The Ethical Literary Interpretation Of Steer Toward Rock

Fae Myenne Ng(1956-),a famous Chinese American female novelist,won the American Book Award in 2008 and the Guggenheim Fellowship in 2009.Her second novel,Steer Toward Rock,is set in the 1950 s and 1960 s when the Confession Program was implemented.Based on her family history,Fae Myenne Ng reveals the real life of Chinese immigrants in the United States,and also presents the story of Chinese Americans who persistently pursued love and self identity in an unfavorable situation.Since the novel involves many ethical factors,such as pursuit of self-identity,parent-child relationship,husband-wife relationship,and the racial discrimination in American society etc,this thesis,based on the theory of ethical literary criticism,tries to analyze the moral factors in the novel through three layers of relationships,namely the relationship between man and society,the relationship man and others,and the relationship between man and self,so as to explore Fae Myenne Ng?s ethical ideas and moral principles.In terms of the relationship between man and society,the novel reveals the injustice and racism in American society by showing the truth of Chinese Americans being oppressed and discriminated.In terms of the relationship between man and others,it involves the ethics of husband-wife relationship,parent-child relationship and relationship between friends,which advocate mutual love and support as well as equality between husband and wife,mutual love and care between parent and child,and mutual love and help between friends.Then in terms of the relationship between man and self,it mainly mentions Jack?s pursuit of self-identity and Ilin?s pursuit of self-value.Finally,through the analysis of these ethical factors,we will find that Ng?s ethical thoughts are to pursue truth in the relationship between man and society,pursue love in the relationship between man and others,and pursue self-identity in the relationship between man and self.This thesis is an attempt to read Steer Toward Rock in the ethical literary criticism lenses,with the purpose of helping reader understand this novel better.And the author hopes that the ethical thoughts expressed,such as fighting against racism,pursuing of social fairness and justice,advocating mutual love and assistance in interpersonal relationship,and pursuing of self-identity and self-value with persistence can contribute to contemporary construction of a harmonious society with reference.