-critical Interpretation Of Lord Of The Flies

For the past few years, human’s exploitation of natural resources is increasingly growingwith the technological development. Human seek economic and material gains and thedevelopment of agriculture and industry at the cost of environment so that ecologicalproblems are becoming more and more serious. As a new literary theory, ecocriticism hasbeen highly concerned since1970s. Now, people are confronted with worsening ecologicalenvironment and ecological crisis, it is important to approach Lord of the Flies and interpretWilliam Golding’s ecological consciousness from the perspective of ecocriticism.Lord of the Flies is the most famous treatise of Golding. Since it was published in1954,Lord of the Flies has won the public’s attention gradually. Now, it has been republished formany times and become literary reading for many people.The dissertation interprets the novel from the perspective of ecocriticism. Following thecriticism of Lu Shuyuan, the thesis interprets natural ecology, social ecology and spiritualecology of the isolated island to further explore the relationship between man and man, manand nature, man and society and man and himself. Through the analysis, people will furtherrealize the importance of harmonious development between human and nature.The dissertation is divided into five parts. The first part is introduction. It mainly tellsabout the life of William Golding, the plot of the novel, corresponding researches at home andabroad and the theory of ecocriticism. The second part is natural ecology in the novel. Itindicates the harmony between man and nature through the description of the beautiful islandand Simon—son of nature. It shows the conflict between man and nature through thedestruction of forests, killing the wild pigs and the plundering of natural resources to expressGolding’s desire to return to nature and his scourge of anthropocentrism. Also, it reflects thestatus of sea through the description of good and evil of sea and the marine ecologicalcomplex of William Golding. The third part is social ecology. Through the description of therelationship between human and society, people can see the harmony between them and thestrict hierarchy of social structure. Through the conflict between Jack and Ralph andmurdering of friends, people can see the conflict between man and man. This part alsodiscusses Golding’s irony to scientific power. The fourth part is spiritual ecology. People can see the distortion of character through the character analysis of Jack and Ralph and the loss ofhomeland awareness. The last part is conclusion. It mainly summarizes the theme of humanevil and Lord of the Flies also gives the warning that all things should live in harmony. On theother hand, it also points out the limits of the thesis and some problems which need to befurther studied.