The Conflict between Nature and Civilization in Cooper’s The Pioneers from the Perspective of Ecological Ethics

【Abstract】The Pioneers， one of Coopers frontier novels.For contemporary readers， understanding literature works from the perspective of ecological ethics， are very helpful to arouse their real respect for nature.

【key words】The Pioneers; civilization and savage; ecological ethics perspective

【作者簡介】姜金芝，浙江省衢州学院。

James Fenimore Cooper was known as the father of the American novel. The most representative was The Pioneers. This novel described the life in the Temple Town. Cooper spent a lot of space on describing frontier scenery. The local Indian indigenous people and nature lived in a harmonious and peaceful life. But the pioneers with the so-called “advanced civilization” step by step into the west. In todays deteriorating ecological environment， in-depth study of Coopers The Pioneers can help people rationally think about the cost of modern social development.

1. “Advanced Civilization” of “White-skin” Pioneers

The first chapter of “the pioneers” painted a vivid picture of the pristine nature of the American frontier. It can be seen that this is the product of the harmonious coexistence between native Indians and the nature. In the face of such a harmonious and beautiful natural landscape， the pioneer settlers began to seek financial benefits from the evil. They killed animals indiscriminately for fun. What saddens the writer most was the shooting of the pigeons. Try to think about the consequences of the so-called civilized society and advanced technology. It was the loss of countless lives， the destruction of wild forests， and the escalation of the contradiction between man and nature.

2. “Primitive Savage” of the “Red Bone” Indians

Indians were the indigenous inhabitants in America， they lived contented in the western wilderness， sunrise and make， whether. The Indians ecological view was ecological holism. The American Indians had this profound and intuitive awareness that all the things were brothers and they together formed the life as a whole. But more ironically， those white people， who were known for their wisdom， appeared to be extremely ignorant and savage in the face of nature. Their behavior not only destroyed the nature， but also broke the harmonious relationship between the native Indians and the nature.

3. Natty Bumppo， the sage in the wilderness

Natty Bumppo， the protagonist of the novel， embodied the authors ideal man and nature should be. He thought it was reasonable to make proper use of natural resources， but it was shameful to cut down the trees disorderly and wanton slaughter. Bumppo was an environmentalist who attached great importance to the ecological balance of nature. He wanted to protect natural resources and kept the natural environment in balance. Bumppo regretted that he mistakenly killed an eagle while debugging a new weapon. This means that when nature and civilization clashed， civilization should be developed on the premise of respecting nature. This was the view of ecological civilization that cooper wanted to convey to readers through the role of Bumppo.

4. Conclusion

Through The Pioneers， we can see that this is a warning of the conflict between civilization and nature. Among The Pioneers， Cooper conveyed to the world the ecological ethics of being integrated with nature and living together all the time， requiring human beings to establish the relationship between human and nature as a moral relationship. Since ancient times， there has been a saying that prosperity of ecology leads to prosperity of civilization， while decline of ecology leads to decline of civilization. Thus， its really important to protect the ecological environment. But protecting the ecological environment is a really tough battle， we must always be keenly aware of the difficulty and persistence during the process of protecting and tackling.

References：

[1]Bill McKibben. The End of Nature[M]. New York： Random House Publishing Group， 1989：63.

[2]Cooper， James Fenimore. The Pioneers[M]. New York： Airmont Publishing Company， Inc， 1964.