摘 要

21世纪科学技术得到快速发展，而人们的生态保护意识依然薄弱，生态危机频发。文学生态批评理论应运而生。生态批评分析文学作品中的生态思想，追求人与自然和谐共处。《蝇王》是威廉姆·戈尔丁在第二次世界大战后创作的寓言小说，蕴含了大量生态哲理，自出版便受到各国人民广泛阅读。当今生态危机形势不容乐观，用生态批评理论解读《蝇王》便显得尤为重要。自然生态的破坏必然影响人际关系，产生社会生态隐患，并进一步造成精神生态的危机。本文在前人对生态批评理论的研究基础上，从自然生态、社会生态和精神生态三方面，解读《蝇王》中的生态批评思想，并诠释自然、社会、精神生态三者之间相互影响、相互交融的关系。《蝇王》虽为第二次世界大战后的作品，却仍能给当代积极的启示，有助于启发当代对生态失衡的思考，避免深陷恶性循环。

关键词：《蝇王》；生态批评；人与自然

Abstract

Science and technology have moved forwards rapidly since the 21st century, while human beings’ awareness of ecological protection is as yet weak and eco-crises are frequent. Thus, the theory of literary eco-criticism came into being. Eco-criticism analyzes the ecological ideas in literary works and pursues the harmony between human and nature. Lord of the Flies is a fable novel written by William Golding, which has been widely read and contains lots of ecological philosophy. The purpose of this thesis is to study the eco-critical thought expressed in William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies and to rethink the imbalance of the entire ecosystem. The damage of natural ecology is bound to strike the interpersonal relationship and cause the crisis of spiritual ecology. This thesis, based on other scholars’ previous research, reinterprets Lord of the Flies from the perspective of eco-criticism, and analyzes the interaction effect among natural, social, and spiritual ecology. Although Lord of the Flies is a famous work after the Second World War, it can still inspire contemporary society, preventing the crises from forming a vicious circle.

Key Words: Lord of the Flies; eco-criticism; human and nature

Contents

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Research Background 1

1.2 Research Objectives and Significance 2

1.3 Research Innovation 2

2 Eco-criticism Theory Basis 4

3 Natural Ecology on the Island 6

3.1 Transient Harmony 6

3.2 Constant Natural Crises 6

4 Social Ecology among the Kids 8

4.1 Individual and Individual 8

4.2 Group and Individual 8

4.3 Group and Group 9

4.4 Irony to Science 10

5 Spiritual Ecology in the Inner World 11

5.1 Jack 11

5.2 Ralph 12

5.3 The Other Kids 12

6 Interaction Effect among Natural, Social, and Spiritual Ecology 14

7 Conclusion 15

7.1 Research Findings 15

7.2 Limitations 15

References 16

Acknowledgements 17

Eco-critical Interpretation of Lord of the Flies

1 Introduction

• 1. Research Background

Lord of the Flies is William Golding’s first novel, published in 1954. The novel tells a story about a group of boys trapped on an isolated island on account of an aircraft accident during a world war. The boys, aged from 6 to 12 years old, could live in harmony with nature and get along well with each other when they were first landed on the island. However, during the process of being rescued, the wonderful island was gradually sabotaged and became a bloody slaughterhouse where the kids killed their fellows. What took place on the island was the epitome of the real world.

William Golding, one of the late twentieth century’s most distinguished writers, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Lord of the Flies in 1983. Just as the Nobel Foundation cited, his novels “illuminate the human condition in the world of today”. Influenced by the Second World War, William Golding was fully aware of the destruction that war brought to the planet, to society, and to humans’ inner world. Through Lord of the Flies, he expressed his thoughts and worry about the world in reality.

As a marvelous work, there have existed various kinds of findings of Lord of the Flies. The research on Lord of the Flies at abroad has been about 60 years. In the wave of literary translation after the reform and opening up, domestic research on Lord of the Flies has also begun. The main related research directions have included the theme of human nature, the mythological archetypes, and the absence of female characters. In the 21st century, the research directions have diversified, including reinterpretations from the perspectives of linguistic theory, politics, comic parody, and ecological criticism. As for the analysis of Lord of the Flies on eco-criticism, Yao Jiling put forward the concept of homeland awareness additionally, who held the view that homeland awareness was important in ecological protection. Some scholars like Peng Jun researched Lord of the Flies from the perspective of eco-feminism.

• 1. Research Objectives and Significance

Various ecological crises have posed unprecedented and urgent problems in the 21st century, making it increasingly important to raise the awareness of protecting the ecology. Literary works can exert great influence on human beings’ mental state, and the literary theory of eco-criticism plays an important role in helping readers better understand the ecological thoughts in literary works. Existing scholars have applied eco-criticism theory to carrying out new interpretations of some literary works.

As a work that has won the Nobel Prize in Literature, Lord of the Flies has a large readership from all classes and from all over the world, which is also a novel embodied ecological awareness. However, compared with other existing analyses, there is less research on the eco-critical interpretation of Lord of the Flies. Under the guidance of the theory of eco-criticism, this thesis reinterprets Lord of the Flies from three aspects, that is, natural ecology, social ecology, and spiritual ecology, aiming at revealing William Golding’s ecological thoughts. Further, this paper tries to explore the relationship between man and nature, man and society, and man and himself in order to contribute to promote the balance of the entire ecosystem.

The Second World War has made a terrifying influence on the earth, which contributed to the motivation for William Golding to write Lord of the Flies. Although Lord of the Flies represented an imaginary story, the novel implied the situation of the real world. William Golding’s penetrating opinion about eco-criticism permeated the whole novel, from which the contemporary society can still gain enlightenment. In an era of globalization where various ecological crises occur frequently, studying the eco-critical meaning of Lord of the Flies can help to prevent these crises and re-establish ecological consciousness. Without correct ecological thought, the earth would not be a paradise but a desert island. Additionally, only when the warning from Lord of the Flies is seriously taken into account, can the tragedy in Lord of the Flies not come true, can the extreme anthropocentrism be abandoned, and can all things live in a harmonious state.

• 1. Research Innovation

Because of the incipient reliance on foreign achievements and the immaturity of domestic eco-criticism theory, some previous eco-critical studies relating to Lord of the Flies are heavily lagging behind. Moreover, spiritual ecology is part of the indispensable aspects from the view of the holistic approach, and mental illness is more and more common and frequent in our daily life. However, the analysis from the aspect of spiritual ecology has not been attached enough importance. In addition, everything in the world does not exist in isolation but is interconnected with other things somehow. Whereas, the research on the interaction effect among natural, social, and spiritual ecology is not sufficient. Therefore, more systematic and comprehensive analyses are needed. Compared with pre-existing eco-critical analyses of Lord of the Flies, this thesis regards the ecology as a whole, emphasizing the neglected aspect of spiritual ecology and the analysis of the interaction effect.

2 Eco-criticism Theory Basis

In literature, eco-criticism refers to a literary theory that explores and reflects on the relationship between literature and the natural environment. The study of eco-criticism, which emerged in the 1970s and matured in the 1990s, is a new international trend of literary criticism. In 1978, William Rueckert first proposed the concept of ecological criticism in Literature and Ecology: An Experiment in Ecocriticism, and advocated the application of ecology to literary research. Domestic research on the theory of ecological criticism has become one of the mainstreams since the 21st century.