Harmonious Coexistence Between Human and Nature in Monterey Trilogy

摘要

John Steinbeck (1902-1968), the winner of the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature, is one of the most significant American writers of the 20th century. Steinbeck's works are known for their wide spectrum of literary genres, the variety of themes, and the richness of connotations. This paper focuses on Steinbeck's Monterey Trilogy (Tortilla Flat, Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday), trying to examine, from an ecological perspective, the human's physical and spiritual dependence upon nature and the symbiotic or coexisting relationship between human and nature, clarifying how to achieve the pursuit of harmonious coexistence in Monterey Trilogy. On the basis of the foregoing discussion, this paper aims to make a more thorough and detailed study of Steinbeck's ecological view rendered in Monterey Trilogy, i.e., the idea that a harmonious ecosystem is constituted on the basis of the symbiotic or coexisting relationship between human and nature.