A Study Of Monkeywrenching In Edward Abbey's Novel The Monkey Wrench Gang

Edward Abbey(1927-1989),one of the most important American writers of nature writing in the twentieth century,devoted his life to environment protection,wilderness preservation,and proposed the ideology of ecodefense,contending that direct actions like monkeywrenching as the justifiable right for defending nature.As Abbey's well-known,controversial novel,The Monkey Wrench Gang reflects the direct effect of monkeywrenching to fight against commercial and mechanical civilization,which has a far-reaching impact on the American environmental movement.This thesis traces the historical origins and evolution of monkeywrenching and explores its advantages and disadvantages as a method of ecodefense from the manifestations of monkeywrenching reflected in The Monkey Wrench Gang.It also unravels Abbey's attitude towards monkeywrenching based on his practice.With "keep it like it was" as a motto,the gang carried out monkeywrenching to "murder machine" in American West,which underlines two kinds of patterns,violent and nonviolent monkeywrenching.All of the monkeywrenching actions follow the principles that Foreman has summarized.First of all,monkeywrenching is targeted and it only targets at machines and facilities that destroy our environment and never hurt human life.Then it conforms to the requirements of environmental ethics.Abby believes that monkeywrenching has never threatened human life and the environmental ethics monkeywrenchers hold put the overall interests of ecology in the first place,which subverts the traditional moral standards to measure everything with economic benefits and belongs to the legitimate means of ecodefense.This thesis,therefore,argues that monkeywrenching has progressive significances in environmental ethics in that it not only practices the land ethic of Aldo Leopold,but also promotes the wilderness preservation movement,which makes more people realized that wilderness has irreplaceable aesthetic value apart from economic value.Furthermore,it is a direct counterattack to anthropocentrism and developmentalism and also an efficient means of defense for the realization of natural rights and environmental justice,which greatly contributes to the development of the American environmental movements,affecting and converting the ecological values of several generations.Through textual and current situation analysis,this thesis articulates that Abbey's monkeywrenching represents a radical defense under the environmental crisis.It discloses the environmental significances of monkeywrenching.However,the issues of illegality and potential harm make monkeywrenching impracticable under the conditions of today's legal system.Facing the deteriorating environment,understanding of ecodefense and monkeywrenching can make people pay close attention to nature right,environmental justice,and wilderness preservation.It hopes to awaken people's ecological consciousness and re-examine the relationship between man and nature,taking reasonable and non-violent direct actions to defend the natural environment when necessary.