Analysis of Dances with Wolves from the Perspective of Deep Ecology

Dances with Wolves (1988), the masterpiece of Michael Blake, tells the story of a Civil War-era United States Army lieutenant named Dunbar who was dispatched to the American frontier to find a military post, and who eventually blended in the community of the aboriginals, Lakota. Since its publication, there have been many interpretations of the novel. However, no one has carried out research on the novel from the perspective of deep ecology, one of the basic branches of ecocriticism. As all the other writers pondering the relationship between humans and the environment, Blake launched a call on humankind to reflect deeply on environmental crisis and most of his works were brimmed with concerns over the relationship between humans and the environment. This paper intends to interpret Dances with Wolves from deep ecological perspective and to explore the ecological ideas implied in the novel. Firstly, the paper gives a sketch of deep ecology, the ultimate norms of deep ecology and the concept wilderness which the author of this paper will apply to the study. Secondly, the paper expounds the protagonist Dunbar’s Self-realization through analyzing his adventure on the prairie. The paper respectively illuminates his Self-realization from three aspects: Dunbar’s adventure in the wilderness, Dunbar’s intimacy with his initiator Two Socks and Dunbar’s companionship with his mentor Kicking Bird. The last part of the paper is a conclusion that summarizes the social significance of Dunbar’s Self-realization. For the common benefit of the whole ecosystem, Michael Blake, with the book, advocates human beings to cultivate ecological consciousness, to possess the ecological responsibility, to respect the values and rights of all forms of life and to live in harmony with nature.