论文总字数：23921字

摘 要

司各特•奥台尔是一位著名的美国作家，他一生共创作了26部儿童作品。《蓝色的海豚岛》是他创作于1960 年的一部儿童文学作品。这部作品在1976年被儿童文学协会誉为两百年来十佳儿童文学之一。作品讲述了一个土著女孩卡拉娜独自在一个外形近似海豚的孤岛上生活多年，与岛上生物从斗争到共处的生活经历，从而表达了作者的生态保护意识。本论文以阿伦•奈斯提出的深层生态学为指导理论，以人与自然的关系为出发点，力图剖析小说中所揭示的人类与自然以及人与人和谐发展的重要性和必要性。

关键词：司各特•奥台尔；《蓝色的海豚岛》；深层生态主义；生物圈平等；自我实现

Contents

1.Introduction 1

2.Literature Review 3

3. The Character"s Failure to Keep Biocentric Equality 3

3.1 Man"s domination over nature 4

3.2 Man"s punishment from nature 5

4. The Different Characters" Struggle For Self-realization 5

4.1The Aleut"s narrow and egoistic interests 6

4.2 Karana"s struggle for self-realization 8

5. Conclusion 9

Works Cited 10

1.Introduction

The author of Island of the Blue Dolphins is Scott O"Dell who was born in Los Angeles. In the childhood, his family moved several times, sometimes moved to the island, and sometimes moved to the mountains of Mexico, where there was once the place of Western Indians. Because of this, most novels of O"dell are about the Pioneer and Indians. There was a time when he lived in an old and busy town. The life in the town was quiet and full of vitality, and Odell is curious about all kinds of things in real life. When he was writing, these life experiences could not help appearing on paper.

The writing inspiration of Island of the Blue Dolphins which was published in 1960 sometimes come from the memory of Odell, sometimes from the historical events. This work completely changed his life. Odell came to the story of a girl who lived on the island of Nicolas San for 18 years by chance. There is an island in the Pacific Ocean which looks like a side lying dolphin. There are calm waves, the freedom and beauty of dolphins and sea otters there. Original inhabitants of the island kill animals for food and dress up themselves by using animal"s skins and bones. Until one day the peaceful life suddenly destroyed by a group of Aleutian hunters. They hunted large numbers of animals on the island, stripped them of their skins for high returns, and they began to kill the original inhabitants of the island in the direction of greed and lust. In order to flee, people took the boat left the island. But unfortunately, Karana and her brother Ramo has been left off. Ramo was bitten to death by a wild dog, twelve years old girl Karana had to live on the island alone. Until middle-aged, she was able to be rescued. He found that he was able to express his views on a crucial issue by describing the life of the girl who was lost on the island. He thought the starting of writing Island of the Blue Dolphins is to express the anger of shooters who invaded my life and hunt all the beasts and birds. This anger is a call for the protection of nature, and the harmonious coexistence with nature. The author reflects on the relationship between man and nature in this work and fully demonstrated his ecological protection by decrypting Karana"s life.

Naess, a famous philosopher in Norway, first proposed a new environmental philosophy: deep ecology, also known as "ecological wisdom". He put forward this term in his article "The Shallow and the Deep, Long-Range Ecology Movements: A Summary." According to Naess, traditional approaches to life conservation and environmental protection are based on shallow ecology. He deduces the deep ecology theory system of 4 level tower on the basis of summarizing and analyzing the theories of the deep ecology scholars to set internal logical relation of the theory of deep ecology.

This article will interpret the ecological view of Island of the Blue Dolphins based on the theory of the first layer which also was the theoretical basis of deep ecology. The first level is based on the theory of Buddhism, Christianity, and the deep ecology of philosophy theory. It shows the two highest standards of Deep Ecology -- the equality principle of ecological centralism and the self realization principle. The center of the eco equality refers to all the beings in the biosphere as a whole. They are closely linked and have equal chances of survival and development. They also have the right to realize their intrinsic value. The equality refers to the equality of all ecological centralism in the whole biosphere. Self does not refer to one"s own individual self, but refers to the "big" self that goes beyond the individual"s emphasis on wholeness and relevance. Self fulfillment refers to promoting the unique spirit of human to let oneself live and others alive.

2. Literature Review

With the development of human society, our living conditions are getting better and better, the way of travel is more and more convenient. However, the surrounding vegetation, running water and even the air are suffering serious pollution. The environmental crisis has become an increasingly serious problem. We have to reflect on our behavior and get along with it. More and more people begin to pay attention to the ecology. Since the publication of the novel, it has been interpreted from different points. Zhao Baisheng put forward that the ecological doctrine will get rid of the prejudice of human centralism and extended care, respect to the world outside. For thousands of years, humans ruled the fish of the sea, the birds in the sky, and all living creatures on the earth. This has led to a serious deterioration of the natural environment. Will we watch ourselves to walk to death step by step? It is the way of humanism? It is obvious that ecology shows that people have changed their blind faith in humanism. Ecological crisis has become the "ideological paradigm" of the new century and even the new millennium, which is because the ecological crisis is our biggest problem at present. Rueckett also said" where there is no ecological awareness, where the people will die".( Rueckert 114)

In 1973, the Norway philosopher Arne Naess formally put forward the concept of "deep ecology", and initially set up a philosophy system as the basis of the deep ecological theory. The two basic theories of deep ecology is the equality view of ecology and self realization . Deep ecology expresses its opposition to the idea of human centered values and the separation of man and nature. It pursues the harmony between man and nature. Because man and nature is a unified whole. The individual"s self realization depends on the degree of self realization of others, the higher the degree of recognition of others, the more fully its self realization will be. Arne Naess present that human life on earth and non-human life should be treated equally, because they both have intrinsic value. The term "life" can also be used to refer to the river, landscape, and ecosystem, so the advocates of deep ecology will shout out the slogan: "keep the river alive". Non human being include not only animals and plants, but also the life forms that we cannot understand at present. Human and nature are obviously the part of the whole, and they are closely linked and have the opportunity to develop and realize their own intrinsic value. In Island of the Blue Dolphins, Clara"s attitude towards nature is constantly changing due to the recovery of ecology. Her brother"s death made her full of hatred and despair. She tried to conquer nature by making weapons, hiding food, and strengthening houses to protect herself. However after Karana tried to leave the dolphin Island she suddenly realized the sense of belonging to the island. Instead of killing animals for survival, she treated them as friends. She slowly felt the importance of nature and realized that she may not be able to live alone in the island without the companionship of these animals. The author expresses his sense of ecological crisis through the description of Lana"s attitude to nature.

3. The Character"s Failure to Keep Biocentric Equality

Human beings as a member of the earth, its social development originated in the process of its possession of natural resources. However, this kind of behavior has not been established on the basis of rational use of natural and correct understanding of nature, but constantly violate the laws of nature and destroy the natural environment and ecological balance.

3.1 Man"s domination over nature

At the beginning of the novel, the writer describes Aleut"s hunting of sea otter from the childish view of Karana. The Aleut sailed into the Island like a large ship and broke the quiet life。Since the Aleutian hunters came to the island they killed a large number of animal fur and stripped them to obtain high returns. They treat themselves as the master of all things, and thought all the existence of nature is their property. Indeed, as O"Dell has written in the four and third chapter of the story: " ...the skin canoes darting here and there over the kelp beds, barely skimming the water, and the long spears flying like arrows. At dark the hunters brought their catch into Coral Cove, and there on the, beach the animals were skinned and fleshed. Two men, who also sharpened the spears, did this work, laboring far into the night by the light of seaweed fires. In the morning the beach would be strewn with carcasses, and the waves red with blood." (O"Dell 15)To them all nature"s sacrifice is reasonable in order to obtain the huge benefits. Their behavior has shown a very strong human self center.

At the same time, not only the Aleutian hunters destructed the ecological balance of nature but also the indigenous people on the island. In order to get food, they killed animals; to dress themselves, they hunted animals, wearing bones to make earrings, wearing a shawl of sea otters. They ignore the interests of other biological in nature, only to meet their own needs. They put their own interests above everything. They acquiesced in the behavior of hunting the sea otters and set the contract with the hunters. So when Karana felt sorry for the dead sea otters," Many of our tribe went to the cliff each night to count the number killed during the day. They counted the dead otter and thought of the beads and other things that each pelt meant." When Karana asked questions, her father said there will be a lot of sea otters "Many still live in other left in the beds around our island. When the hunters leave they will come back."

As Naess"s deep ecology said" All the beings in the biosphere are only part of the whole, they are closely linked, have equal survival, reproduction, development opportunities." If the balance is destroyed, the consequences will be counterproductive in the human body, causing irreparable damage. In Island of the Blue Dolphins, because of the Aleutian hunters" hunting the number of creatures in nature has been reduced, and the number of animals that have no master has joined the ranks of wild animals to steal the food of mankind. In addition, the natural environment has also deteriorated sharply. The storm has swept the island many times, resulting in a huge loss. People had to leave the island.

3.2 Man"s punishment from nature

As is discussed above, most characters hold a hostile attitude to nature. As an inevitable outcome, they have to suffer punishment from nature. As Naess"s deep ecology said" All the beings in the biosphere are only part of the whole, they are closely linked, have equal survival, reproduction, development opportunities." If the balance is destroyed, the consequences will be counterproductive in the human body, causing irreparable damage.

In Island of the Blue Dolphins, because of the Aleutian hunters" hunting, the number of creatures in nature has been reduced, and the number of animals which have no master has joined the ranks of wild animals to steal the food of mankind. In addition, the natural environment has also deteriorated sharply. The storm has swept the island many times, resulting in a huge loss. "There were few storms that winter an rain was light and ended early. This meant that we would need to be careful of water. In the old days the spring sometimes ran low and no one worried, but now everything seemed to cause alarm .Many were afraid that we would die of thirst. People had to leave the island."(O"dell 29) People had to leave the island to live a long life. Their new chief decided to take the lead to find a new place. "He said he would take a canoe and go to the east to a country which was there and which he had once been to when he was a boy to make a place for us."( O"dell 27) Human beings wantonly intrude into the natural world, in return they receive severe punishment from the natural world. The author intends to arouse human beings" consciousness of keeping the equality between different life forms.

4. The Different Characters" Struggle For Self-realization

However, What is revealed in the novel is not only the relationship between man and nature, but also the relationship between man and man. As many ecological writers realize that man"s conquest and control of nature has augmented the conquest and control of man in turn. People"s psychology is changing with the behavior of destroying nature. When we are used to conquering nature and animals, this conquest of psychology will affect the l ideas of level between us.

4.1 The Aleut"s narrow and egoistic interests

In Island of the Blue Dolphins, the hunters killed the inhabitants of the island due to the disagreement in the way of split beaver fur. It eventually led to the death of the tribe"s head, Lana"s father and the vast majority of young men on the island. The death of a loved one and the loss of personnel make the island be deep in crisis of a deep sorrow and a lack of labor. In fact the novel has described about the deep mistrust between the local residents and Aleuts. At this time, the author is no longer confined to the critique of human"s predatory behavior, but rise to the relationship between human exposure. People are no longer satisfied with achieving what they need from nature. They began a new round of conquest in the interior of the human society on the basis of natural plunder.

In front of the interests, even the indigenous people are competing for each other. After the massacre, the new leader, Kemki, had a distribution of productive labor because of the the sharp decline in the labor force on the island. Although women pay more labor, the tribe of men still occupies a leading position. What is more, the women in the tribe is prohibited from making weapons. Clara"s father has also told her a series of disasters on women"s weapons. From which we can see that the natural predatory is the first step of Human to began to ignoring the same kind. People become indifferent and selfish, and this situation is badly in need of a correct attitude to change.

4.2 Karana"s struggle for self-realization

Karana loves nature but she is only a traditional female who cares for her family. She did not take the ecological responsibility. When she saw the red beach she just talks about the idea with his father then there was no action on the representation. But when she faced the choice of survival and death, she did not hesitate to choose to conquer nature. At the start of living alone, she uses the teeth of the sea otter to make the walls of her own house firm, shot walrus with a javelin and hunting seals to take their tendons. After Karana"s brother Ramo killed by wild dogs, she sworn to swinger dingoes in the dolphin island in order to take revenge on his brother. Karana protects herself by making weapons, hiding food, and strengthening houses. These are actually the embodiment of the Indian peoples" idea of human centralism.

As time went on, Karana"s affection for nature has changed and has become more and more profound. She was happy to see sea otters frolicking and the waves beating the beach. She went home with lucky dolphins which make her forget the loneliness and pain. All of these made her found the importance of nature. As is described in the article:"Dolphins are animals of good omen. It made me happy to have them swimming around the canoe, and though my hands had begun to bleed from the chafing of the paddle, just watching them made me forget the pain. I was very lonely before they appeared, but now I felt that I had friends with me and did not feel the same. "(O"Dell 63)Karana even gives up the chance to kill dogs leader Rito because of the caring for animals. She picked up the injured dog and bring it home to take care of it. Meanwhile, she had the idea of the dog will wait for her to go back. "I did not know that I have been lonely before I have this friend." All of these show that she has changed the view of nature, began to care and respect for the natural world.

Karana began to respect nature and took care of all the living things. She made friends with dolphins, sea otters, hummingbirds, and even the fox, and given these natural and human beings equal status. Naess put forward the idea" In the deep ecology movement what we have implemented is anthropocentrism and eco centrism. For us, the entire planet, biosphere, Gaia system is a unified whole. Each of these living beings has an intrinsic value of equality." The change of Karana"s attitude to the nature is the embodiment of this relationship of equality. human beings can respect other objects and their value with this cognitive guidance but not do nothing in the real life in order to achieve a "harmonious symbiotic state".

The process of Karana"s attitude to nature which changed from the conquest to respect is based on the "self actualization". Among them, self realization process is the process of people to continue to expand the object of self-identity and also the process to move towards alienation. With the expansion and deepening of the self identity, we will continue to reduce the sense of alienation from nature. When we reach the stage of "ecological self", we can see ourselves in all beings, and see all the beings in the self . Karana realized that the great "self" is based on the two fundamental principles of deep ecology. She abide by the principle of "equality of ecological center", realizes the harmony between man and nature, and achieve the harmonious coexistence between them.

The respect for nature also reflects the moral relationship between man and man. Self actualization is the process of human being to fully demonstrate the potential, and it is also the process of becoming a real human being. However any change requires a process. This conversion process needs to go through three stages. We need to implement ourselves first, and then realize the social self ,finally the ecological self. This process is also a process of expanding the scope of human"s self identity.(Meng 16-20)With the expansion of the scope of human self identity, people are no longer separated, narrow self, and become a person who can be closely combined with other forms of life. It means" unless we are alive, no one is alive." The "man" here not only means me but all people, including whales, bears, the entire forest system, mountains and rivers, as well as tiny soil microbes, and so on. When we affirm the value of our own, we will find the value of other people"s existence. When we can feel happy for others to live, we will truly be satisfied. The bad relationship between human being can be improved., when we realize the self-actualization of making yourself alive, and others alive too.

We should learn from Lana"s respect for nature and her equal attitude. She not only understands the value of nature, but also found herself on the basis of this. When we treat the nature equally, the equal treatment of others can be done. The bad relationship between human will be improved.

5. Conclusion

In summary, Scott O"Dell explains the point that man should establish a harmonious relationship with nature by describing the experience of a child named Karana who lives alone on a beautiful dolphin Island. We should deeply study the ecological philosophy of O Dell "Scott in Island of the Blue Dolphins. The world is currently faced with severe environmental crisis. We should abandon the idea of conquering nature and the anthropocentric world views. By returning to nature and setting up the ecological ethics as the center, we will build a harmonious society better.

Human is a part of nature and we are interrelated and interdependent with it too. Man should abandon the consciousness of the human center doctrine, be respect for nature, care for nature, save energy and achieve the maximum utilization of resources. Finally we can realize the "win-win" with the nature to get long development.

Works Cited

Arne Naess, The Selected Works of Arne Naess, Edited by Harold Glasser ＆ Alan Drengson ,Springer ,Vol. 10, 2005

Arne Naess, The Basics of Deep Ecology, Trumpeter, Vol. 21, No. 1, 2005

Roop, Peter. Scott O’Dell: Using History to Tell His Story[J].Children‘s Literature Association,1987

Bill Devall and George Sessions, Deep Ecology : Living as if Nature Mattered, Peregrine Smith Books, 1985

William Rueckert, Literature and Ecology: An Experimentin Ecocriticism, in The Ecocritici sm Reader :Lan dmarks in Li terary Ecology, ed. Cheryll Glotfeltyamp;Harold Fromm , Athens amp; London: The University of Georgia Press, 1996

孟献丽：奈斯生态学探析[M].《国外社会科学》，2011（1）：16-20

Meng Xianli：Foreign Social Science of Arne Naess, ecology [M].2011(1): 16-20

雷毅：《深层生态学思想研究》，清华大学出版社，2001年。

Lei Yi：Deep Ecology Thought, Tsinghua University press, 2001

剩余内容已隐藏，请支付后下载全文，论文总字数：23921字