An Analysis Of The Spiritual Imbalance In All The Light We Cannot See From The Perspective Of Lu Shuyuan’s Spiritual Ecology

Anthony Doerr（1973–）is praised as one of the most outstanding young novelists in contemporary America.His works are close to reality and rich in content,covering topics such as science and technology ethics,post-modern morality,and the relationship between man and nature.All the Light We Cannot See,Anthony Doerr’s decade-long masterpiece,was an instant hit,topping the New York Times and Amazon bestsellers lists,and winning the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2015.In recent years,studies on All the Light We Cannot See have been carried out mainly from the perspectives of creation process,character analysis,theme analysis,narrative characteristics and archetypal criticism,while few scholars have made an in-depth interpretation of the novel from the perspective of spiritual ecology.In view of the rich ecological connotation of All the Light We Cannot See and Doerr’s meticulous depiction of human psychology,it is more than proper to examine the spiritual sphere of human beings and the endogenic regulation of spiritual ecosystem with the application of the spiritual ecology theory.Spiritual ecology,proposed by Lu Shuyuan,is one of the main branches of ecology.With this theory as the guidance,this thesis focuses on exploring the concrete manifestations,causes and methods of returning to the spiritual ecological balance of protagonists in All the Light We Cannot See,thus pointing out the importance of building a harmonious spiritual ecology.This thesis is divided into three parts: introduction,main body and conclusion,of which the main body consists of three chapters.The first part is the introduction,which contains a brief account the author Anthony Doerr’s life and his writing experience,the outline of the novel All the Light We Cannot See as well as a literature review of this work both at home and abroad.Finally,the definition and main connotation of spiritual ecology theory are explained,and the innovation and research significance of this thesis are put forward.The second part is the main body of the thesis,including three chapters.It mainly analyzes the dynamic changes of the characters’ spiritual ecology from three aspects: the specific manifestations of the characters’ spiritual ecological imbalance,the reasons for the imbalance and how to rebuild the spiritual ecological balance.The first chapter mainly discusses the specific manifestations of the characters’ spiritual imbalance in the novel from three aspects,namely the spiritual vacuum,the incompetence of behavior and the alienation of existence.The spiritual vacuum is reflected in the crisis of belief,lack of security,and indifference to the outside world;the“incompetence” of behavior is reflected in absolute obedience to power and excessive dependence on others;the alienation of existence is manifested in human alienation from nature,alienation from others,and alienation themselves.The second chapter analyzes the root causes of the spiritual imbalance,including the manipulation of Nazi ideology,which leads to a false affective commitment to the Nazi authority,and then becomes the murder tool of the Nazis,resulting in the annihilation of human nature and the corrosion of empathy;the departure of loved ones and the disillusionment of ideals has left individuals with unhealable spiritual trauma;the deterioration of the natural ecology has resulted in the loss of the spiritual home of human beings.The third chapter explores the process of rebuilding the spiritual ecological balance.The protagonists in All the Light We Cannot See finally get rid of the spiritual alienation and re-establish the spiritual ecological balance by resisting the chaotic world,healing trauma with love and living in harmony with nature.The last part is the conclusion of the thesis.By analyzing the manifestations and root causes of protagonists’ spiritual ecological crisis,it can be found that the spiritual ecology of human beings is closely related to the external social ecology and natural ecology,which prompts us to build a world of ecological harmony,peace and friendship,so that human beings can enjoy a poetic dwelling in the world.Finally,the current limitations of this thesis are summarized,and future research directions are prospected.Finally,this thesis summarizes the current limitations in the research,and gives a prospect of the future research direction of the novel All the Light We Cannot See.