THE VICTORIAN CONCEPTS OF NATURE AND THE CREATION OF DYSTOPIAN ECOLOGY IN H.G WELLS’ THE WAR OF THE WORLDS AND GARRETT PUTNAM SERVISS’ EDISON’S CONQUEST OF MARS
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement to Obtain the Magister of Humaniora (M.Hum) In English Language Studies
By
Aditya Cahyo Nugroho 146332024
THE GRADUATE PROGRAM OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
i
THE VICTORIAN CONCEPTS OF NATURE AND THE CREATION OF DYSTOPIAN ECOLOGY IN H.G WELLS’ THE WAR OF THE WORLDS AND GARRETT PUTNAM SERVISS’ EDISON’S CONQUEST OF MARS
A THESIS
Presented as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement to Obtain the Magister of Humaniora (M.Hum) in English Language Studies
By
Aditya Cahyo Nugroho 146332024
THE GRADUATE PROGRAM OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
vi
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:
Nama : Aditya Cahyo Nugroho NIM : 146332017
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
THE VICTORIAN CONCEPTS OF NATURE AND THE CREATION OF
DYSTOPIAN ECOLOGY IN H.G WELLS’ THE WAR OF THE WORLDS AND
GARRETT PUTNAM SERVISS’ EDISON’S CONQUEST OF MARS
beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di intemet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu maninta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalty kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan.ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal: 31 January 2019
Yang menyatakan
vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My first and foremost gratitude goes to the Almighty God, Jesus Christ for
his love and guidance throughout my study. This thesis is dedicated to my beloved
parents, my late father (+) R. Bernadus Budi Sardjono and my mother Bernadeta
Widiyanti who teach me parts of this life, give me love and support me fully so
that I can be here. I also thank my brothers Benediktus Anton Harmoko and
Vincentius Andi Haryanto, S.Sn., M.Sn. who always help and support me during
my study.
I also give my gratitude to my advisor, Paulus Sarwoto, Ph.D. for his
guidance and insight during the writing of this thesis. I would like to give my
sincerest acknowledgements to Dra. Novita Dewi, M.S., M.A.(Hons.), Ph.D. and
Dra. Theresia Enny Anggraini, Ph.D., who devoted to the reading and evaluation
of this thesis. I also want to express my gratitude to Dr. Tatang Iskarna, who is
willingly give his time and be my examiner. I want to express my gratitude,
respect and appreciation to all lecturers in English Language Studies Graduate
Program for their inspiring and passionate teaching during my study. I want to
thank the staff of ELS-GP mbak Marni, pak Mul, pak Sugeng for their helping
hands.
I would like to thank all of my friends in English Language Studies batch
2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, the Zaituners, my friends from IRB and all of my
colleagues in literature stream across batches, Indra, Ruly, Pras, Anggi, mas
Tama, mbak Teti, mbak Anis, Melani, Dian, Angel, Sophie, mbk Desca, Zico, Yo,
viii
Lastly, I would like to give my gratitude for those who helps during the
writing of this thesis but I cannot mention individually. Thank you, good bye and
vii
C. Benefits and Significance of the Study ... 13
CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW ... 15
A. The Prior Studies of H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds and Garrett Putnam Serviss’ Edison’s Conquest of Mars ... 15
B. Theoretical Review ... 23
A.The Values of Speciesism and Pessimism in Wells’ The War of the Worlds and Serviss’ Edison’s Conquest of Mars ... 41
1. The Similarities of Speciesism and Pessimism in The War of the Worlds and Edison’s Conquest of Mars ... 43
2. The Difference Values of Speciesism and Pessimism in The War of the Worlds and Edison’s Conquest of Mars ... 51
CHAPTER IV THE CREATION OF DYSTOPIAN ECOLOGY ... 56
A.Dystopian Ecology In H.G Wells’ The War Of The Worlds ... 57
B.Dystopian Ecology In Garrett Putnam Serviss’ Edison Conquest Of Mars ... 68
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION ... 76
viii ABSTRACT
Aditya Cahyo Nugroho, 2018, The Victorian Concept of Nature and the Creation of Dystopian Ecology in H.G Wells’ The War of the Worlds and Garrett Putnam
Serviss’ Edison’s Conquest of Mars:. Yogyakarta: The Graduate Program in
English Language Studies, Sanata Dharma University.
This thesis explores the occurrence of dystopian ecology in H.G Wells’ The War of the Worlds and Garrett Putnam Serviss’ Edison’s Conquest of Mars due to the application of the Victorian concepts of Nature in the novels. This thesis uses ecocriticism, dystopian ecology and science fiction as the theories while speciesism, pessimism are the concepts. Ecocriticism is used to raise and introduce the ecological criticism that can be seen in the novels, while dystopian ecology is used to answer the ecological destruction which happened during the aliens and human invasion in both novels. This thesis uses the concept of speciesism and pessimism to make a sequential analysis of the novels Since the novels are about science fiction and talk about human and non-human (aliens), then the third theory of science fiction is also applied.
The concept of speciesism and pessimism help answering the philosophical question of their values in The War of the Worlds and Edison’s Conquest of Mars. The similar values of speciesism and pessimism shared by both novels are the anthropocentrism issues and the bias position of the non-human (the Martians); both novels also share the same position of the Martians as the suppressor and the oppressor. The different values shared by both writers are the causality of the invasion and subject representation in both novels where human and the Martians share interchangeable representations.
Based on the theories and concepts, this thesis concludes that there is a dystopian ecology that happened in the novels namely the imbalanced relationship between human and nature (non-human), the human-centered ideology and the ignorance of a human with the sustainability of the non-human (nature). In order to avoid that dystopian ecology, human need radically change their perception and treatment toward nature (non-human) whether in real life or via literary works.
Keywords: Dystopian Ecology, human, non-human, Speciesism, and Pessimism
ix ABSTRAK
Aditya Cahyo Nugroho, 2018, The Victorian Concept of Nature and The Creation
of Dystopian Ecology in H.G Wells’ The War of the Worlds and Garrett Putnam
Serviss’ Edison’s Conquest of Mars Yogyakarta: Program Pascasarjana Kajian Bahasa Inggris, Sanata Dharma University.
Tesis ini mengeksplorasi kemunculan ekologi dystopian dalam H.G Wells’
The War of the Worlds dan Garrett Putnam Servis’ Edison’s Conquest of Mars disebabkan oleh penerapan konsep tentang alam pada masa Victoria. Tesis ini menggunakan konsep ekokritik, ekologi dystopian, dan fiksi ilmiah sebagai teori sedangkan spesiesisme, pesimisme sebagai konsep. Ekokritik digunakan untuk mengangkat dan memperkenalkan kritik ekologis yang dapat dilihat di dalam kedua novel tersebut, sedangkan ekologi dystopian digunakan untuk menjawab kehancuran ekologis yang terjadi selama invasi alien dan manusia dalam kedua novel tersebut. Tesis ini menggunakan konsep speciesism dan pesimisme untuk membuat analisis berurutan dari novel sehingga dapat mejawab terjadinya ekologi distopia di dalamnya. Semenjak kedua novel bercerita mengenai fiksi ilmiah dan berbicara tentang hubungan manusia dan non-manusia (alien), maka teori ketiga yaitu fiksi ilmiah diterapkan.
Di sisi lain konsep spesiesisme dan pesimisme menjawab pertanyaan filosofis tentang nilai-nilai spesiesisme dan pesimisme yang terkuak dalam The War of the Worlds dan Edison’s Conquest of Mars. Kesamaan nilai dari speciesism dan pesimisme yang didapat dari kedua novel tersebut adalah masalah antroposentrisme dan posisi bias dari non-manusia (makhluk Mars). Perbedaan nilai-nilai yang disuguhkan oleh kedua penulis adalah kausalitas invasi dan representasi subjek dalam kedua novel di mana manusia dan Mars berbagi representasi yang dapat dipertukarkan.
Berdasarkan teori dan konsep diatas, tesis ini menyimpulkan bahwa telah terjadi ekologi distopia di dalam kedua novel tersebut yang diebabkan oleh hubungan yang tidak seimbang antara manusia dan alam (non-manusia), antroposentrisme dan ketidakingintahuan manusia terhadap keberlanjutan kehidupan non-manusia (alam). Untuk menghindari ekologi distopia itu, manusia perlu secara radikal mengubah persepsi dan perlakuan mereka terhadap alam (non-manusia) baik dalam kehidupan nyata maupun di dalam karya sastra.
1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
“Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible God and destroys a
visible Nature. Unaware that the Nature he is destroying is this God he is
worshipping” – Hubert Reeves
A. Background of the Study
Nowadays, in the era of globalization and industrialization, the relationship
between human and nature has been on the edge of the iceberg. Human has shown
their superiority towards nature. Therefore some questions have arisen to
acknowledge that situation, for examples; human, who are we? Do we as a human
know or notice our rule in this world? Do we be the dominant one? These are the
questions we should ask ourselves, to reconsider the relationship between human
beings and the wider world, especially the environment. As summarized by Erin
James, environment, stemming from the Old French term environner (“to
surround”), environment commonly means the surroundings situation or condition
where a sentient lives, typically denote the surroundings or conditions in which an
organism lives. Customarily, that environment refers to nonhuman nature which
mostly known as the wilderness.1
Several scholars have discussed the dichotomy between human and the
nature surrounding them. Firstly, as in Raymond Williams’ depiction of nature,
“nature is perhaps the most complex word in the [English] language”.2 The
complexity of the word relates to our understanding of problems within it. Several
questions can be addressed; such as Is it possible to live in harmony with nature?
1 Erin James, The Storyworld Accord: Econarratology and Postcolonial Narratives. (Nebraska:
University of Nebraska Press, 2015), p.243.
Is human a part of, or apart from, nature? By answering the questions, this thesis
explores the relationship between human to nature and vice versa in a particular
way, how both influence each other in the scope of reverential ecology reading.
Which to say, as long as the history has recorded, humans often feel indifferent
toward nature. For them, nature is something considerably seen as a ‘normal’
thing, when it goes right, humans forget it, when it goes wrong, they worry about
it.
Although several critics arise the objection of the distinction relationship of
human-to-nature and vice versa, more critics still possess differentiation of the
term “nature.” David Abram in his book, The Spell of the Sensuous, suggests the
term nature as “more-than-human”.3 The other critic, Cheryll Glotfelty exposes
nature as “nonhuman”.4 The terms “more-than-human” and “nonhuman” indicates
nature as a distinct entity and surpasses human in peculiar ways or the sacredness
of nature which is associated as supernatural or meta-human.
The binarism between human and nature generates changes in the natural
world. Unfortunately, these natural changes cause devastation on nature itself, as
Donald Hughes says that trace to our historical ecology, humans have related
issues in multiple ways to the Earth’s existences; some of these ways promise a
sustainable balance with them, while others are destructive.5
The examples of destructive actions as in Hughes explanation are “polluted
water and air, acidic precipitation, diminution of the ozone layer, global warming,
the spread of radioactive materials, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, extinction
3 David Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World (New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1996), p.35.
4 C. Glotfelty& H. Fromm, The ecocriticism reader: Landmarks in literary ecology. (Athens: The
University of Georgia Press, 1996), p.xix.
of species, soil erosion, overpopulation”.6 These destructions that illustrate human
superiority arises out of the fact that they are earth’s only perfect creature. As
Joseph Meeker discovers, though human lacks the ability to photosynthesis and
fly, their superiority brain can make "great epic poems and mediocre office
memos."7 This uniqueness has made differences between human and other earth’s
creatures. Due to their superiority, humans have to take responsibility for what
they have done.
Historically speaking, humanare categorized as an aggressive species. It can
be seen from the history of human and nature relationship; the most significant
issue is the publication of Charles Darwin’s Origin of the Species in the 19th
century. In his explanation of the book, Darwin stated that Homo Sapiens was
ensnared into the web of nature which became a part of nature not apart from
nature. On the Origin of Species situated human and nature in the same ecological
context; whereas human, plants, and animals in the same qualified condition of
life.8
They shared the same cooperative ecological protector as one unity. On the
other hand, in his later explanation of the book, he concluded a different
conclusion on how “survival of the fittest”9 is justified, actual compulsory to take
it for granted the ruthless exploitation of nature for human needs. He explicitly
said that
We can so far take a prophetic glance into futurity as to foretell that it will be the common and widely spread species, belonging to the larger and
6 D. Hughes, What is Environmental History, (p. 255.
7 Joseph W. Meeker, The Comedy of Survival: Literary Ecology and Play Ethic (Arizona:
University Arizona Press, 1997), p. 3.
8 Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, Or, The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (Harvard: John Murray, 1873), p.56.
dominant groups within each class, which will ultimately prevail and procreate new and dominant species.10
The above quotation explore that the dominance and exploitation of nature
are the product of invasion, either nature or human. In other words, it is
commensurate as the biological and social invasion. The species that intrude into
others’ habitat are considered as an invasive species which explained byLewis H.
Ziska and Jeffrey S. Dukes in the book Invasive Species and Global Climate
Change. They asserted that include invasive species are “plants, animals or
microorganisms not native to an ecosystem, whose introduction has threatened
biodiversity, food security, health or economic development”.11 Though the above
explanation exposes on plants, animal or microorganisms as the invasive species,
it can also be stated that human also an invasive species because they are not
native to an ecosystem, and their existences threathening the other biodiversity.
There are some evidence to classify human as an invasive species. The
mission of Apollo 13 (where human step the moon for the first time) stated that a
human is a curious species which wants to know to explore everywhere to show
off their existences. Human has already done their inavision since the beginning
of their existence, while during the Industrial Revolution their ruthless
explouitation has changed the fate of all Victorian people from “the Romantic
ideal” to more “Pesimisstic ideal”. That pessimistic point of view that has
narrated the changes in the relationship between Victorian people and nature since
then nature in the Victorian era used as an object of satisfying human needs.
Another result of human dominancy is how natural environments are subjected to
10 C. Darwin, The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, p. 444.
11 Lewis H Ziska and Jeffrey S. Dukes, Invasive Species and Global Climate Change (Oxford:
a relentless expropriation in ongoing plunder and massive ravage just as
mercilessly as the colonized people themselves.
When the European started to expand their territory into the third world’s
countries largely using military forces, followed by a rationalist policy of
conquest and possession, then the catastrophes occur. As Ania Loomba states,
“military violence was used almost everywhere ... to secure both occupation and
trading ‘rights:’ the colonial genocide in North America and South Africa was
spectacular”.12 The shrinkage of human invasion to the natural world also
reflected in political and economic philosophies. Due to that economic
philosophies Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels have argued, for example, equated
the exploitation of nature with the exploitation of workers. Thus, Engels wrote:
''The earth is the first condition of our existence. To make it an object of trade was
the last step toward making human beings an object of trade".13
What was even bizarre than the barbarity exercised on the indigenous
peoples at the Imperial time were the acts of ecological dexterity over nature, with
the continuous consequences to affect the entire planet until today. By the end of
the 19th century, the Victorian Era, “most of the Earth had been parcelled out to
one metropolitan power or another”.14 This Victorian period can be stated as the
successful era in the British Empire, when the rise of the nation pointed by the
industrial revolution and the technological development. These advancements
12 Ania Loomba, Colonialism/Postcolonialism. 2d ed. (London: Routledge, 2005), p. 112.
13 Friedrich Engels in Larry L Rassmussen Earth-honoring Faith: Religious Ethics in a New Key
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015), p. 166.
14 John Bellamy Foster, The Vulnerable Planet: A Short Economic History of the Environment
make England be the pioneer of the economic changes. As C.F.G Masterman
explains in the preface to The Condition of England that:
I believe there are possibilities as yet undreamt of, for the enrichment of the common life of our people, and that in another century men and women—and children—may be rejoicing in experience better than all our dreams. I am not pessimistic, but I am anxious, as I believe all the thinking men of today are anxious, when they realize the forces which are making for decay (viii).15
In spite of the positive side of British advancement, it has negative aspects
in it. The industrial revolution in England starts the economic reaction of countries
over the globe. It triggers countries’ grouping based on economic strata. In The
Norton Anthology of English Literature, Stephen Greenblatt relies on the
argument that during the industrial age, England has become the wealthier country
with enormous income than other countries. This statement triggers condition to
enable them to gain influence toward market over the globe. Greenblatt, et al.
explain:
leadership in commerce and industry was being paid for at a terrible price in human happiness, that a so-called progress had been gained only by abandoning traditional rhythms of life and traditional patterns of human
relationships……a sense too of being displaced persons in a world made
alien by technological changes that had been exploited too quickly for the adaptive powers of the human psyche (ibid).16
Therefore, the reaction towards this provision is quite diverse, from the
aristocracy class, writers, and commoners. Many writers of this era do not agree
with the industrial policy; which latency said on the unpleasant harmony of
human relationships. Its overt allusions to imperialist practices, which led many
15 C.F.G Masterman, The Condition of England (London: Faber & Faber, 2012), p. viii.
16 Stephen Greenblatt, The Norton Anthology of English Literature (New York: W.W. Norton and
critics such as Warren Wagar in H. G. Wells: Traversing Time which points out,
“to regard Wells’ tale as a devastating critique of European imperialism”.17
This thesis seeks to explore how literature is employed by selected
Victorian authors to question the changing relationship between human and the
non-human, the changing process, which results in two paradigms of Victorian
concept on nature, that are speciesism and pessimism. Peter Singer coins the term
"speciesism" in his book Animal Liberation; he says that “speciesism is a
prejudice or attitude of bias in favor of the interests of members of one’s species
and against those of members of other species”.18 Moral worth cannot be based on
a biological factor such as species, just as it cannot be based on race or minorities.
According to Singer, “it should be obvious that the fundamental objections to
racism and sexism . . . apply equally to speciesism. If possessing a higher degree
of intelligence does not entitle one human to use another for his or her own ends,
how can it entitle humans to exploit nonhumans for the same purpose?”.19
Avoiding those speciesism, racism or sexism, it required to treat other beings as
equal to others because they have the right to life.
The other concept of nature that appears in the Victoria era is “pessimism”
which is related to the term humanity. The Victorian Age witnessed a radical
transformation in the representation of the natural world described in the literary
works, from the inspirational and benign to hurtful and competitive. The idea of
human dictated the bucolic, the figurative nature's treatment as a kind of the
17 Warren Wagar, H.G. Wells: Traversing Time (Connecticut: Weslyan University Press, 2004), p.
54
18 Peter Singer, Animal Liberation: A New Ethics for Our Treatment of Animals. (London: Harper
Collins, 1975), p. 6.
19 P. Singer, Animal Liberation: A New Ethics for Our Treatment of Animals, p. 6.
divine entity was indifferent to nature. Nature no longer exists as an environment
but as the autonomous agent on the other living beings. This new, pessimistic
model can be seen in poems like Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s In Memoriam
(1837-38), an elegy to his friend, with lines like “Nature, red in tooth and claw,” which
evoke a blood-thirsty conception of the world.
Therefore the distinction between human and non-human (nature) need to
be clarified, so forth the analysis of the problem is needed. There are two objects
on this study which embracing human and non-human relationship, the first one is
H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worldswhich published in 1898 and the second one is
Garrett Putnam Serviss’ Edison’s Conquest of Mars published six weeks after the
final chapter of The War of the Worlds. Those two objects considered as a science
fiction novel. The first novel is one of the H.G. Wells’ books collection, the others
such as The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The
Invisible Man (1897) and many more.
This research uses The War of The Worlds as one of the research objects.
This novel was written during the Victorian era, whereas technological
advancement became the main theme in England. Therefore, the late Victorian
revival of romance, replete with inhuman invasions, monstrosities, and
degenerations became obsessed with such threats at the very moment when
England no longer faced a significant military threat or imperial competition from
its European rivals.
The second novel is Edison’s Conquest of Mars (1898) which was written
by Garrett Putnam Serviss (an astronomer and a sci-fi novelist) and circulated in
in America, it is a sequel of an unauthorized version of The War of the Worlds by
unknown writer entitled Fighters from Mars and considered as an altered version
of Wells’ The War of the Worlds. Garret Putnam Serviss was an American
astronomer who was also a writer focused on science fiction theme even though
he was a lesser-known novelist. The novel was about the revenge of human to the
Martian lead by Thomas Alfa Edison, and it was only six weeks apart from the
final chapter of Wells’ The War of the Worlds.20
It is commonly known that the genre of those novels is categorized as
science fiction, which is a genre that tells about the futuristic concept of upcoming
events that in this thesis relate to human and nature relationships. The human and
nature relationships are very closely related to human and human relationships
because when their relationship corrupted, then it will impact to the condition of
nature, for example, the use of machines in the factories and its waste disposal.
As long as human operate machines and dispose the waste aimlessly and
intensively, nature will be poisoned.
According to Rene Descartes in Discourse on Method, the figure of the
human has a distinguished natural place from machines and animals where it
shares with all other human beings a unique and common essence, of meaning in
the historical as which called “human nature”.21Descartes’ statement emphasizes
that the world of human and nature is secluded, whereas the line between human
and nature blurred for the advance of science and technology.
20 Thomas Hockey, Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers (New York: Springer, 2007), p.
1072.
Cary Wolfe in Animal Rites addressed that literary criticism tends to treat
non-human appearing in literary texts as a symbol for some human social issues,
such as ethnicity, gender, or colonialism.22 Timothy Clark further elaborates the
problem:
In most canonical literary texts, the place of non-human life is both pervasive but unseen. It is simply so uncontroversial as to make alternative readings centered on animals seem almost like a change of discipline. Any study of text on the non-human always becomes a study of humanity in some sense. . . . At the same time, once the issue of animal exploitation is raised about a text, it immediately becomes obvious in ways that may leave little more to say.23
As mentioned above, nonhuman in canonical literary texts is often used to
address other oppressed groups, such as women or ethnic minorities. Wolfe
considers this as an extremely problematic act because when the discourse of
species is used to highlight the mistreatment of these social others, it
automatically requires that we take for granted the “institution of speciesism,”
which embraces the ethical acceptance to kill animals based on their species.24
Therefore, if the interpretation of non-human suffering which told in a literary text
as an analog for social problems, then it can be agreed with the assumption that
pain in non-human has no intrinsic value and it only becomes a matter of
significance when used as a symbol for human suffering. Wolfe’s concern is not
simply for nonhuman, but for human others as well, because
as long as this humanist and speciesist structure of subjectivization remains intact, and as long as it is institutionally taken for granted that it is all right to systematically exploit and kill nonhuman animals simply because of their species, then the humanist discourse of species will always be available for
22 Cary Wolfe, Animal Rites: American Culture, the Discourse of Species, and Posthumanist Theory (Chicago: University Chicago Press, 2003), p. 124.
23 Timothy Clark, Ecocriticism on the Edge: The Anthropocene as a Threshold Concept (New
York: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015), p. 187.
24 C. Wolfe, Animal Rites: American Culture, the Discourse of Species, and Posthumanist Theory,
use by some humans against other humans as well, to countenance violence against the social other of whatever species – or gender, or race, or class, or sexual difference.25
Therefore, to question the humanist theories and the discourse of species is very
important, not just regarding non-human equality, but from a strictly
human-related aspect as well.
The economic leadership and technological mastery trigger the unamiable
relationships, which has lead human forget about the nature, as they will only
concern about themselves. Therefore, The War of the Worlds reflects the idea of
ecological concerns for the technological mastery of the British Dominion
towards the ecological situation in the third world countries. In The War of the
Worlds, Wells presents the depiction of Martian domination towards the Earth
where it changes the condition of the Earth. The arrival of the Martians is a
representation of the British invasion vis-à-vis the third world countries such as
India, South Africa, etc. In other words, The War of the Worlds is a medium of
ecological criticism vis-à-vis the British invasion which is in line with the
materialism.
There is a kind of differentiation in animal studies, which admits that
killing human life is worse than killing a mouse for laboratory research. Although
the issue is not unproblematic, it is a poor excuse to rely on the humanist ideology
that allows cruelty to nonhuman beings. The problem that speciesism creates is
that when members of other species primarily considered as “other than human,”
that is, based on what they are not, instead of what or who they are, people see
and consequently treat other species not as individuals but as a single mass.
25 C. Wolfe, Animal Rites: American Culture, the Discourse of Species, and Posthumanist Theory,
This thesis aims to depict the Victorian concepts of nature which portray
the dystopian ecology in the novels. Do the concepts of speciesism and pessimism
share the same value in both novels? Thus the question needs to be answered
through the connection between technological used in the novels. In relation, this
research wants to compare the invasion between species, human and alien
(non-human) which of the species deal huge impact on nature or environment. In sum,
the exploitation of nature, the destruction of the environment and the
socio-economic-cultural changes due to the species’ invasion and associated with the
technological advancement period expressed through The War of the Worlds and
Edison’s Conquest of Mars create the different association on the meaning of
invasive species.
B. Research Questions
This thesis looks at the idea and concept of speciesism and pessimism that
causes dystopian ecology of nature, reflected in the novels. Although the texts
share the different point of view in writing, they have the similarity in common
which is science fiction. Science fiction itself always dealt with the future forecast
by technology. Based on the background information above, this study focuses on
the issues concerning with the advancement of technology which creates a
different level of relationship between human and nature (non-human). The thesis
questions formulated as follows:
1. How are the Victorian concepts of nature regarding speciesism and
pessimism depicted in H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds and Garrett
2. How do the Victorian concepts of nature regarding speciesism and
pessimism create the dystopian ecology in H.G. Wells’ The War of the
Worlds and Garrett Putnam Serviss’ Edison’s Conquest of Mars?
C. Benefits and Significance of the Study
This research is conducted with the goal to read the different ways in which
The War of the Worlds and Edison’s Conquest of Mars address the question on
speciesism and pessimism and the creation of dystopian ecology in the novels.
The goal of this research is looking for the incidents of speciesism and pessimism
mirrored in the novels, which incidents committed by the characters, the narrator,
or the text itself, and whether or not they expressed critically. The other goal,
through the analysis of the two discourse objects composed for the reign of
dystopian ecology in H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds and Garrett Putnam
Serviss’ Edison’s Conquest of Mars. The discourses found out that the problem of
dystopian ecology is caused by the centrical humanist values on it. In theoretical
point of views, this thesis is eager to increase the theoretical knowledge and
knowing the anthropocentrism attitudes.
The significance of this research is the possibility to change the attitudes of
human towards nonhuman in written texts and consequently in real life as well.
This research eagers to encourage readers as well as researchers to question their
way of reading the relationship between human and non-human, and hopefully
improve the status of non-human species as the literary object, and consequently
moral subjects as well. Along with the reading of the non-human as an allegory
and focus on the relationships between different species; not only between human
15 CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter divided into two parts, the first part summarizes the prior
research of H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds and Garrett Putnam Serviss’
Edison’s Conquest Mars. The second part discusses The War of the Worlds and
Edison’s Conquest Mars in the view of ecological reverence to analyze the
standpoint of the human role in the natural world.
A. The Literary Studies of H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds and Garrett Putnam Serviss’ Edison’s Conquest of Mars
Many literary critics in this field of criticism have mapped a history of
nature’s exploitation which led and caused by the destructive habits of human
thought regarding the environment. These thought processes have founded on the
continuing belief that is echoed by Lance Newman in Marx's Ecology:
Materialism and Nature. He states that the philosophical attention on the
introduction to ecocriticism is allegedly materialist concern with the environment
aligned with historical changes, in which “people were meant to exercise
dominion over nature, or that nature is a passive receptacle of the fertilizing
human mind, or that limitless growth is the essence of human social destiny”.26
Those above explanations help this study to emphasize the human dominion over
nature basically based on the materialistic point of view.
This dominance of nature was originally a necessity to survive even though
as the society developed, the passion for controlling nature remains. Simon Estok
describes this fear of and needs to control nature as “an adaptive strategy that is
26 Lance Newman, Marx's Ecology: Materialism and Nature (New York: John Bellamy Foster,
now perhaps as useful for our survival as other long obsolete adaptations: the
appendix, the tailbone, wisdom teeth, and so on”.27 Even though Estok states that
the fear and the needs to control nature as an adaptive strategy to survive, it is not
commonly well accepted, considering many things that have been ruled out by the
subsequent statement, for example, other beings existences. Our adaptive behavior
soon or later has led to the destructive habits that largely contribute to today’s
ecological crisis.
Today’s ecological crises apparently can be traced to the western tradition
or religion coined in the Bible. This affirmation conceptualized in the Genesis
which says,
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, like us: and let him have rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and the cattle, and over all the earth and over every living thing which goes flat on the earth”.28
It is a kind of justification for western people to explore and exploit nature.
Therefore, those explanations strengthen the justification that since the earth is
created the human has a different position, separated from nature, therefore, they
can control it.
It is known that western science, philosophy, and religion teach that human
is the center of the earth, which rivers, trees and animals (non-human) are for
human; in conclusion, their existence is for a human. Human only considers
non-human based on their economic value or instrumentalist attitude. Many of
scientists or even the environmentalist use their rational scientific human-centered
reason to protect the natural world (rivers, forests, and animals) by conserving,
preserving and taking care of their condition, but the actual reason behind that
action is because the human can use them gradually for their benefit. The example
is forestation, the purpose of forestation is to preserve the forest from extinction,
but the actual reason is for human health benefit. There are a lot of examples
which show the actual reason for natural world preservation.
The preservation and conservation of the natural world illustrate the old
paradigm held by a human based on their perspective and hypocrisy. The old
paradigm of human and nature relationship depended on the superiority of human
beings which makes a kind of superiority complex in their relationship, about
human rule the earth. Glen Love in his influential essay “Revaluing Nature” spots
on the old paradigm of a modern society that “human domination of the biosphere
is an overriding problem”.29 Therefore, this old paradigm of this problem needs to
be changed through the discovery of new language of respect and reverence for
nature, which is different with Darwinian concept of “natural selection and the
survival of the fittest”30 that all species must compete with each other to survive.
It is not about a competition of the species but connectivity, interdependency, and
reciprocity of mutual relationship between the human and natural world (species).
In Social Darwinism, Darwin said that human or species will always compete in
the world and those who are strong, wealthy and powerful can win; that is the idea
of “thefit of the fittest”.31 This idea comes from the old paradigm thought that rise
from the imperialistic values.
The novel The War of the Worlds reflects these destructive habits of
thought, by reinforcing an imperialistic perspective that strengthens human
29 Glen. A Love, “Revaluing Nature”Western American Literature 5.. 23 (tahun): 203
30 C. Darwin, The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, Or, The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for, p. 5.
superiority over and separates from nature. Regarding the situation in the
Victorian era, Victorian readers were encouraged to feel detached from nature and
lose any sense of responsibility regarding the damage they were inflicting upon it.
In concordance with the previous statement, Prince Albert speech in Spielvogel
reflects that British economic success is because of the divine will. “In promoting
[the progress of the human race], we are accomplishing the will of the great and
blessed God”.32
Supporting above explanation, Barri Gold writes that “instead of pursuing a
‘deep’ ecology among the Victorians, we may look for a kind of ‘social’
ecology…the roots of environmental problems in social problems”.33 It was
Victorian society’s belief in their separation of nature that allowed for the
continued exploitation of the landscape for technological advancement and needs
consumption whereas the act of imperialism of British Empire also leads to
another ecological destruction.
It is obvious that most of the British Empire which, as a specific
manifestation of anthropocentric thought and systematically exploit and reshape
the local peripheries ecosystem for the welfare of the center. John Bellamy Foster
and Brett Clark state that social Darwinism is “robbing the periphery of its natural
wealth and exploiting ecological resources”34, which according to them went hand
in hand with the “genocide inflicted on the indigenous populations”35; and
“undisguised looting, enslavement, and murder”36 were turned into a capital in the
32 Jackson Spielvogel, Western Civilization 7th ed (London: Cengage Learning, 2014), p. 713.
33 Barri Gold, “Energy, Ecology, and Victorian Fiction,” in Literature Compass 9. 2 (2012): 217. 34 John Bellamy Foster and Brett Clark, The Ecological Rift: Capitalism’s War on the Earth (New
York: Monthly Review Press, 2010), p. 189.
dominating center. These passages illustrate the conception of nature from a
Victorian perspective.
Since the nature controlling was a priority for the British economic welfare,
they disregarded the environmental consequences of their actions unless of course,
their economic interests were at risk. For instance, massive deforestation and soil
erosion on the Malabar Coast, because of “silting up of commercially important
harbors”37 in the mid-19th century, convinced the East India Company to consider
setting up a forest-protection system. They did so, however, not for ecological
reasons but because “forest conservation and associated forced resettlement
methods ... became a highly convenient form of social control”.38 Similarly, the
progressive deforestation on the Canary Islands, Madeira and Barbados had
resulted in the loss of fertility of the soil which demanded conservation policies to
be implemented. Apart from deforestation, whose adverse effects on the climate is
well known today, contamination of water and air, and “pollution caused by
extractive and productive processes”,39 led to the loss of biodiversity, the
extinction of plant and animal species, which disturbed natural balancing of the
biological regions over the world. Moreover, the exploitation of the native people
that mostly are the guardians of the environments resulted in socioeconomic
issues on such scale that even today their legacy, as international problems, is not
resolved.
37 Jonathan Bloom and Sheila S. Blair (eds), Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture: Three-Volume Set (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), p. 11.
38 J. Bloom and Sheila S. Blair (eds), Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture: Three-Volume Set, p. 12.
John Miller further explores the correlation between environmental changes
and the underlying ideological perspective in his essay “Postcolonial Ecocriticism
and Victorian Studies.” He expresses his concern that “the nineteenth century
comprised a pivotal state in global environmental history that brought dramatic
ecological change to many regions of the world in the same moment that it forged
momentous political shifts”40 and when considering this we must address who can
defend the nature. H.G Wells concludes “If the Martians can reach Venus, there is
no reason to suppose that the thing is impossible for men”.41 He asserts that this
invasion of Venus’ landscape is comparable to the colonialism of the period,
where “the transportation, both intentional and unintentional, of a vast array of
‘portmanteau biota’: animals, plants, and pathogens that in many cases
dramatically reshaped the ecologies they entered”. (WW, 179)
The narrator in the War of the Worlds recognition of the interconnectivity of
humanity and nature mirrors an argument by eco-Marxists like Raymond
Williams, who discusses that “the conquest of nature, the domination of nature,
the exploitation of nature” is “derived from real human practices and relations
between men and men”.42 As the narrator recognized within his premises that the
way society was governed changes humanity’s relationship with its surroundings.
Supported by Michael Lowly statement “From Marx to Ecosocialism,” that “the
economy as “embedded” in the social and natural environment”.43 To summarize,
40 John Miller, “Postcolonial Ecocriticism and Victorian Studies,” Literature Compass 9.7 (2012):
476.
41 H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds. (New York: Limited Editions Club, 1964), p. 179; All
subsequent references to this work, abbreviated WW, will be used in this thesis with pagination only.
the correlation between economic growth and ecological exploitation is
intertwined.
In his other novel entitled The Island of Dr. Moreau, Wells as stated in John
Glendening magnify the relationship between humans, animals, and environment
which often demonstrates how our biological receipt perceives other creatures
form, mutate our way of thinking about ourselves and planet. He describes that
“the novel’s treatment of the relationship between humans and animals are
uncertain as there can be no absolute or essentialist gap between them”.44
Glendening’s opinion evokes our awareness of the biological relationship between
humans and animals. Therefore it can encourage that humans are not in a different
position with nature itself which become permeable.
The other critique or it can be called “revelation” comes from the Holy
Father, Pope Francis. In his Laudato Si, which encourages people to reverse their
thought towards nature. Pope Francis explains that “The biblical texts are to be
read in their context, with an appropriate hermeneutic, recognizing that they tell
us to “till and keep” the garden of the world”.45 The letter intends to ensure the
role of the human in preserving the world, how the words like “till and keep” are
being used to stimulate humans’ activities of preserving nature. “Tilling” and
“keeping” are a mutual relationship between human and nature. In one hand
humans are having obligatory to preserve nature, while nature keeps humans’ life.
Moving into the other object of the study Edison’s Conquest of Mars, which
well known as an altered version of The War of the Worlds. The author, Garrett
44 John Glendening, "Green Confusion": Evolution and Entanglement in H. G. Wells's "The Island
of DoctorMoreau". Victorian Literature and Culture, 30. 2 (2002): 575.
45 Encyclical Letter “Laudato Si’”, retrieved from cf.Gen 2:15
Putnam Serviss as in Thomas Hockey’s Biographical Encyclopedia of
Astronomers, although he was an astronomer, he was better known as a
science-fiction idol than the astronomical figure. That recognition comes because of how
Serviss’ writing subjectively applies the science fiction theme. For example
“Astronomy with an Opera Glass (1888; 2nd ed., 1896), was perhaps the best of
the lot. The second, Serviss’s Pleasures of the Telescope (1901), is another
gem”.46 Through his astronomical recognition in his writing, he has popularized
astronomy around the United States and even the world.
Due to the object of this thesis is two science fiction novels which are
related to ecological criticism, then it is important to recognize the connection
between these two. Thus science fiction seems to “predict” the future primarily
because the future is always the standpoint from which we read and (re)interpret
it. As stated by Suvin, science fiction is “a diagnosis, a warning, a call to
understanding and action, and—most importantly—a mapping of possible
alternatives”.47 Meanwhile, Fredric Jameson considers that science fiction is
ironic, managing “to demonstrate and to dramatize our incapacity to imagine the
future”.48 Hence, it can be said that science fiction is the future assumption that
cannot be predicted, but can be observed.
The related studies that have been discussed above only reviewed on the
major axis of the issues, whether on the materialistic point of view or ecocentric
point of view. Therefore, there is still a terra incognita on the specific issues that I
46 Thomas Hockey, Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers (New York: Springer, 2007), p.
1073
47Darko Suvin, “Estrangement and Cognition.” Speculations on Speculation: Theories of Science Fiction. Eds. James Gunn and Matthew Candelaria (Maryland: ScarecrowPress, 2005), p. 31
want to elaborate on this research. The specific issues on this research are
distinguishing the ecological concepts of the Victorian era, which are speciesism
and pessimism using reverential ecology. Further elaboration of this perspective is
discussed in the subsequent sections.
B. Theoretical Review
1. Ecology in Literature
Discussing ecology in literature cannot be separated from the original
concept of ecology as a scientific concept. This section bridges the present
disparity between ecology as a science and ecology as a romantic idealism about
nature, not only for intellectual reasons but for the sake of robust public policy. In
this case, the use of Ecological Criticism or Ecocriticism is important as the
background framework of this thesis. Ecocriticism launches a call to literature to
connect to the issues of today’s environmental crisis. In other words, ecocriticism
directly concerned with both nature; in this case, natural landscape and the
environment which are natural and social urban life.
The attempt to synthesize natural phenomena with literary criticism raises
conceptual problems in ecology itself. Glen A. Love in Practical Ecocriticism:
Literature, Biology, and Environment identify various modes of the ecological
disaster that takes place in the physical environment. The environmental
devastation consequent upon the colonization involving social and cultural
transformations has altered representations of nature in Postcolonial cultures and
literature. 49 Love’s assertion aptly summarizes the debate regarding the
application of the ecological concept in literature.
49 Glen. A Love, Practical Ecocriticism: Literature, Biology and Environment (Charlottesville:
The term ecocriticism itself, firstly evocated by William Rueckert in 1978
addresses two main points, ecology and literature. He advocates “the application
of ecology and ecological concepts to the study of literature” (107).50 Rueckert
focuses on examining literature and ecological concepts from an interdisciplinary
point of view where literature scholars analyze the environment and discuss
possible solutions for the improvement of the contemporary environmental
condition and examine the different ways literature treats the subject of nature.
Meanwhile, Glotfelty’s definition in The Ecocriticism Reader (1996) is that
ecocriticism is “the study of the relationship between literature and the physical
environment”.51 Further elaboration by Lawrence Buell defines eco-criticism as “a
study of the relationship between literature and the environment conducted in a
spirit of commitment to environmentalist praxis”.52
Most eco-critics previously mentioned explores human’s perception of
wilderness, and how it has changed in history and whether current environmental
problems are accurately represented or even mentioned in popular culture and
modern literature. Other disciplines, such as history, economics, psychology,
philosophy, and biology are also considered by ecocritics to be possible or
potential contributors to eco-criticism. Hence, although the main concern of
ecocriticism is human and non-human such as nature, it can be interpreted from
the different discipline. Ecocriticism is historical, as it not only pays attention to
nature’s current state but also to human’s development in different ages they live.
50William Rueckert, “Literature and Ecology” in Cheryl Glotfelty and Harold Fromm, The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology (Georgia: The University of Georgia Press, 1996), p. 107.
51W. Rueckert, “Literature and Ecology”, p. 18
The idea of ecocriticism applied in literary critics plays an important role in the
process of human’s exploration of finding the balance between human-to-human
and nature.
Especially in the modern era, the ecological crisis has become a global
intention. As stated by Wei in “The Study of the Rising Green Literature—
Ecological Criticism,” “if the main problem in the 20th century is the race, then
the most pressing problem in the 21st century is the global environment”.53 The
increasingly serious crisis which mainly manifested in the destruction of
ecological balance and damage of environment triggered unprecedented attention
to the environment and society.
The awareness of ecological thinking affects many fields of society. Nearly
all liberal arts have a cross-discipline with ecologies, such as ecocriticism,
eco-philosophy, ecological ethics, eco-politics, eco-socialism, eco-sociology,
ecological anthropology, ecological psychology, eco-literature, ecological art, and
ecological economics with the limitation of insufficiently developed science and
technology at the previous era, where environmental problems not seriously
treated. Literature scholars and critics hope to solve the problem through the
researchers in philosophy and anthropology. Under this special background,
ecocriticism was born, a manifestation of people’s need for preventing and
relieving eco-catastrophe in the form of literary criticism.
Lynn White Jr proposes that the root of Western society’s tendency to see
humans as something apart from nature is the Judeo-Christian thought and that the
biblical assertion that God created the earth, animals, birds, and fish for man's
benefit continues to influence an anthropocentric view of nature. White explains
that our beliefs
“…..are almost universally held not only by Christians and neo-Christians but also by those who fondly regard themselves as post-Christians. Despite Copernicus, all the cosmos rotates around our little globe. Despite Darwin, we are not, in our hearts, part of the natural process. We are superior to nature, contemptuous of it, willing to use it for our slightest whim”.54
Relate to the above explanation; it can conclude that ecocritics suggest that
human’s literature should be responsible for the ecological crisis because
literature itself is one of the deep causes of the ecological crisis. In some literary
works, writers describe the large fortune people gained from nature. This
impression inspires people’s idea of tapping natural resources. Literary writers
and critics must remold literature and literary concept to stop crime against the
ecological environment and to atone for man’s crime. Eco-critics have come to an
agreement that the mission of ecocriticism is to explore how human’s thought,
culture, science, lifestyle, and social development mode influence or even
determine human’s negative attitude towards nature and thus lead to ecological
crisis. The target of ecocriticism is a revolution in thought and culture,
furthermore in the mode of production, science research, lifestyle, and mode of
development, finally a new civilization harmonious with nature.
Even though to lay our modern concept of nature at the feet of Christianity
oversimplifies the issue. In an essay that examines characterizations of nature, Ted
Benton describes the many forces that reshaped “nature” in Western thought from
it's been seen as a God-given resource for man, to an object of scientific
investigation and a romanticized ideal that inspires awe.55 He traces the shifting
paradigm of human conception toward nature from the medieval and Renaissance
into Victorian Era. While previously human life with harmony toward nature, the
increasing empiricism and rationalism change the ecocentric outlook into
anthropocentrism. As illustrated by Benton, several thinkers such as John Locke
considers uncultivated land to be wasteful, as God gives the command to
humankind to cultivate the land.
Ecocriticism investigates the textual depictions of nature in literature. The
depictions include the shifting meanings of “nature,” “environment,” and
“wilderness,” and the role of science in nature writing. Ecocriticism also addresses
the cultural connections between the environment, culture, and art, as well as
connections between the environment and such issues as ethnicity, gender,
religion, and race.
The relationship between human, society, and nature in the scope of
economic and cultural matters is the focus of those ecological types. According to
Arne Naess in “The Shallow and The Deep, Long-Range Ecology Movement: A
Summary” there are two distinctions in ecology based on value organisms’
position, which is shallow and deep ecology. According to Dent in his online
interview, shallow ecology is related to the matters of humankind, while deep
ecology is related to the philosophical concept of the relationship between human
and nature.56 The dialogue between human and nature represent in the below
narration.
2. Speciesism and Pessimism as Concepts
In this thesis, the dialogical reading of the non-human is not only as an
allegory for human social issues but also to address the non-human as a sentinels
which different with human. The focus also lies on the relationships between
different species; not only between human and non-human but also between
human. The thesis examines what kind of incidents of speciesism and pessimism
the text contains, whether or not they expressed openly. The starting point of the
novels, the first novel solemnly expresses on the invasion of non-human (which
allegorically represent human invaders) to human. The second novel empathically
speaking on the invasion of human to non-human violently and aggressively (refer
to the first novel). I will also find out how the human and nonhuman opposition
addressed in the novel for the sake of pessimism. Therefore, the following
subchapter will describe both concepts (speciesism and pessimism).
2.1 Speciesism
One of the key terms related to human – nature relationship especially
connected with the concept of humanism is speciesism. The term first coined by
the British psychologist namely Richard D. Ryder in his essay entitled
“Experiments on Animals” on the prelude of Stanley, Roslind Godlovitch and
John Harris’ Animals, Men and Morals. He wrote in the essay that the scientists
seek to have speciesism both ways: they confirm on the validation of animal
experiments as the similarity between human and non-human, while proposes
morality as the base of differences.57 He argued that speciesism is as illogical as
racism, writing that "species" and "race" are both vague terms, and asked: "If,
under special conditions, it were one day found possible to cross a professor of
biology with an ape, would the offspring be kept in a cage or a cradle?”.58
While in the perspective of Peter Singer, speciesism is “a prejudice or
attitude of bias in favor of the interests of members of one’s species and against
those of members of other species”.59 As an example, Singer (qt. in Wolfe, Animal
Rites) points out the hypocrisy of using animal as test subjects in medical and
cosmetic research, exposing them to pain and suffering and forcing them to live in
captivity, whereas treating a mentally handicapped person with an even lower
mental capacity the same way would be unthinkable.60 (34) Here, the basis for
moral subjectivity is not a higher level of consciousness, an ability to
communicate or feel pain, but simply the membership of a biological species.
Different from Singer’s ideas on speciesism, Camilla Kronqvist in her article
Speciesism – Arguments for Whom? States that speciesism is not merely
configured the factual differences but mostly concern about the superiority of the
human to the non-human (animals or aliens).61 She figures out that Singer has
made the wrong interpretation of speciesism,
57Richard D Ryder, ‘Experiments on Animals’, in S. & R. Godlovitch & J. Harris (eds.), Animals, Men and Morals (New York: Taplinger, 1972), p. 14
58 R. D. Ryder, ‘Experiments on Animals’, in S. & R. Godlovitch & J. Harris (eds.), Animals, Men and Mora p. 16
59 Peter Singer, Animal Liberation: A New Ethics for Our Treatment of Animals. (London: Harper
Collins, 1975), p. 6.
60 Cary Wolfe, Animal Rites: American Culture, the Discourse of Species, and Posthumanist Theory. (Chicago: University Chicago Press, 2003), p. 34.
Regarding speciesism, humanism has two sides: “an inclusive side,
according to which all humans are first-class moral patients, and an exclusive
side, according to which only humans are first-class moral patients”.62 For
example, in the past, the Western tradition on which the humanist ethics based has
justified phenomena such as slavery and the crusades on the basis that the people
involved, who killed, oppressed, and exploited, were not classified as human.
According to Singer “It should be obvious that the fundamental objections to
racism and sexism . . . apply equally to speciesism. If possessing a higher degree
of intelligence does not entitle one human to use another for his or her own ends,
how can it entitle humans to exploit nonhumans for the same purpose?”.63 Moral
worth cannot be based on a biological factor such as species, just as it cannot be
based on race or gender.
2.2 Pessimism
The Victorian Age validated a fundamental alteration in artistic
representations of the natural world from inspirational and benevolent to
malignant and competitive. No longer was nature simply an environment; it was
an autonomous agent that could exact its will on living beings. This new,
pessimistic model can be seen in poems like Lord Alfred Tennyson’s In
Memoriam, an elegy of nature, with lines like “Nature, red in tooth and claw,”
which evoke a blood-thirsty conception of the world. The other example that
promotes the decreasing ambiance of nature is a poem by Matthew Arnold
entitled Dover Beach, which reads,
62 Paola Cavalieri, The Animal Question: Why Nonhuman Animals Deserve Human Rights
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), p. 70.
63 Peter Singer, Animal Liberation: A New Ethics for Our Treatment of Animals. (London: Harper
