论文总字数：31471字

摘 要

扬·马特尔是加拿大著名作家,《少年派的奇幻漂流》自问世以来，荣获一系列奖项，受到了高度的称赞。本文运用生态批评,特别是以深层生态学为理论基础来解析《少年派的奇幻漂流》中所蕴含的生态思想。本论文就小说中人与自然,人与社会,和人与自我三个方面分别分析了人与自然不和谐,人异化于社会和人异化于自我的行为和现象,探索三个方面中出现的冲突和失衡的关系。论文从人类世界关系中揭示了作者的生态意识，并以此给我们提供了一种人与自然和谐相处的方式。

关键词：扬·马特尔；《少年派的奇幻漂流》；生态批评；自然；人类

Contents

1.Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 2

3. Relationship between Human Beings and Nature 3

3.1 Imbalanced Coexistence of Human Beings and Nature 3

3.2 The Harmonious Coexistence of Human Beings and Nature 5

4. Alienation from Others 6

4.1 Interpersonal Hostility between Human Beings 6

4.2 Human Beings’ Tragedy 7

5. Alienation from Self 8

5.1 Pi’s Belief Crisis 8

5.2 The Integration of Pi’s Belief 9

6. Conclusion 10

Works Cited 12

1.Introduction

Yann Martel is a Canadian writer. He was born in Salamanca, Spain in 1963. His parents are French-Canadians. His father is a diplomat. When he was young, Yann Martel often traveled with his parents. He likes traveling; he thinks that traveling can see the same play on a whole lot of different stages. His first published novel "Seven Stories" in 1993. He published Life of Pi in 2001. He has received the 2002 Booker Prize. It was adapted to the screen by Ang Lee in 2012 and achieved a big success. He lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He has won a number of literary prizes, including the 2001 Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction and the 2002Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature. He was also the first Canadian to represent the Washington Arts Commission. He has written many works, including Seven Stories (1993),The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios (1993), Self (1996), Life of Pi（2001），Teaching Yann Martel"s Life of Pi from Multiple Critical Perspectives (2007)，Beatrice and Virgil (2010)，Short story The Vita Aeterna Mirror Company in The Secret History of Fantasy, edited by Peter S. Beagle (2010), etc.

Life of Pi is a adventure novel written by Yann Martel. But it is directed into a film by Ang Lee in 2012. With the film’s box office hit all of the world, this novel is known to everyone. Life of Pi is published in 2001. The protagonist, Piscine Molitor ″Pi″ Patel, an Indian boy from Pondicherry, explores issues of spirituality and practicality from an early age. He survives 227 days after a shipwreck while stranded on a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.

Ecocriticism is the study of literature and environment from an interdisciplinary point of view where literature scholars analyze the environment and brainstorm possible solutions for the correction of the contemporary environmental situation and examine the various ways literature treats the subject of nature. In the United States, ecocriticism is often associated with the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE), which hosts biennial meetings for scholars who deal with environmental matters in literature. ASLE publishes a journal—Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment (ISLE)—in which current American scholarship can be found. Ecocriticism is an intentionally broad approach that is known by a number of other designations, including "green (cultural) studies", "ecopoetics", and "environmental literary criticism".

Apart from the introduction, Literature Review, and conclusion, The article is divided into three parts. In chapter three, the thesis analyzes relationship between human being and nature. This part wants to analyze imbalanced coexistence of human and nature and the final harmonious coexistence of human and nature. In chapter four, the article analyzes alienation from others in life of Pi. This part focuses on pi’s relationship with others. It will be from intriguing in man’s world, and struggling between people to analyze relationships between in society. In chapter five, the article is mainly about alienation from self in Life of Pi. Pi’s crisis of belief, and when he was in dilemma, how to choose his belief. Yann Martel arranges Pi and the tiger Parker overcome the Several difficulties in the Pacific together, which provides a model with humans and nature to get along with each other.

2. Literature Review

Like many prize-winning works, Life of Pi also has got lots of critical acclaims and comments. After it was published in 2001, Life of Pi has attracted much foreign ctitics’ attention and interest, especially after it won the Man Booker Prize in 2002. Writer classifies all the comments and remarks into several aspects. Some of researchers think that Life of Pi is a adventure novel. Times compares Life of Pi with the works of Joseph Conrad, Ernest Miller Hemingway and Salman Rushdie, and claims it is “absurd, dreadful, unreliable and grieved, deeply sensual in its arousing of smells and sight, the whole travel and the commentator wild curious voice suggests. Times comments, “Every page offers something of tension ,humanity, surprise, or even transport" (Song Yunfeng, 2012:56-57). Some researchers think that Life of Pi is a story about faith. Mr. Adirubasamy, a character in the book, told the virtual author and readers, “it will make you believe in God", which proclaims the theme of this novel. For the theme, “it will make you believe in God”, critics have different opinions. One school approves Martel"s view. In critic Amanda Cuba"s (2003) opinion, Life of Pi isn"t just a simple adventure story. Some researchers think that Life of Pi is a novel tells us what story is true. In the novel, Pi told us two totally different survival stories about his drafting at the sea. At last, when Pi asked the two Japanese investigators which story was true, they both chose to believe the first one, the story with animals. Pi deemed “So it goes with God” (Yann Martel) While, why the story with the animals is better? In other words, It is a story that people how to choose to get through with the tiger and has nothing to do with the truth.

Life of Pi also attracted many people to researching it in china. It didn"t catch the attentions of literature world as well as media until director Ang Lee rearranged it into a film with the same name in 2012. Since the release of the film, reviewers have rendered the film and original work from different perspectives. Therefore, a lot of film reviews and book reviews have emerged, which can be divided into the following four aspects.

Some searchers studies on the Writing techniques. Yann Martel doesn"t use the traditional narrative techniques in Life of Pi, that is to say, this novel is not merely a drifting adventure. The story does not only focus on Pi"s drifting at the sea, but also relates some smooth-tongued stories, which make this novel abstruse and convertible. Some searchers studies on the metaphor in Life of Pi. Although Life of Pi seems like a teenager"s adventure story, actually, there are many metaphors in it. In Life of Pi, these metaphors noted by the reviewers are so vividly that leave a flesh impression on readers" mind. After it was adapted into the film with the same name by direction Ang Lee and successfully released, the author Yann Martel (2012) gave an interview to Sanlian Life week Magazine, he said that Life of Pi is a perfect metaphor for the human"s living situation.

In short, from all the above-mentioned literature reviews on Life of Pi, a conclusion could be drawn that although after its publication, Life of Pi has aroused wide concern and won the worldwide praise, the researches on Life of Pi both at abroad and in china. These researches are mainly brief book reviews and film reviews which are focusing on the truth, faith, metaphor theme of the novel, etc. As for the ecological consciousness embodied in the novel, commentators just skim over in their reviews. The research from the perspective of ecology is very little.

3. Relationship between Human Beings and Nature

3.1 Imbalanced Coexistence of Human Beings and Nature

Pi mentioned that he studied swimming from his uncle Mamaji, What Mamaji told him was all about the swimming pools. “It is cold and dirty.” “The water, having crosses all of Paris, came in foul enough.” “Then people at the pool made it utterly disgusting. Deligny was bad enough. Bain Royal,” “another latrine on the Seine, was worse. There was so much gob and spit floating in the water, I thought I was swimming through jellyfish.” (Yann Martel, 2001:13). Mamaji used words like “cold and dirty”, “utterly disgusting”, “ bad enough", “worse” and “latrine” to describe the swimming pools which had been polluted at different levels in different countries. It tells us in different countries have different damages that man had made to nature. Man should live with nature harmoniously. While in today"s society, many people don"t show respect to the nature and nearly love the nature. Man"s dissolving behavior results from the anthropocentrism which guide man’s act. They believe that only mainkind have rights to control the nature. The value of nature’s existence is considered as meeting man"s needs to serve man. Thus man damages nature when he wants without thinking the consequences. We can make a conclusion that the man in the novel didn"t expand the self to pool (nature). Pool was not seen as the object of man"s identification.

Animals are the main characters in Life of Pi. From the story between men and animals, the author would like to direct us rethink about the relationship between man and animals as well as the relationship between man and other living forms in nature. In a general way, we may think that some animals are dangerous, especially like the tiger. Satirically, Pi’father told us the most dangerous animal in a zoo is Man. In another words. Pi’s father wanted to say that man is imperious and he preys anything he wants. In a zoo, there was always a group of people had made a fatal effect on animals and even threatened the animals" lives. They did what they want treat to animals and didn"t mind animals" safety. Specifically, there is a group of people like the following: “the people who feed fishhooks to the otters, razors to the bears, apples with small nails in them to the elephants and hardware variations on theme: ballpoint pens, paper clips, safety pins, rubber bands, combs, coffee spoons, horseshoes”(Yann Martel,2001:36). Maybe you will be so shocked by these men"s behavior that you can not imagine it. However, it is really exists in many zoos. It is not the last sight with which you will be shocked. Furthermore, man"s cruelty even had the more direct and intensive way.

In Life of Pi, we can see alienation between man and nature everywhere. This novel reveals the humanity from the beginning of novel, especially crimes committed by human to other animals. After a shipwreck, Pi went through psychological changes on the Pacific. Pi first thought is irreconcilable, he firstly thinks that tiger is ferocious and dangerous animals, and he wants to survive, so he comes up with six ways to kill the tiger, but later he rejected. Finally, he took a different plan. He should live together with tiger. Mattel designs this plot with a profound meaning: a man, a tiger and a boat in the vast Pacific Ocean, Pi and tigers is facing a crisis of survival together. This is symbol that implies real live style between human and animals. The vast expanse of the Pacific is the symbol of the universe, the boat represents human beings and animals are on behalf of nature. From Pi wanting to kill the tiger to protect the tiger, it reveals that pi came out from anthropocentrism; he thinks human being should live together with nature. It is not difficult to see that human freely hunted animal will eventually lead to its demise; only trying to protect animals, humans and animals will achieve a win-win situation in the end. Pi and the tiger Parker are coexistence living in the Pacific Ocean, It reveals that author are longing for harmonious coexistence between man and nature.

3.2 The Harmonious Coexistence of Human Beings and Nature

Relationship between humans and nature are alienated, tense and hostile, which entirely caused by human’s self-inflicted. Therefore, only the initiative to improve relationship with nature, equally treats the natural world, man will have a clean and beautiful life environment.

Trough the transformation of psychology from wanting to kill the tiger to survive with the tiger together, it reveals that human being rely on nature, Without nature resources, man even can’t live one day. Parker from a brutal attacker"s identity turned to his partner. The presence of tiger alerts him that he can’t to be lulled his will at any time. However, Pi has an equal relationship with Tiger faction genuine reconciliation from him. Pi wants to seek the food to jump into the sea and swam back again and seeks the chances to find food in the lifeboat. They accompany each other, and respect each other. They become friends. Finally they return to own world. Tiger returning to the forest is its integration into the nature, Pi’s getting the rescue also belongs to his return to the natural way. By returning to nature harmoniously and re-established the correct position in human nature as a whole in the recovery and reconstruction of the whole man and nature, as well as other components of the overall harmony, stability relationship.

We have many ways to return to nature. Such as, travel around, to be LOHAS. To be a city farmer, and to be environmentalists.

Traveling around, I remember reading a good word to say, “travelling or reading, body and soul there is always one on the way to”. Travel can make people relax, temporarily forget the troubles. Go to different places experience a different landscape; different people can be redeemed soul.

TO be a LOHAS, Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability, which are their core values. City life makes people feel empty, because the things inside are not met, this is how much money can not be exchanged. LOHAS are optimistic attitude towards life, considerate, loving, and environmentally conscious; they are worried about the health of the planet, but also concerned about their health.

To be a city farmer, now we choose to be a city farmer reasons are varied, memories of childhood, cultivate children"s interest, fearing food safety, we share experiences online, learn from each other and really enjoy it. People grow their own vegetables, look after at their own, and taste their theirselves. Return to nature to be a happy farmer.

To be a environmentalism. Bit of life embodied in environmental protection has become the people"s living habits. Environmental protection is not only a public good, in fact, is convenient for them. No matter where they go, people would bring their own cups, it not only can save resources, but also can keep health. Her habit of brushing clearance off the tap, with vegetables and rice washing water flush toilets or rinse the mop, bath time by two minutes, usually, she tried double-sided paper, packed lunch to work, using home-made shopping bags without the use of electrical appliances Unplug the power, try to use rechargeable batteries, the online trading platform Taobao second-hand goods, which can not only save money, better able to reduce waste, protect nature.

4. Alienation from Others

4.1 Interpersonal Hostility between Human Beings

When nature has been destroyed, a number of problems will appear both in nature and in human"s world. Due to the natural environment destroyed and changed, the resources which can be provided for man become less and less. It makes human beings to try their best to explore the resources which can make them survive. In such a disgusting natural living condition, In order to survive fiercely struggling. The relationship between men has gradually become imbalanced. As a result, man alienates from each other in the society. Man"s alienation from society (others) to some extent means a man is independent on others, and can’t able to communicate with others in the society. He is unsocial and unwilling to cooperate with others, love others, help others, even show no respect to others.

When the two Japanese representatives do not believe what Pi said about his fantasy adventure, and require Pi telling a new story without animals, Then Pi tells a new story that there is no animal on the lifeboat, only a cook, a broken leg sailor, Pi and his mother. The cook has killed and eaten by sailors, and then killed his mother and eventually send the same intolerable killed and eaten by sailors. Finally, Pi survived lonely. Even though it is shocked to believe, Japanese representatives would like to choose the second story. But when the reporter interviews Pi and looks over event that was recorded in archives, which is written on the archives: “final common accompanied him and the animal reached the final,” obviously they firstly use the word cruel and brutal to describe the story. Then Pi visits reporter and asked him, which do you want to believe? The reporter says: “the first story.” And Pi answer: “ So you follow God.”

Four people in the second story is one to one correspondence of four animals in the first story. The author let the reporters interview Pi some questions in order to correspond each other: Sailor corresponding zebra, a hyena corresponding cook, orangutan corresponding mothers, and Pi is corresponded the tiger. Perhaps you may not accept a second brutal story, but the author leaves us many hints in the first story; “the ship encountered a storm, when Pi after the jump on the lifeboat, the Chinese crew shouted in Chinese, “zebra! zebra!”, the zebra jumped into the lifeboat.” (Yann Martel, 2001:28). Here the words of the Chinese crew is hint to us. When Pi"s mother wants to change elements of the dishes, cook are extremely dissatisfied, who is implied to hyena. Orangutans are found after a long drifting in lifeboat , and only gorillas would like to help Pi. Because only his mother is willing to help him. After the orangutans were killed by hyenas, a tiger suddenly starts to counterattack hyena. From the second story of Pi, we can know that Pi’s mother was killed by cook and the cook was killed by Pi.

4.2 Human Beings’ Tragedy

Survival is cruel, author through struggle of Pi, sailor, and cook the reacts us that under production of modern industrial society human is distorted. The value of human is just as a tool in the factory. So people lose their modern self-identity. People seem to have materialized, and they forget to their nature. Human’s values are lost in the pursuit of wealth. Pi is rescued after 227 days in the ocean. His event receives many attentions from the word, which is included Japanese’s clamminess. However, the story of human are coexistence with mutual tiger which is suspected by clamminess. One Japanese officials repeatedly reminded Pi talking about the real story, and finally Pi had made up a false story, the story of the animal characters replaced all people, the killing of animals between people and predators replaced infighting between intrigues people. Japanese officials finally gave a satisfied smile; which is the answer they have been waiting for.

Interpersonal indifference and apathy to the intrigues of the reality of the relationship between self-interest in modern society seems to have ingrained in their hearts. They can not understand that the good mother orangutan loves injured zebra, tiger can not understand the harmonious relationship between human and nature, but struggle of human being are full of interest. Japanese officials doubt whether a certain extent, which reflects the modern society is diaphragm and alienation. Lie is a popular in the world, occasional individual to tell the truth would be considered normal mental patients are treated as dissidents. Finally, Pi makes a compromise , he had compiled false story in order to cater to the two Japanese officials .

In sum, in Life of Pi, the phenomena of man"s alienation from society (other) are mainly showed by intrigue against each other in man"s world and the hostile thought rooted in man"s mind. There is an estrangement existing between man and others. The good feelings between men do no not exist any more. They are emotional apathy and just focus on their own interest which makes them become unwilling to concern about others and help others. Someone even has the evil intention to others, employing violence to realize his interest. Man has completely alienated from others.

5. Alienation from Self

5.1 Pi’s Belief Crisis

Pi lives in a multi-religious country. His mom believe in Hinduism, under the influence of his mom, Pi came to believe in Hinduism .As other Hindus ,Pi ate vegetable plate and didn’t eat meat .Then he became a Christian ,he was baptized. He followed Christianity .Meanwhile , he became a Moslem ,he believe in Allah. .

Pi is a multi-faith who was born in India, as a teenager, he is also Christian, Islam and Hinduism, in fact, these three religions is currently the world’s three major religions .Pi believe many religions, his father had given away: nothing equals nothing letter. Pi looks like at this time of religious believers, but strictly speaking, he was not religious believers. He is seemingly devout but ignorant people behave. In the eyes of the philosopher Kierkegaard, who after all is nothing but follow the canons of ethics and ritual stage, while the religious stage people are experiencing great pain of life, when the pain of the lives of his milli meaningless, God will come. Truly religious man, a "knight of faith", only faith can exist in occasional absurdity, the sky and shouted, "ah, please grant me strength!." Pi suffered a series of tribulations in the sea, he became irrational individual from a rational man, his mysterious inner life of pain, and finally, when life is nothing for him when, on another meaning God finally appeared, Pi eventually rescued and become a truly religious person. Pi young movie meal will pray, middle-aged Pi still eat pray this prayer and faith has experienced a negation of negation sublimation.

Travel accident makes Pi lose his faith, of course, Pi never gave up his faith. But when ship sank, There are only four people survive, including Pi, his mother, chef and sailor, when the four survivors fought for surviving, the chef killed sailors, and then killed the Pi"s mother, and finally killed the cook. In fact, here is brutal four people face death, humanity and choice of faith, in fact, once the face of death, in order to survive brutal often overshadowed humanity. Chef killed for survival a broken leg sailor, kill "Mother" is also in order to survive. We say that life is priceless, equality; God says everyone is equal, but in the face of death, these are illusory. But he did not “eat” the mother, by eating the chef’s meat to survive. In this case, following another storm, he shouted: "My family is dead, I gave everything to you, why did you do this to me, at least at this moment?” “If God really exists, why on earth I will go through this very evil?” Strikingly similar, so let"s shout faction collapse belief in hell, but he seems to still human? Because he did not eat his mother, but really do not have to eat it? In that situation, Pi had no choice to make. The desire of survive makes him give up something. He was in a dilemma. Belief or life, he must choose one. Finally, he chooses to survive.

5.2 The Integration of Pi’s Belief

Man"s alienation from self in this novel begins with Pi"s drifting in the sea. Pi was a devout religious from an early age. He was a religious of three religions, namely, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. He abided by the canons, just had the vegetarian eating and never ate meat. He was a strict vegetarian. When he was a child, he always shuddered when he snapped open a banana because he believed it sounded to like the breaking of an animal"s neck. However, when Pi was drifting accompanied by an adult Bengal tiger, without food and water, Pi"s nature had changed to some degree.

When Pi and the tiger were extremely hungry and going to starve, Pi caught a flying fish. Hunger drove him to kill the fish for food. However, killing fish, to a strict vegetarian, was not an easy job but an absolutely tough one. Pi suffered from struggle in the inner world and blamed himself deeply during the process of killing the fish. He proceeded with great deliberation. Several times Pi started bringing the hatchet down, but he couldn"t complete the action. He believed it was not the thing what he should do. It should be the action of predatory animals. “Again my hand wavered in the air. The idea of beating a soft, living head with a hammer was simply too much." A lifetime of peaceful vegetarianism stood between him and the willful beheading of a fish. “I would break its neck, sight unseen" (Yann Martel,2001:231). Pi decided to find a way he could accept to kill the fish. He wrapped the fish tightly in the blanket. He began bending the fish with two hands. The more he pressed, the more the fish struggle. He put himself in fish"s shoes. He imagined what it would have felt like if he had been wrapped in a blanket and someone had been trying to wing his neck. He was astonished. Experienced fierce inner world struggles, Pi nearly intended to give up. Yet he knew he must kill it, and the longer he hesitate, the more suffering the fish would endure. He continued pressing the fish until it was die. “1 wept heartily over this poor little deceased soul” (Yann Martel, 2001:231). He cried for the death of the fish as well as for his behavior. He regarded himself as a killer. He felt quite guilty because of killing the fish. He believed he was as guilty as Cain. After that, killing was becoming much easier for Pi. Pi had lost his essence of being himself. He used the flying fish’s head as bait to capture other fish. “Success seemed less elusive?” (Yann Martel,2001:234) He conquered and caught a dorado which was too big to haul. He was bathing in a pleasure of conquering. He was excited and was in a wild and triumphant mood. This time killing the fish was much smooth and went well though the dorado was too big. “I went the job in a direct way. I took the hatchet in both my hands and vigorously beat the fish on the head with the hammerhead (I still didn"t have the stomach to use the sharp edge)” (Yann Martel, 2001:232). Killing it was not a problem. At this time, Pi had no worries and hesitations. He did not suffer any inner world struggle to complete any action. Vegetarianism and religions could not stop him killing fish anymore. Pi suffered a series of tribulations in the sea, he became irrational individual from a rational man, his mysterious inner life of pain, and finally, when life is nothing for him when, on another meaning God finally appeared, Pi eventually rescued and become a truly religious person. Pi will pray, middle-aged Pi still eat pray this prayer and faith has experienced a negation of negation sublimation.

6. Conclusion

With the increasing of ecological crisis and the rapid development of the ecological movement, human beings begin to show their deep concerns about the relationships between man and nature, man and society as well as man and their inner world. Through the description of relationships between man and nature in the novel, Martel demonstrates his concern for the entire ecological system and his criticism of the destroyed nature, the deteriorated relationships between human beings and man’s inner crisis. Such situations considered, we should follow the trend of times and turn our attention to ecological crisis in the nature world. Based on the theory of ecocriticism, especially Deep Ecology, this thesis analyzes the ecological consciousness embodied in Life of Pi. Life of Pi vividly presents the relationships between man-and-nature, man-and-man and man’s inner self, which makes human beings realize the damaged scenes of human beings’ severe living environment and their inharmonious reactions with others even with their own. Thereby, the thesis is of great importance to provide readers with a fresh angle to ponder over their living conditions and to face the ecological crisis. Only in this way, can human beings coexist harmoniously with natural world and even with their own self.

Works Cited

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[7] 石晶.《少年派的奇幻漂流的隐喻主题探究》. 电影文学， 2014：11-12

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[10] 王诺． 《生态批评: 发展与渊源》． 文艺研究, 2002：8-10

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