Culture Clash in Animal Dreams

...

fiction, and it was named an American library association notable book. She rose to prominence

and become an important voice among the southwestern writers in the United States.

Kingsolver explored native American adoption, fast food culture, political refugees, colonialism,

injustices and local scale, alternative agriculture poverty, images of beauty, and

environmentalism, among a variety of contemporary concerns. In her novel Animal Dreams,

explores pain, loss, isolation and injustice through its main characters Dr. Homer Noline and his

daughters, Hallie and Codi. In Animal Dreams Codi Noline protagonist and She desire to belong

again in her old home town runs alongside the novel’s in political theme of overcoming ethnic

and environmental oppression. Kingsolver’s fiction, perpetuates a self-confirming logic,

suggesting the need to seek alternative way of understanding. The novel Codi abandons a

medical career and long- term boyfriend to return to her homeland. In their respective searches

for “home”, the marginal position of Kingsolver’s female protagonists suggest that a sense of

belonging many best be found in social margins are environmentally aware, female-driven and

family oriented and her marginal characters understand poverty and injustices, unlike many

memories of America’s low wage underclass.

The novel Animal Dreams included eco-criticism, which means literature and environment

studies commonly called eco-criticism or environmental criticism. Eco-criticism looks at

literature from the perspective of the ecology. It is believed that William Rueckert was the first

to use the term eco-criticism. Rueckert published an essay in 1978 entitled “literature and

ecology : an experiment in eco-criticism”. This essay offered an outline for the new discipline:

“the application of ecology and ecological concepts to the study of literature”. The

environmentalism become a popular issue in the late 1960s and 1970s, but it not established as

a genre until the mid-1980s. Eco-criticism is represent in the United States by the Association

for the study of literature and environment(ASLE). This organization hold biennial meeting for

eco-critics. Literary criticism looks at the relationships among authors, writings and the world.

The literary critic takes “the world” to mean “society”. Eco-critics expand on this notion so that

“the world” comes to include all of the ecosphere. According to Barry commoner, an American

environmental scientist and best known for his four “Law of Ecology” from that first law link to

that novel Animal Dreams , the first law of ecology states; “Everything is connected to

everything else”.

The environmental justice is about Social transformation directed toward meeting human

need and enhancing the quality of life. Its central principle stresses “equal access to natural

resources and the right to clean air and water, adequate health care, affordable shelter, and a

safe work place”. Secondly, all the people should have equal access to healthy food and safe

shelters, etc. However, the fact is that privileged such as the colored, the poor, and many

women, are more likely to become victims of nuclear waste, industrial landfill, and numerous

other pollutants. Under this condition, people are encouraged to re-think the issue of

environmental justice and make effort in animal dreams on the part of the protagonist Codi and

her hometown fellows is a form of environmental justice movement launched for the

rejuvenation of the endangered place by protecting it from the toxic threat of the mining

company. In the novel relates the homecoming experiences of Codi, during which she begins to

work with the grassroots organization; the Stitch and Bitch Club to save her seriously polluted

hometown, Grace in Arizona. While arguing for the equality between mankind and nature,

Codi, with her people in the hometown, try to fight against The Black Mountain Company, the

source of Environmental injustice which can be evidenced in the degradation on the

environment and the dismissal of human rights.

Animal Dreams (1990), project the thing they do in day time just like people do; “if you want

sweet dreams, you will got to live a sweet life”. Loyd peregrine one more character a handsome

apache trainman and latter-day philosopher and Codi Noline lover. When Codi Noline returns

to her hometown; Lody’s advice in painfully out of her reach. Dreamless and at the end of her

hope confront her past and face her ailing, distant father, she finds town is threatened by a

silent environmental catastrophe, some startling clues to her own identity, and a man whose