An Eco-feminist Interpretation Of Oryx And Crake And The Year Of The Flood

Margaret Atwood is a famous contemporary Canadian writer,whose works have earned her international fame.Most of her novels focus on human existence.As a writer with strong sense of responsibility and humanistic concern,Atwood is not only concerned about the environment,but also the survival predicament of vulnerable groups,such as women in male-dominated society,animals in human world.Oyx and Crake,a very influential ecological novel,was nominated Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003.The Year of the Flood,its sequel,is another masterpiece of dystopian eco-novel.The shocking apocalyptic scene described in the two novels exerts an effect of ecological forewarning.This thesis applies the eco-feminism theory to explore Atwood's eco-feminist consciousness perceived through both novels.She has developed her thought about environmental crisis,animals and women.Chapter one interprets that one of the core ideas of eco-feminism is opposed to all forms of oppression.It has isomorphism in the ruling logic among human' s exploitation of natural resources,brutality to animals and oppression on vulnerable groups.Chapter two analyzes the instability of this ruling logic.Human is converted from the subject who holds the power over nature into an object,who depends on nature for survival;Transgenic animals are once the object,detained by human beings,but now they become the potential threat for survivors;Vulnerable groups like women are victims of civilized society while in nature their female consciousness is gradually awakened and they begin to revolt.Chapter three explores the way out of the ecological crisis.In the relationship between human and nature,the formation of God's Gardeners restores the reverence for nature and extends moral concern to all living communities;Moreover,the creation of Crake's children embodies vegetarianism;In the relationship between men and women,the rational division of labor in gender and the cooperation of survivors in nature reflect the idea of a harmonious coexistence between men and women.