An Interpretation Of Train Dreams From The Perspective Of Material Ecocriticism

American novelist Denis Johnson has published Train Dreams in 2002 which is shortlisted for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.The story of a railway laborer in the west,named Robert Grainier,is told in the novel.The loss of his wife and daughter after the forest fire causes Grainier great distress,leaving him in resolution of identity.Living alone in the wilderness,Grainier has established an ecological identity through perception of the wilderness.Matter in the wilderness plays a crucial role in transforming the protagonist.The interpretation of material agency in the wilderness and the transformation of the protagonist’s identity in Train Dreams are analyzed under material ecocriticism.Firstly,the material entities including the railroad and the bodies of the laborers are examined.Material reality is in the dynamic process of interaction between matter and meaning,conveying new connotations.As material entities,the railroads and the bodies of the labors are the records of ecological destruction and racial persecution during the western expansion.The guilt of witnessing and participating incidents of human-centrism and xenophobia at the beginning of the novel is the reason for the protagonist’s identity dissolution in the middle of the novel.Johnson disenchants the frontier myth by emphasizing the connotations carried by the railroad to reflect the evil deeds of industrial expansion in the western United States.Secondly,the natural phenomena and multiple responses of human to nature are analyzed.The agency of matter is revealed in the novel,altering characters’ lifestyle and altitudes towards wilderness.As the protagonist’s cognition develops,the subjectivity of matter becomes increasingly prominent.Material entities are capable of exerting power in a dynamic network of constant interactions.Macroscopic and microscopic material phenomena are analyzed to show the agency of matter in the wilderness and their profound influence on human beings,reflecting the material equality.Thirdly,the material narratives generated from the entanglements between the protagonist and the wilderness are analyzed.Grainier eventually forms an identity which harmonizes with nature.Under the identity crisis,Grainier reconstructs identity by perceiving the wilderness ecology.Material narrative suggests human to be an active participant and a partner in the ecological network.In addition,the dynamic environmental issues which are invisible to the eye are revealed through material narratives of legends in the wilderness.From the perspective of material narrative,the thesis analyzes the criticism to the ecological crisis caused by industrial expansion and discussion of the ecological path for human to build spiritual home under the materialistic society.The identity crisis and spiritual appeal of humanity is discussed in the context of the ecological crisis and commodity alienation in modern society.Johnson criticizes the dark side of the industrial expansion of the United States in the early20 th century,which creates ecological and spiritual crises The material agency in the wilderness is emphasized which implies Johnson’s intention to address the ecological crises by establishing ecological thinking.The ecological thinking is helpful to break the binary opposition of anthropocentrism,question the legitimacy of American industrial expansion,and reconstruct ethics and politics on an ecological level.