Reaching For An Ideal Modern Dwelling:an Ecocritical Study Of Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire

Noted for his advocacy of environmental issues, critique of public landpolicies, and anarchist political views, Edward Abbey is one of the mostcontroversial authors of the20thcentury in the United States. Labeled as a naturalwriter, Abbey is frequently compared to such figures as H.D.Thoreau and AldoLeopold, which is neither to Abbey’s agreement nor liking. This is the case becauseAbbey’s literature goes beyond the mere depiction and compliment of the naturalworld and environmental preaching, and draws public attention to the damage onhumanity caused by the industrial detriment imposed upon Nature. Abbey advocatesfor wilderness preservation for a purpose of retaining human spiritual shelter, andthis tints his literature with colors of ecophilosophy of the21stcentury.With the aid and guidance of the theory of ecocriticism, particularly the theoryof deep ecology, this thesis purports to make a tentative study of Edward Abbey’s1968masterpiece Desert Solitaire. In doing so, this paper contrives to unveil the bareessence of industrialism and the corrupting nature of modern lifestyle, and resultantlymake an informed conclusion that present modern lifestyle, propelled by theprosperity of industrialism and characterized by technological convenience and theconquer of Nature, overprotects and indulges human weakness, causing theimbalance of human development. To achieve an ideal modern dwelling and abalanced mental development of the human race, it is crucial that humans embracefundamental struggles of survival imposed by Nature equally on all species, andregain humans’ proper position in the natural system.The first chapter of this thesis will be focused on the consequences on thespiritual health of humans caused by industrialism. In this part, discussion on themodern way of living will be presented; the second chapter constitutes the main partof this thesis, in which Abbey’s desert life is thoroughly depicted. Two main aspectsmake up this chapter, the desert and people in the desert. It is also in this part that Abbey’s ideals regarding human life collide to a drastically with modern reality; thethird and final chapter presents the spiritual enlightenment that Abbey offered in thebook Desert Solitaire, in this part Abbey puts forward possible solutions to spiritualconfusions of the industrial generations.