2.1.2 Development of Ecocriticism at Home and Abroad

In 1992, Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE) was founded at the University of Nevada. In 1995, ASLE published an official journal Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment (ISLE). From then on, ecocriticism as a criticism was founded in the academia represented by the United States. After that, more and more scholars paid attention to and devoted themselves to the study of ecocriticism. And it gained momentum in Europe and America. Lawrence Buell published his book the Environmental Imagination: Thoreau, Nature Writing, and the Formation of American Culture which is honored as a landmark of the progress of ecocriticism. In 1998, Writing the Environment: Ecocriticism and Literature edited by British critics Richard Kerridge and Neil Sammells came out. All these represented the advent of the ecological era of the literary criticism.

The progress made in foreign countries spurred Chinese scholars to study this new criticism. In the late 1980s, Xiazhongyi and Zhanghao initiated “Cultural Ecology” and green project. Lu Shuyuan’s Ecological Research in Literature and Art is a good representative in which he pided ecocriticism into Natural Ecology, Social Ecology and Spiritual Ecology. Zeng Yongcheng and Zhanghao are also well-known scholars who are studying ecocriticism. Recent years, more and more readers publish different papers about ecocriticism.

2.1.3 Purpose of Ecocriticism

Human culture and nature are interrelated and influence each other. The purpose of ecocriticism is to reassess human culture by literature or culture criticism, undermine, challenge, reveal and criticize the ideological roots—anthropocentrism that resulted in environmental deterioration and ecological crisis, and arouse ecological consciousness to establish new ecological values and realize a harmonious coexistence between man and nature. Ecocritics advocate that humans should construct spiritual ecology and go back to nature, meanwhile have a virtuous interaction between spiritual ecology and natural ecology.

2.2 A Brief Introduction to Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies tells an allegorical story that happens in the midst of a nuclear war, a group of British boys were forced to come down in an isolated island. In the beginning, they elect Ralph to be a leader who strives to establish rules that whoever holds the conch shell is able to speak at their formal gatherings. He organizes boys to build huts and light fires and wait for being rescued. Jack leads choirboys to participate in the hunts. Piggy and Simon are Ralph’s armed sidekicks. Jack always challenges Ralph’s leadership and the conflict between them become more and more prominent with the passage of time. Jack draws the other boys slowly away from Ralph's influence. The group led by Jack gradually treats their adversaries with the work of savagery. Jack kills Simon and robs of Piggy’s spectacles that are used to get the fire. During the fight, Piggy is crashed down into the sea and dies. Other boys hunt down Ralph with fire, at the same time, the fire attracts a passing-by cruiser, and boys are recused finally.