Ethical Awakening In Historical Dilemma

In American modern literary history, Zane Grey has made great contributions to the formula of western novels. Riders of the Purple Sage is Zane Grey’s creative work of western novels. Since its publication, critics have done researches on it from different perspectives with different critical approaches. However, Zane Grey isn’t a novelist drawing too much attention of “serious literary critics”, so the researches on his novel are not so comprehensive.This thesis analyzes the creative points in this novel such as the ethical awakening of family ethics, religious ethics and marriage ethics in the historical dilemma with ethical literary criticism. In terms of family ethics, this novel has broken the traditional family ethics in western novels: the conflict between the masculine world of violence in the west and the feminine world of domesticity,subverting the family roles of men and women. Men return home and women accept the necessity of violence in the west, constructing a new kind of family ethics with friendly relationship. Besides, the analysis on the ethical survival dilemma of the“adopted child” and the final choice she made reflects that the pursuit of happiness needs free will to triumph over fate. As for religious ethics throughout the novel,Jane’s “social unconsciousness” defeats her “social character” and Lassiter, on behalf of non-Mormons, defeats the Mormon evils, all reflecting the author’s hope of justice over evil. From the perspective of marriage ethics, that new thoughts eventually overcome the old morality is fully embodied in the nightmare polygamy has brought to Mormon women and Jane’s pursuit of freedom, true self and love as a representative of new women with new thoughts.This thesis reveals the ethical awakening of Grey through the analysis of family,religion and marriage ethics in the novel. Eventually, the free will triumphs over the fate, justice triumphs over evil, and new thought triumphs over the old morality.