Environmental Injustice In The Grapes Of Wrath

John Steinbeck is one of the most famous American writers of the 20 th century and winner of the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature.The Grapes of Wrath is his Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning epic.Set in the 1930 s when dust storms swept across the Great Plains of the United States,the novel depicts the hardships of the poor when the dust storms came.For this reason,environmental issues in the novel have long been the focus of study.However,previous environmental researches on The Grapes of Wrath have mostly focused on the critical paradigm of eco-centrism and the phenomenon of environmental injustice exposed in the novel has been largely ignored.Therefore,this thesis will use the method of textual analysis and relevant theories about environmental justice to study the writing of environmental injustice in the novel from three aspects: first,it will sort out the demonstration of injustice between humans and nature and environmental injustice between humans;then,it will excavate the roots of the phenomenon;finally,it will point out that the significance of environmental injustice writing lies in criticizing capitalism,conveying the ideal of environmental justice and exploring possible approaches to achieve the ideal.This thesis is composed of five parts,namely,the introduction and conclusion part plus the body part which consists of three chapters.The introduction part includes general information about John Steinbeck and his masterpiece The Grapes of Wrath,and a review of the domestic and foreign researches on the novel.Also,it covers the research task and structure of this thesis.The first chapter sorts out the phenomenon of environmental injustice in the novel.The novel reveals the destruction of the natural environment by the characters as the unjust deeds of human beings to nature.Also,it reflects the unjust treatment suffered by vulnerable groups on environmental issues.The second chapter analyzes the reasons behind the phenomenon of environmental injustice.In the novel,under the influence of the capitalist view of nature,both agricultural capitalists and sharecroppers have lost their basic protection and respect for land as they become obsessive about profit-seeking,regarding it as merely an instrument for obtaining economic gains and wantonly plundering it,which eventually results in environmental disasters.Besides,capitalist class division puts the poor at a disadvantaged place in terms of the distribution of environmental benefits and risks.In addition,in order to achieve economic expansion,white colonists make use of the doctrine of racial superiority as a pretext to manipulate the natural environment of indigenous Indians,severely infringing on their environmental rights.The third chapter attempts to reveal the purpose of the environmental injustice writing in the novel.This thesis argues that the purpose of environmental injustice writing in the novel lies in its criticism of capitalism,expression of the ideal of environmental justice and exploration of possible paths to achieve the ideal of environmental justice.First,under capitalism,ecological integrity and the environmental interests of vulnerable groups are always sacrificed as a way to safeguard the environmental and economic interests of the privileged,reflecting the structural injustice of capitalism.Besides,the alienating power of capitalism cuts off the bond between human beings and nature and between man and man,so people not only plunder nature but also persecute their own kind.Therefore,in order to achieve the ideal of environmental justice,people should restore their connection with the land by enhancing their sense of place so as to resist the alienation of man from nature by capitalism.Besides,the adherence to mutual assistance among the poor appears as a remedy to the alienated interpersonal relationship in a capitalist society.Finally,the groups exposed to environmental injustice should unite to resist unfair treatment on environmental issues.The concluding part summarizes the whole thesis and points out the research findings as well as the significance of the study.This thesis argues that The Grapes of Wrath reveals not only the destruction of the natural environment,but also the injustice suffered by vulnerable groups on environmental issues.Exploring the writing of environmental injustice in the novel can help readers and researchers to understand the important correlation between environmental issues and social justice.