John Steinbeck’s Ecological Consciousness In The Grapes Of Wrath

John Steinbeck(1902-1968), who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962, is one of the most outstanding writers of the 20th century in American literary history. Published in 1939, The Grapes of Wrath occupies a special position in American literature. The novel reproduces the displaced lives of migrant workers during the Great Depression, truthfully recording their fight against oppression by unity. Scholars at home and abroad have done a large number of researches on this novel, mainly from the perspectives of archetypal criticism, historicism and feminism. With the development of ecocriticism in recent years, the academia gradually discovers Steinbeck’s advanced ecological consciousness in his works.This thesis aims to investigate the ecological views embedded in The Grapes of Wrath, which fully reveals Steinbeck’s strong ecological consciousness and his concern for ecology. It starts with the introduction to three aspects of ecological crisis, namely, natural ecological crisis, social ecological crisis and spiritual ecological crisis. Then it proceeds to examine these crises represented and revealed in The Grapes of Wrath. The natural ecology, which focuses on the relationship between man and nature, is suffering from a severe crisis. Long-term misuse and commercialization of the land make the ecosystem fragile, and this results in the catastrophe of the Dust Storm in the 1930s. The social ecology，which-concentrates-on the interpersonal relationship, is also being distorted. The migrants from Oklahoma are discriminated by both the native residents and police officers. The spiritual ecology between man and self reflects the spiritual crisis of modern people. Such a crisis is demonstrated by the loss of self, loneliness and selfishness.This thesis will also analyze the solutions to these crises that Steinbeck proposes in this novel. He indicates that love, sharing, mutual cooperation or collectivism, and being close to nature, are the ways to tackle with the crises. The previous ecological researches on The Grapes of Wrath are devoted to the study of the long-standing anthropocentrism or harmony between man and nature. So far, the ecological crisis has been largely ignored. This has important theoretical significance in understanding Steinbeck’s ecological consciousness. It also has realistic significance in face of worsening environment today.