The Cultural and Ecological Relevance of Climate Fiction
Diplomarbeit
zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades einer Magistra der Philosophie
an der Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz
vorgelegt von
Janine HAFNER
am Institut für Anglistik Begutachterin: Ao. Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Maria Löschnigg
Graz, 2018
Acknowledgements
"You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of the world's problems at once, but don't ever underestimate the importance you can have because history has shown us that courage can be contagious, and hope can take on a life of its own." Michelle Obama
One thing is clear; I would not be where I am today without the help of some truly wonderful people who have constantly supported me in every way possible.
First and foremost, the biggest thanks goes to my incredible family. Thank you, Mom, for always listening to my, at times utterly confusing, chatter and still giving me the best advice. You are the strongest woman I know and my biggest role model. Thank you to my step-dad, whose support has been essential for my development. Thank you both, for allowing me to chase my dreams and experience a fantastic time. To all my siblings, but especially to my twin- brother, thank you for making me an outsider in the best way possible, I love being your ingenious sister! ☺
I also would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Ao.Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr.phil Maria Löschnigg. Your passion and knowledge have accompanied me since the very beginning of my studies. I am forever grateful that you sparked my interest in literature and more recently in ecocriticism. Thank you for your kind and motivating words in the process of writing this thesis and during my time as your study assistant. Your wisdom has incredibly helped me to grow and thrive!
Furthermore, thank you to my former English teachers for recognizing my potential and pushing me to become better. Without you, I certainly would not have studied at the Department auf English and American Studies, and definitely would not have become a teacher.
Last but not least, I want to thank my dearest friends at home and abroad for believing in me and supporting me no matter what. Some of you have accompanied me for the better part of my life, which I consider the greatest gift. Others, especially those I have met during my semester abroad, have showed me that there is always a couch to crash on in so many places worldwide. In addition, my gratitude goes out to some very special people who I met during my studies in Graz, and who now hold an irreplaceable place in my life. Thank you for laughing and crying (sometimes simultaneously) with me. Thank you also for spending hours on the phone, especially when we felt the urgent need to philosophize about the craziness of life. Another thank you goes to my soul sister and my ‘Leasing Family’: you are my safe haven and I am truly and eternally grateful for your help in all situations. Our conversations have impacted me enormously.
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Eidesstattliche Erklärung
Ich erkläre ehrenwörtlich, dass ich die vorliegende Arbeit selbständig und ohne fremde Hilfe verfasst, andere als die angegebenen Quellen nicht benutzt und die den Quellen wörtlich oder inhaltlich entnommenen Stellen als solche kenntlich gemacht habe. Die Arbeit wurde bisher in gleicher oder ähnlicher Form keiner anderen inländischen oder ausländischen Prüfungsbehörde vorgelegt und auch noch nicht veröffentlicht. Die vorliegende Fassung entspricht der eingereichten elektronischen Version.
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Ort, Datum Unterschrift
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Abstract
Climate change has been in the center of scientific research for the last two decades and will continue to demand close attention in the following centuries. Simultaneously to its prominence in science, global warming has become a prominent theme in the field of literature and literary studies. The aim of this thesis is therefore to highlight the cultural and ecological relevance of non-scientific approaches as they are offered, for example, by climate fiction. Fiction is ascribed special importance with regard to the discourse about environmental concerns and is understood as an exceptional means to render and discuss these complex issues. Thus, the thematic genre of cli-fi has the unique ability to break down complexities and as a result facilitate comprehension. Furthermore, fiction allows the reader to see and experience the issue of climate change from different and hitherto unfamiliar points of view, which enable the reader to rethink the status quo, reflect their anxieties, provide assistance for the imagination of future times and most likely generate activism. This thesis aims to provide a holistic view of the genre of cli-fi and to do justice to the variety of aesthetic expression. The analysis focuses on three contemporary cli-fi novels, namely Barbara Kingsolver’s Flight Behavior, Ian McEwan’s Solar and T.C. Boyle’s A Friend of the Earth. All of these works tackle anthropogenic climate change. With this focus I aim at providing a representative selection of the variety within this extraordinary genre and want to emphasize the importance of narrative means to counteract individual helplessness and perceived paralysis concerning the complex issue of global warming.
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements ...... ii
Eidesstattliche Erklärung ...... iii
Abstract ...... iv
1 Introduction ...... 1
2 Literature and a Changing Climate...... 3
2.1 Why Literary Studies Need to Talk about Climate Change ...... 3
2.2 Literature and the Environment ...... 6
2.3 What is Cli-Fi? And is it a Genre or Not? ...... 9
2.4 What is Ecocriticism? ...... 14
2.5 Anthropocene – What Does it Mean? ...... 19
3 Analysis of Climate Fiction...... 21
3.1 Flight Behavior ...... 22 3.1.1 ‘A woman with flame-colored hair’ – Human/Animal Interconnections ...... 23 3.1.2 ‘The weather has turned weird’ – Spatial and Temporal Setting ...... 25 3.1.3 ‘Educated people had powers’ – Science, Education and Class Distinction ...... 29 3.1.4 ‘Fly less’ – Environmental and Economic Challenges ...... 37 3.1.5 ‘They are a sign of something’ – Migration ...... 41
3.2 Solar ...... 44 3.2.1 ‘See global warming for himself’ – Structure, Spatial and Temporal Setting ...... 45 3.2.2 ‘The planet is sick’ – Beard as an Allegory of the Planet and Human Nature ...... 47 3.2.3 ‘If the place isn’t hotting up?’ - Science and the Depiction of the Climate Change...... 54 3.2.4 ‘It’s a catastrophe. Relax!’ – Satirical and Comic Effects ...... 60
3.3 A Friend of the Earth ...... 65 3.3.1 ‘Santa Ynez, November 2025’ – Structure and Focus of the Novel ...... 66 3.3.2 ‘The sky is black’ – Imagination of the Future Environment ...... 67 3.3.3 ‘Enemy of the people’ – Environmentalism, Love and Nature ...... 73
4 Comparison of Findings...... 81
5 Conclusion ...... 87
6 Bibliography ...... 89 v
1 Introduction
In 2001, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change came to the conclusion that there is a very strong possibility that humanity will face the effects of drastic global warming in the foreseeable future (cf. Trexler 2015: 3). In 2007, the IPCC published a report stating that it is likely that the average global temperature will rise between 2 and 4,5 degrees within the next century. As a consequence, 194 nations at the UN Climate Change Conference in 2010, agreed to limit the rise of the average global temperature to two degrees. Experts argue that if this goal wants to be reached the carbon emission must be reduced rapidly and even then we will experience a harsh change in our climate. (Cf. Kerridge 2014: 362)
The past decades have marked the advent of environmental conscious societies, especially in the Western world. People have become more aware of the impacts on our environment and many of them have started to live an environmentally friendly life to the best of their abilities, including myself. Logical implications that have been realized by many are, for example, saving water and energy, trying to use public transport whenever possible, and avoiding plastic. Due to the popularity of the topic and its significance and interest for each and every one of us, I have decided to pick it up for my thesis. But how can environmental awareness be heightened and spread in order to allow the achievement of objectives? With the help of literature. Stories enable people to make sense of the world and broaden their horizons.
Literary texts, as for instance climate fiction, certainly add another important aspect to the necessary variety of scientific and non-scientific means which actively participate in the discussion of climate change. Hubert Zapf considers literary texts “imaginary biotopes” (2002: 48), which highlights that an utmost variety is vital. In this regard Maria Löschnigg notes that “poems, in symbiosis with other discourses such as scientific reports, documentary films, protest letters, fiction, drama, travelogues etc. will help prepare a mental climate that will be – as it has been before – the creative basis for transformation and regeneration.” (2016: 219). In addition, variety is also a key term within the genre of cli-fi, which is composed of works that differ thematically, structurally and stylistically from another. However, each work contributes a vital and unique aspect.
The vast variety of climate fiction which exist at the present day, provides depictions of environmental degradation in literature. Three significant contributors to this genre are Barbara
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Kingsolver’s Flight Behavior (2012), Ian McEwan’s Solar (2010) and T.C. Boyle’s A Friend of the Earth (2000). The aim of this thesis is to analyze these three ground breaking works and as a consequence, highlight their relevance concerning culture and ecology. This analysis will encompass the largest part of this thesis, however, initially a theoretical background is provided. Chapter two aims at familiarizing the reader with the vast field of environmental literature and focuses, in particular, on why literary engagement with the pivotal planetary problem of global warming is indispensable. Additionally, the emergence and history of environmental literature is briefly elaborated and the vast genre of cli-fi is defined. In this regard the focus is on the delineation of concepts. Furthermore, an introduction of the field of ecocriticism is provided and the concept of the ‘Anthropocene’ is summarized. A detailed analyses of three works on climate fiction is presented in chapter three. This chapter aims to provide a more holistic view of the field. Each work is discussed individually and does not follow a strict scheme as the examined aspects will differ greatly in terms of plot and generic style. The preceding chapter, which discusses the theoretical background, serves as a basis for the detailed and close readings of the works. Nevertheless, additional secondary sources are included if necessary. The order of the analyzed works was chosen randomly and does not have any implications. The outcomes of the analyses are presented in chapter four, which aims to give an overview of the similarities and differences of the novels. Thus, it focuses on aspects such as generic style, narrative situation, protagonists, temporal and spatial settings or the degree of awareness. Additionally, common motives such as parenthood or the didactical chain are discussed. Furthermore, this chapter provides answers to the research questions posed in chapter three. The final concluding chapter provides a summary of the most important points raised throughout my thesis and demonstrates the essential function narrative means have for ecology and our culture.
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2 Literature and a Changing Climate
The aim of this chapter is to give an overview of the field of environmental literature. Firstly, it tackles the question of why it is important that literary studies engage with an at first glance seemingly scientific topic. Additionally, it defines the genre of climate fiction, provides an introduction to the study of ecocriticism and, finally, elucidate the concept of the Anthropocene.
2.1 Why Literary Studies Need to Talk about Climate Change
In this subchapter I elaborate why the discussion surrounding climate change is complicated and why we must tackle it with the help of non-scientific approaches such as climate fiction. Back in 2008, Andrew Simms warned that “in just 100 months' time, if we are lucky, and based on a quite conservative estimate, we could reach a tipping point for the beginnings of runaway climate change.” (2008: online). With statements like this one, the urgency and importance of the problem of global warming is highlighted. But does it generate sufficient awareness or even activism, which aims to work against the heating up of our planet?
In his contribution to the Handbook of Ecocriticism and Ecology, Garrard made a comparison, which I find extremely palpable and useful. He compares the threat of global warming with the danger posed by the Nazis before the Second World War by using a quote from a speech by Winston Churchill from the year 1936 (cf. Garrard 2016: 296). Churchill stated “[t]he era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays is coming to a close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences.” (Churchill quoted in Garrard 2016: 296). Garrard compares the inability of Britain in the 1930s to militarize in order to counteract the rising Nazi movement in the 1930s with our reluctance to do something against climate change. With statements like these the temporality of climate change is condensed and made more comprehensible. (Cf. Garrard 2016: 296)
Climate change has been in the center of scientific research for the last two decades and will demand our attention over several centuries. The problem is that the temperature on our planet will only change in about 50 years and thus, has no perceptible impact now. (Cf. Garrard 2016: 296) The scientific concept of climate change is still disputed and culturally we are unable to relate to the problem, which leads to total individual helplessness. People, although aware of the problematic situation, cannot change their behavior. (Cf. Bolze 2015: 59) However, as statements like the ones above try to convey, the issue of climate change demands our reaction
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now. Obviously, some experts claim that it is too late to impede. (Cf. Garrard 2016: 296) Clive Hamilton, for example, argues that growing wealth and population in combination with the restricted providence of governments as well as the inactivity of major economies is responsible for the impossibility to prevent climate impacts such as the presumed rise of four degrees of the global mean temperature within the following century (cf. Garrard 2016: 296; cf. Hamilton 2010: x-xiv). He concludes that we need to give up hope and allow ourselves to grieve (cf. Hamilton: 211). This is odd, because people will not live long enough to experience the consequences of climate change (cf. Garrard 2016: 297).
Kerridge stresses that the precarious situation faced by humanity is not the result of a lack of knowledge, but rather the conflict between what we know and how we act. Humanity does not behave like they know about the seriousness of global warming. (Cf. 2014: 363) He observes that “we are behaving not as if the warning were slightly open to doubt but as if it were barely credible” (Kerridge 2010: 69). A reason for this is the immense complexity combined with the relative novelty of the issue. Thus, we struggle to take global warming in stride, politically and practically. (Cf. Bolze 2015: 59) The constant flood of information and new scientific findings only enhances the discrepancy “between scientific assessments of the risk of climate change and the paucity of concerted political action” (Garrard 2016: 297). This ‘knowledge-action gap’ has been bemoaned by scientists for years. There are many reasons for the growth of this gap, a few of these are mentioned by Garrard in his contribution to the Handbook of Ecocriticism and Cultural Ecology, among others, “the power of organized skepticism; […] the ingrained tendency of media reports to misrepresent the scientific consensus as a ‘debate’ [and] the incompatibility of capitalism and climate action” (Garrard 2016: 297).
In the meantime, a second gap has emerged, that is the one “between rapidly rising emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) an global mean surface temperature trends” (Garrard 2016: 297). The temperature trend has remained flat for twenty years now, which of course feeds climate change sceptics, who call this ‘flatlining’ whereas climate scientists call this a ‘hiatus’ believing that energy is still accumulating probably in the deep oceans. Thus, this second gap is the arch- enemy of the knowledge-action gap, at least until the temperatures will rise again, like they did until the late 1990s. There are two conflicting sides, on the one hand, the environmentalists who see too little action in politics and economy and on the other hand, the sceptics who see too much. Literature, especially cli-fi, can be a means to conciliate these two warrying sides. (Cf. Garrard 2016: 297) The intricacy of anthropogenic climate change is additionally enhanced by
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works that deny the idea of global warming such as Michael Crichton’s State of Fear, which was published in 2004 (cf. Bolze 2015: 59).
Ecocritics fear that our society is psychologically and culturally unable to adapt to the vastness of climate change and see evidence for this in the knowledge-action gap (cf. Garrard 2016: 298). Kerridge argues that from a psychoanalytical point of view the gap is a “manifestation of a defensive response called ‘splitting’, which enables one to know the traumatic truth, yet simultaneously not know” (2014: 364). Novelist Lanchester states a point that goes hand in hand with this statement: “we’re reluctant to think about [climate change] because we’re worried that if we start we will have no choice but to think about nothing else” (2007: 3). However, ecocritics and literature work towards overcoming the phenomenon of splitting and aim at transforming the mere abstract awareness into active engagement (cf. Kerridge 2014: 364).
The fact that climate change is extremely complex is beyond question, and so is the discussion about human contribution to the altering climate. The contributions of single individuals are extremely small, so tiny that they are not even measurable, while of course the contributions of communities towards climate change are tremendous. (Cf. Garrard 2016: 298) In this regard, Roberts mentions the widening of another gap, namely one between the enormity of the issue and the limited range and scope of actions which could be carried out by humanity. He, therefore, argues that the complexity of the issue needs to be reduced in order to make it feasible and manageable for the general public, sceptics and believers alike. According to Roberts, people will take up whatever “Climate Thing” (2015: online), a distinct detail of the climate story, reaches them most powerfully and speaks to their experiences. He stresses the importance of stories as a means to make climate change part of their world. (Cf. Roberts 2015: online). McKie agrees and shared his opinion in an essay in The Observer, stating that writers, artists, and playwrights will help us to delimit and outline the horrible issues confronting us and describe them in human terms (cf. 2009: online). The concept of climate change must be approached by the help of the narrative according to Bolze (2015: 60).
As can be seen, narrative literature about climate can intertwine more branches of knowledge such as natural sciences, social sciences and humanities. These are of course high standards that not every work of cli-fi will be able to fulfill, nor is there a single work that encompasses all cultural aspects of climate change, which for example sociological studies aim to illustrate. (Cf. Garrard 2016: 301) Interdisciplinary work between scientists and literary critics can be an
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arduous task as even basic concepts differ greatly. One example for this are experiments. Both sides will agree on the fact that they have to do with innovation. However, for scientists it is principal that experiments can be repeated, while artistic experiments are naturally unrepeatable. (Cf. Attridge 2004: 20) It can therefore be a risk to specify in too much detail how a work of fiction can promote our understanding of climate change (cf. Garrard 2016: 301).
It is problematic that the majority of research about anthropogenic climate change is carried out within positivist disciplines, which comprise verified scientific analysis. Hulme argues for an equalization of positivist and interpretive sciences and, thus, for an elevation of storytelling about climate change on the same level as fact-finding (Cf. Hulme 20B11: 177f). He claims that “stories are the way that humans make sense of change” (2011: 178) and that we must not forget that “humans live simultaneously in both material and imaginative worlds” (ibid). Boulton, too, mentions that storytelling helps with understanding and thus leads to the buildup of interest and engagement if approached cautiously (2016: 774). Narration and stories have always been part of the life of human beings even before writing was invented (cf. Fløttum & Gjerstad 2017: n/a.). In this respect Haven states that “100,000 years of reliance on stories have evolutionarily hardwired a predisposition into human brains to think in story terms” (2007: 4). Hulme mentions a new project which accumulates diary entries from all over the world. These discuss how the changed climate is affecting individuals or even streets and insects. According to the scholar, efforts and contributions like these are equally important for an understanding of the climatological crisis as i.e. satellite monitoring and precipitation databases. (Cf. Hulme 2011: 178)
2.2 Literature and the Environment
Literary studies is a field that is constantly evolving and changing its focus. Until fairly recently the environmental aspect has not played a great role in literary studies. There were no publications or conferences on literature and the environment. Glotfelty asserts in The Ecology Reader that although “scholarship claims to have ‘responded to contemporary pressures’ it has apparently ignored the most pressing contemporary issue of all namely, the global environmental crisis” (1999: xv). Glotfelty further notes that other topics such as class, race and gender were popular, but major works did not tackle the ecological approach to literature while headlines of newspapers were permanently discussing global warming, ecological calamities and other issues relating to the health of our planet. This shows that there has been a discrepancy between current affairs and the focus in literary studies. While literary studies were, 6
for a long time, unaffected by what was being discussed in the media, other familiar studies such as history, philosophy or sociology have taken on an ecological approach since the 1970s. While movements, such as the civil rights or the women’s movement, strongly influenced literary studies, this was not equally the case with the environmental movement. Glotfelty puts this appearance into perspective, stating that indeed a few literary scholars were, in fact, writing and publishing since the 1970s. The difference to other disciplines was that they had not yet organized themselves sufficiently. Scholars infrequently cited each other’s works because they were unaware of their existence. As a consequence, no distinct movement had been established and their efforts were mostly lost in the flood of publications. Additionally, categorization was difficult and studies appeared in many different places under various subjects. (Cf. Glotfelty 1996: xv-xvii)
Glotfelty calls the mid-eighties the time when scholars started working collaboratively. In the mid-nineties the field grew and universities were incorporating the environmental approach into their syllabi. In 1992, the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE) was founded. Its mission is “to inspire and promote intellectual work in the environmental humanities and arts” (ASLE 2017, online). One year later a journal called ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment was created by Patrick Murphy. It was meant to enable literary studies and performing arts to exchange ideas in regard to discussions about the environment. We also find the first special issues of recognized journals devoted to the environment during this period. (Cf. Glotfelty 1996: xviif.)
Climate, especially climate change, has become a prominent theme in the field of literature and literary studies within the last decade. According to Adeline Johns-Putra, a canon of works dealing with the issue of climate change and everything that comes along with it, has been established and climate change is no longer an insignificant topic due to public and critical attention paid to the issue and thus to literary works focusing on it. (Cf. 2016: 266) However, the communication of climate change has been perceived as a challenge (cf. Fløttum & Gjerstad 2017: n/a.).
In fictional works discourse about climate has been going on since the 1960s. Back then mostly science fiction authors tended to set their stories in apocalyptical futures and futures that were changed by the climate. The first generation of cli-fi authors tried to inspire the readership with stories that discussed the struggle to keep the planet and its climate viable for all species. Many authors were inspired by the outcomes of research carried out by climate scientists and how
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they anticipated the future. These works were generally considered more speculative than realistic by its readership as well as literary critics. Throughout the 2000s this impression has shifted as the consequences of climate change have become increasingly acknowledged. (Cf. Schneider-Mayerson 2017: 309f.) Fiction is ascribed special importance with regard to the discourse about the environment. Trexler calls novels, plays and poems means to discuss complex ideas such as politics, history, science, cultural rituals and everyday life. By interpreting such texts literary studies is able to structure cultural transformations such as the Anthropocene (cf. 2015: 5). According to the ‘information deficit model’, knowledge of a certain topic automatically evokes action. However, this seems untrue as scientific facts about climate change alone have obviously not led to the desired reaction. This is exactly where the fictional involvement with climate change steps in. (Cf. Schneider-Mayerson 2017: 311) In this regard Robert Macfarlane is often mentioned. He gave vent to his anger in the Guardian in 2005, in which he asked, “Where is the literature of climate change? Where is the creative response to […] ‘the most severe problem faced by the world’?” (2005: online). This goes in line with what activist Bill McKibben demanded, when he remarked: “Where are the books? The plays? The goddamn operas” (2005: online) about climate change?
By now, it seems, the topic of climate change has been dealt with in all genres of literature. For example, ecopoetry is in the ascendant and so are dramatic engagements with the topic. However, the literary form which is omnipresent and dominates the field is definitely the novel. (Cf. Johns-Putra 2016: 267) The arrival of works answering the call for engagement with the issue has not taken long (cf. Trexler 2015: 8). The climate aspect has been increasingly discussed in popular fiction and also by more established authors such as Ian McEwan and Barbara Kingsolver. This new wave does not depict the life of people affected by climate change from a distant perspective but accentuates the urgency of the problem by making it more palpable to their audiences. (Cf. Schneider-Mayerson 2017: 311). However, there are voices that highlight the challenges of the novel in the depiction of climate change. Head argues that narrative fiction is exceptionally resistant to ecocritical action (1998: 32). Kerridge suggests that there is a need for new forms of writing that move beyond the categories of character and plot. He demands new forms that are able to mediate between the local and global, for example. (Cf. 2010: 66)
Scholar Adam Trexler became interested in literature tackling the issue of climate change around the years 2008-9. Back then he did not find more than a handful of works approaching anthropogenic climate change, mainly because the search in special bibliographies and online 8
bookstores was not fruitful. Through the help of friends and colleagues who recommended books, and the active search of reviews in newspapers, the body of this kind of literature grew to about 150 works. Since then, this body has continuously increased with the help of additional recommendations and because new cli-fi is constantly being written and published. (Cf. 2015: 6f.) The first novel that was concerned with the issue of anthropogenic climate change was, according to Trexler, The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula LeGuin, which was published in 1971. However, the issue of climate change, in the novels of the 1970s and 1980s, was treated as one of many environmental problems (cf. Trexler 2015: 9). In the 1980s more and more novels concerned with this topic were published and in the 1990s many works with a focus on dystopian and apocalyptical themes were emerging. With the beginning of the 21st century the body of works steadily grew, peaking around 2008. (Cf. ibid: 8)
Right now, most of the critical work done in the field of cli-fi is the close analysis of single texts. Scholars hope to find out what a work has to say and place its ideas in broader historical, cultural, intellectual and scientific contexts. Comparisons of works by the same author are also common. This in-depth research offers a background for more broader, comparative studies. In terms of discussing climate change and literary studies one usually finds articles discussing single texts or single authors. Most of this work has focused on works by ‘literary’ authors, as a careful study on more complex texts seems to be more rewarding. Additionally, critics can already built on interpretations of popular works by other scholars (Cf. Trexler & Johns-Putra 2011: 188)
2.3 What is Cli-Fi? And is it a Genre or Not?
Reports of the arrival of a new genre were all over the media, precise definitions however, are rare (cf. Schneider-Mayerson 2017: 312). Before discussing whether cli-fi is a genre or not, one needs to be familiarized with the term in general. Climate fiction is characterized by the aim of trying to show the extreme and serious changes of the climate and its impact on humanity (cf. Irr 2017: online). Climate fiction has been understood as “fictional texts that take on climate change – usually anthropogenic climate change – as either their explicit or implicit subject” (Siperstein 2014: online).
The styles used in cli-fi vary, but the focus is usually on the perspective of scientists. In dealing and engaging with the environment the setting is of significance. Generally, a climate narrative can be set in any place, but common places are usually threatened cities, remote regions or
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islands. Events occurring in the story usually transform the locations, often because of ecological disasters. The narrative is fast-paced and highlighted by a crisis situation. (Cf. Irr 2017: online) Most works of ‘Anthropocene fiction’ (see Trexler) deal with the aspect of the existence of global warming and humanity’s inability to act. An important aspect to mention is, while the problem of global warming is international and affects the entire planet, novels are usually set in one country and written in one language. (Cf. Trexler 2015: 9f.)
The neologism ‘cli-fi’ is the most common abbreviation of climate (change) fiction. The origins of this term are not entirely clear (cf. Irr 2017: online), but journalist, blogger and climate change activist Dan Bloom definitely had a great impact on its breakthrough (cf. Whiteley et al. 2016: 29). He created a website called The Cli-Fi Report (CFR) which is a research tool to enable the accumulation of information on the subject of climate fiction. The term clearly is a deviation of the more established term ‘sci-fi’.
Cli-fi has been labeled as one of the major up-and-coming new genres in Anglophone literature (cf. Irr 2017: online). Many newspapers such as NPR, the Christian Science Monitor and the New Yorker published articles claiming the creation of a new genre. Evancie, writing for NPR, states that “over the past decade, more and more writers have begun to set their novels and short stories in worlds, not unlike our own, where the earth’s systems are noticeably off-kilter. The genre has come to be called climate fiction — ‘cli-fi’, for short” (2013, online). Haq’s headline for his piece in the Christian Science Monitor was “climate change inspires a new literary genre: cli-fi” (Haq 2013, online) and in her contribution in the New Yorker, Kormann called cli-fi a marginal genre believing that the term cli-fi will not last (2013, online).
Johns-Putra annotates that these genre categories are “fluid in nature” (2016: 267) and points out that works often fluctuate between generic bounds. Additionally, genres also develop and change in time. She, therefore, suggests calling climate change a theme found in many genres such as science fiction, dystopia, fantasy, thriller and romance (cf. 2016: 267). Adam Trexler shares Johns-Putra’s opinion, claiming that Anthropocene novels, his term for novels dealing with anthropogenic climate change, cannot simply be placed in distinct categories as cli-fi novels break down defining characteristics of genres (cf. 2015: 14). Trexler further mentions that the genre is responsible for parts of the meaning inferred from cli-fi. He elaborates that established genres offer a nutritious ground to think about rather sophisticated issues such as climate change (cf. 2015: 13f.). Marketing plays a role too, because labelling a book under a
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certain genre will attract a specific readership, as genres are usually built by a shared identity of both sides (cf. Trexler & Johns-Putra 2011: 187).
The relation of cli-fi with dystopian novels and science fiction remains problematic (cf. Trexler 2015: 8). Evancie states that science fiction discussing the environment has been around since the 1960s (cf. 2013, online). Early examples of texts discussing climate change were often characterized as science fiction (cf. Schneider-Mayerson 2017: 311) or considered dystopian or post-apocalyptic (cf. ibid 2017: 314). However the “narrative engagement with climate change has moved far beyond this origin, permeating every medium, form, and style currently in practice” (Schneider-Mayerson 2017: 311). Evancie states that the common impression regarding the difference between cli-fi and science fiction is that sci-fi takes place in a dystopian version of the future while cli-fi is set in a dystopian present (cf. 2013, online; cf. Haq 2013, online). Cli-fi has also been understood as a sub-genre of science fiction as well as of speculative fiction (cf. Glass 2013: online; Richard Pérez-Peña 2014: online). Margaret Atwood has been labelled as a writer of science fiction by many of her colleagues. However, she prefers the term speculative fiction for her work and therefore refused to accept this classification (cf. Whiteley et al. 2016: 29).
There are many reasons why cli-fi is inseparable from science fiction as there are many similarities, one of them being the setting. Sci-fi has the tendency to create other worlds, so- called ‘novums’, which are often being exposed to intense environmental change. Ecological alteration is often depicted “in extraterrestrial terms” (Trexler & Johns-Putra 2011: 186), in other words, planets are transformed to resemble the earth to enable human life. We call science fiction narratives set on planet earth, and not on other planets, ‘future histories’, as their ‘other- worldliness’ is determined by being set in the future. This has been a trend since the 1970s. However, ‘novums’ have also been adopted by nonscience-fiction authors (here we could place cli-fi authors). Besides using the climate aspect in terms of setting, it can also work as an important theme or as a “function of plot and character” (Trexler & Johns-Putra 2011: 187). (Cf. Trexler & Johns-Putra 2011: 186f.) Science fiction, additionally, uses the concept of cognitive estrangement. A rational imperative is used to help with understanding when focusing on something which is different from the world we know. Science fiction allows “connections between global threats and individual lives” as well as the depiction of imagined futures on a planetary scale. It also allows the discussion of what-ifs and can therefore be a link of how we could adapt in a changed world. (Cf. Whiteley et al. 2016: 28f.)
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In science fiction the characters still alive are thought of as survivors and live amidst endangered animals in a restrictive and regressive society. The characters often look back to the past, a point in time around our ‘present’ now, calling it a wonderful and magical place. Recent apocalyptic works are set in the present and often misleadingly imply that going back to the country side would be beneficial and wealth could help you in a crisis situation. Many authors value didactic implications and aim at taking up a mediating position. However, the gloomy and ominous language of many apocalyptic fables failed to motivate the readership, because the apocalyptic tropes did not have an impact any longer as they have been around for decades. (Cf. Schneider-Mayerson 2017: 314f.)
In their overview of Anglophone fiction discussing climate change, Trexler and Johns-Putra argue that climate change
possesses an immensity of scale both spatially (as a global event) and temporally (as an unprecedented crisis in human history). It is marked by a necessary degree of scientific imprecision about the extent and speed of climate change, met by public confusion, controversy, and skepticism […]. Its solutions require network and negotiation, not magic bullets nor heroes. (2011: 185)
Bolze talks about the narratology of climate change stating that it is difficult to handle as it challenges the form of the novel in various aspects. Firstly, in terms of scope, not only in a temporal matter but also geographically. Secondly, the plot lacks “a clearly defined moment of crisis” (2015: 60) and causes and consequence are difficult to connect. Thirdly, in terms of characters as nobody is innocent any longer. Our existence contributes to the warming of our planet. Bolze argues that the reader should not sympathize with the victims but rather with the bad culprits. This would turn the hero-antagonist relationship upside down. She mentions that it “creates the serious problem of where to locate hope and narratological closure when, strictly speaking, no-one ‘deserves’ to be saved.” (2015: 60). Fourthly, the debate about global warming has reached a point where science is accused of having underlying intentions and loses credit. This implies that there is a problem of perspective dealing with questions such as who can tell a story and whom can the readership trust. Finally, it is onerous for authors to make the topic relevant to their readers. (Cf. Bolze 2015: 60f.) Kerridge in this context, states “climate change is futuristic. […] the novelist proposing to represent this crisis in the form of the experience of realistic literary characters has only intangibles to work with: unease, anxiety, the reception of scientific warning, fears for children, impulses of repression and denial.” (2010: 68)
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Johns-Putra and Trexler conclude that climate change novels not only engage with the topic in terms of setting, but also “explore the relationship between climate change and humanity in psychological and social terms, exploring how climate change occurs not just as a meteorological or ecological crisis ‘out there’ but as something filtered through our inner and outer lives” (2011: 196). Plotlines therefore, need to become increasingly demanding and characters need to participate in the dubious field of climate change. (Cf. Trexler & Johns-Putra 2011: 196)
My analysis of novels discussing climate change, in chapter three of this thesis, focuses on three books that Trexler and Johns-Putra would classify as ‘literary’ fiction, these are books by more “serious writers” and are “not often critiqued in terms of genre” (2011: 188). Barbara Kingsolver’s Flight Behavior (2012), Ian McEwan’s Solar (2010) and T.C. Boyle’s A Friend of the Earth (2000) are the books being investigated. According to these scholars, there is a clear distinction between ‘literary’ fiction and genre fiction. The former is in the focus of literary scholarship (cf. ibid: 189) and usually connoted to ‘real life’ and to being serious (cf. Bolze 2015: 62). The latter “unreasonably neglected” and “often perceived to be beneath scholarly attention” (Trexler & Johns-Putra 2011: 189). Trexler and Johns-Putra have therefore suggested that genre fiction, such as thrillers, political satires or sci-fi could be useful genres for climate literature as they are not limited in a way literary realism is (cf. 2011: 187f.). This must be taken with a pinch of salt, as the readers are expecting scenarios that are theoretically possible but also extremely unlikely to happen (cf. Bolze 2015: 62). However, ‘literary’ fiction does justice in dealing with the complexity of the topic of climate change (cf. Trexler & Johns- Putra 2011: 188). Bolze agrees, stating that ‘literary’ fiction is expected to provide solutions to imagine the present in a way that helps us to make sense of our changed world (cf. 2015: 62). Seymore demands ecocritics to explore different modes more. A turn to an emotional viewpoint could open more doors. The object could be approached in a different way be ecocritics and the general public (Cf. 2012: 57-62).
To conclude, the opinions about the classification of fictional works tackling the issue of global warming vary to a large degree. Some argue for an independent genre, others call cli-fi a subgenre of science fiction. Again, others see a strong connection to dystopian novels or just broaden the limits of genres in general. Although, cli-fi has substantial connections with science fiction, I will analyze the chosen novels as partaking in many genres, while their main focus is on different aspects of climate change rendered in a variety of ways. Pinpointing cli-fi as a genre with clear structural and stylistic features may be a futile endeavor, however, it does make 13
sense, as I see it, to regard narratives which deal with climate change as belonging to the thematically defined genre of cli-fi.
2.4 What is Ecocriticism?
At first glance it may appear only logical that scientific issues and problems require scientific judgement and competence. Ecocritics take a different stance. The examination of seemingly scientific problems such as global warming, still need to be discussed also within a cultural and literary frame. This is what we call ecocriticism. (Cf. Garrard 2012: 3) Generally speaking any study discussing the issue of climate change belongs to and involves itself with ecocriticism or environmental criticism (Cf. Trexler & Johns-Putra 2011: 189-192)
The most common definition of ecocriticism is “the study of the relationship between literature and the physical environment” (Glotfelty 1996: xviii). Glotfelty calls ecocriticism the “earth- centered approach to literary studies” (1996: xix). Another definition is that ecocriticism “examines the significance of nature in literary culture from ancient to contemporary times and in many linguistic traditions and genres” (Irr 2017: online).
Garrard states that the “widest definition” (2012: 5) is that ecocriticism is the “study of the relationship of the human and the non-human throughout human cultural history and entailing critical analysis of the term ‘human’ itself.” (ibid). He mentions that “ecocritics generally tie their cultural analyses explicitly to a ‘green’ moral and political agenda” (Garrard 2012: 3). Richard Kerridge, like Glotfelty, favors a broad cultural understanding of ecocriticism explaining,
The ecocritic wants to track environmental ideas and representations wherever they appear, to see more clearly a debate which seems to be taking place, often part-concealed, in a great many cultural spaces. Most of all ecocriticism seeks to evaluate texts and ideas in terms of their coherence and usefulness as responses to environmental crisis. (1998: 5)
Modern ecocriticism is a broad field that encompasses many different aspects. Zapf comments on the various dimensions of ecocriticism in his contribution in the Handbook of Ecocriticism and Cultural Ecology. Firstly, he mentions the sociopolitical dimension, in which environmental aspects of all kinds of texts are evaluated and studied. The aim is to campaign for an increased ecological awareness and also to alter political and social traditions. The anthropological dimension tackles the effects of ecological crises. The ethnical dimension examines the complicated relationship of humans and non-humans. The epistemological
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dimension of ecocriticism queries “concepts of thought, agency, and time” (Zapf 2016: 135) which are overridden by complexity. Finally, the aesthetic dimension, which deals with the relevance of fictional texts and their literary structure for humanity and human culture. The ecology of literature, posed by Zapf, focusses in particular on this aesthetic dimension. (Cf. Zapf 2016: 135f.)
Surprisingly, climate change has only just recently entered ecocriticism (cf. Trexler & Johns- Putra 2011: 189), although the field emerged in the 1990s (cf. Fiskio & Bamert 2017: 291). One reason for this phenomenon is provided by Clark who states that this lagging behind has do to with the newness and the scope of the problem and with the fact that climate change challenges connate ways of thinking (cf. 2011: 11). The origin of the discipline of ecocriticism is closely connected to the founding of the Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment in 1992, which was first established in the US, but since then expanded and now has also branches in Europe and Asia among others (cf. ibid: 4).
Thus far, life science has been in the spotlight of researches while ecocritical work on climatology has not yet been linked to literature to a great extent (cf. Trexler & Johns-Putra 2011: 192). Already in the 1990s ecocriticism insisted on the discussion of the environment not merely as a backdrop for a story or as a setting, but rather as the subject (cf. Fiskio & Bamert 2017: 291f.).
An earlier focus of ecocritics was romantic poetry, especially with those scholars interested in the historical aspect of ecocriticism. Important studies have thus focused on works of Wordsworth and Shelly (cf. Garrard 2012: 4). This reassessment of works can be seen as the origin of ecological thought in the Anglophone world and is linked to the philosophy of nature, which was developed by Goethe and Schiller, among others (cf. Zapf 2016: 136). In the 21st century the second wave of ecocritics emerged, focusing on more current catastrophes and demanding a more far-reaching engagement of literary and cultural criticism with environmental issues. These ecocritics try to look at environments such as the city not only from an ecological point of view but also try to link the topic with issues such as race, ethnicity and postcolonial matters. A potential third wave of ecocritics is on the rise. They drift away from second wave researchers, who were more interested in human societies and instead try to imagine planet earth without referring to humanity. (Cf. Irr 2017: online). This approach takes a more ‘biocentric’ stance, which means that the aim is to identify with all life on planet earth, so to say, with the entire ecosystem. This is contrasted with ‘anthropocentrism’, a stance where
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humanity is in the center. An anthropocentric view of nature would, thus, be connected to human life only. Nature would then for example be seen as resource for human economy. (Cf. Clark 2011: 3)
Ecocriticism has also been called a “hybrid discipline” (Trexler & Johns-Putra 2011: 192) as it includes researchers discussing literature, culture and the environment. (Cf. Trexler & Johns- Putra 2011: 189-192) It is associated with philosophies of ecocentrism, bioregionalism and the natural sciences. Ecocriticism is dedicated to working interdisciplinary, the connection of the fields literary studies, the natural sciences and, particularly, ecology are at the heart of the discipline. (Cf. Fiskio & Bamert 2017: 291f.). As can be seen, there are many contrasting ecocritical stances, however they are united by the aim to change the culture and by their critical response to the serious environmental crisis. Ecocritics want to pull their weight and do whatever possible to encourage the emergence of a more sustainable culture. (Cf. Kerridge 2014: 363)
It is ecocriticism’s close connection with the science of ecology which makes it one of a kind amidst contemporary literary and cultural theories. Although ecocritics are often not regarded to be qualified to participate in debates about ecological problems, they must overstep disciplinary boundaries to develop an ‘ecological literacy’. Thus, ecocritics need to consider the environmental problems that the world and society faces today. (Cf. Garrard 2012: 5) I will talk a little more about these factors when tackling the topic of the Anthropocene, but cannot examine these issues in detail as this would go beyond the scope of my thesis.
Ecocritical developments show that there is a convergence of ecology and culture. Culture and nature are mutually connected and yet there is a difference, which has an impact on ecocriticism. According to Zapf there should not be a “naturalist reduction of culture nor a culturalist reduction of nature” (2016: 139), implying that humanity should not dominate nature and anthropocentrism should not just be abolished by efforts of ecocentrism. Culture is not the reverse of nature, but rather a transformed version. Literature has “staged and explored the manifold and complex interactivity between culture and nature in ever new scenarios […]” (Zapf 2016: 140). (Cf. Zapf 2016: 139-141) Being a means of cultural ecology, literature has a feel for things going wrong in our society and the ability to highlight and re-integrate what is culturally marginalized. It helps us to comprehend the past, to make sense of and imagine the future as well as unite what is culturally detached. (Cf. Zapf 2016: 147-149). Drawing on the ideas of Iser, Zapf states that “the Fictive is a cultural form mediating the institutionalized
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pressures of the Real with the anarchic and amorphous impulses if the Imaginary” (2016: 141). In other words, a work of fiction is not limited and can depict aspects straying from the generally accepted norm and as a result works as a mediator.
According to Garrard, “ecological problems are scientific problems rather than objects of cultural analysis” (2012: 5). Criticism coming from the scientific side often addresses the lack of scientific accuracy of literary studies engaging with the field of climate change. It is therefore important to always differentiate between two concepts. Garrard mentions Passmore, who distinguishes between “properly scientific issues” (2012: 6), which he calls “problems in ecology”, and “ecological problems” (Passmore 1974: 44), which are normative claims about how we wish things to be. What the discussion of climate change in fiction can achieve is to convert a scientific problem to a “widely perceived ecological problem” (Garrard 2012: 6), which is then examined by politics, media and popular culture among others. (Cf. Garrard 2012: 5f.)
There is no specific method that defines the field of environmental criticism. Ecocritical studies can be very similar to other research in cultural history, but differ in the uptake of the environment as the theme (cf. Clark 2011: 4). Ecocritical judgements of texts are reached through ecocritical close reading and attention to the literary form and genre (cf. Kerridge 2014: 361). Ecocritics try to change the dominant ideologies with the help of literary critique to show “shortcomings of our current environmental ideas, to draw attention to environmental issues, to develop new ways of thinking about the environment, and to energize environmental activism” (Trexler & Johns-Putra 2011: 192).
Garrard highlights the significance of environmental critics, who are, according to him, responsible for highlighting the best climate narratives (cf. 2016: 299). Reliable Assessment Reports are increasingly processed by the IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This international body assesses science related to climate change and provides solid data for governments as well as decision makers in politics and economy. (Cf. IPCC 2013: online) Although more and more research is conducted, they have not produced adequate growth in public awareness or politics. This goes hand in hand with the discussion about the complicated relationship between the sciences and the humanities. Climatologist Hulme demands that “interpretive social sciences, arts and humanities need new spaces for meeting as equals with the positivist sciences” (2011: 179). It is not sufficient that only science tackles climate change as they do not yield the desired results. Given these points, Morton concludes
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that “we need art that does not make people think (we have quite enough environmental art that does that), but rather that walks them through an inner space that is hard to traverse.” (2013: 184).
The idea of ‘risk’ would likely be a fruitful place for a meeting of the sciences and humanities. Heise states that thinking about risk allows different disciplines to execute differing vocabularies that are informative and coherent for both sides. Ecocriticism and risk theory, in particular, can benefit from one another. Ecocritics use findings of risk theory when investigating for example cultural practices. These analyses, in turn, enhance the pool of data which is beneficial for risk theory (cf. Garrard 2016: 299f; cf. Heise 2008: 136). Ecocritics applied genre criticism as a means to investigate the possibilities of climate fiction. In this regard the conflict between climatic risks and literary conventions and techniques have been examined thoroughly. (Cf. Garrard 2016: 300) Heise concludes “climate change poses a challenge for narrative and lyrical forms that have conventionally focused above all on individuals, families, or nations, since it requires the articulation of connections between events at vastly different scales” (2008: 205). As already mentioned in a previous chapter, climate fiction certainly challenges the boundaries of narrative and genre.
The central concern of ecocritics is the evaluation of text from the perspective of environmental concern. Thus, environmental criteria are being introduced into the cultural debate. All forms of texts, i.e. novels, poems, plays and non-fictional texts, are being assessed in terms of how well these works represent the environmental priorities. The hope of ecocritics is that the ecocritical aspect becomes part in the assessment of all kinds of texts, which would signify a change in the cultural values. They strive to make the involvement in environmental concerns more popular and also to influence writers and readers to get them to care about the issue. (Cf. Kerridge 2014: 361)
The novel being one of the most familiar and popular literary forms, offers an attractive ground for revelatory moments or epiphanies. What is important however, with regard to the issue of climate change, is that authors connect these insights to the reader’s everyday lives. Generally, ecocriticism can be applied to all kinds of works and not only to works under the labelled under term ecoliterature. There will not be one book that transforms all of humanity, rather it is the variety of forms, methods and styles which in sum can bring forth change. (Cf. ibid: 364f.) In this regard Kerridge states the following:
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If the fundamental aim of literary ecocriticism is that environmental care should become stronger and more pervasive throughout literary culture, ecocritics will not be looking for a single form of literature that meets all the criteria at once; nor will they search only for a small number of new forms or genres specially adapted to environmental priorities. Rather, they will want to address all these various needs and audiences, and to bring environmentalism into all the influential forms of literature. (2014: 369f.)
Kerridge frequently uses the word ‘care’ in relation with climate change. For him it encompasses the feeling, to ‘care about’, but also the notion of taking action, to ‘take care of’. Caring is usually attributed to females, but ecocritics hope that the aspect of caring becomes part of all aspects of life of people, be it work, home, or political lives. (Cf. 2014: 365) To reach people and more importantly, to win them over and make them care is the aim of ecocriticism. This is only possible when we have a variety of genres that reach different audiences and approach different emotional reactions to the climate crisis. Hubert Zapf, elaborating these issues, has proposed a theory discussing the place of literature in a cultural ecosystem. (Cf. Kerridge 2014: 369f.)
2.5 Anthropocene – What Does it Mean?
Around the turn of the millennium, Nobel Prize winner Paul Crutzen, who was leading a group of geologists, declared that the current period of the history of earth should be called Anthropocene. This period succeeds the previous (interglacial) period, which started after the last main ice age and lasted about 11,700 years and was known as the Holocene (cf. Trexler 2015: 1). However, according to the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), which is the official organization responsible for the time scale of our planet, we are officially in the Holocene (cf. Stromberg 2013, online). Actions of humanity have had an enormous impact on our planet’s ecology and modified it to a large extent. Therefore, there was a strong need to manifest a new epoch to underline this alteration. (Cf. Clark 2015: 1) Responsible for this impact are, according to Crutzen, the emission of greenhouse gases, 30% higher atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide and 100% higher levels of methane, which are to blame for the climate change and higher global temperatures. Apart from this, scientists also name the growth of the world population, the exploitation of the earth’s land surface by humanity, the disappearance of tropical rain forests and the growing use of energy as factors responsible for the changes. (Cf. 2002: 23)
Scientists keep having discussions about the starting point of the Anthropocene. Crutzen states:
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the Anthropocene could be said to have started in the latter part of the eighteenth century, when analyses of air trapped in polar ice showed the beginning of growing global concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane. This date also happens to coincide with James Watt’s design of the steam engine in 1784. (2002: 23)
Trexler additionally names the beginning of agriculture, which was around 10,000 years ago, and the period of the cold war as staring points. Since the 1950s we have increased background radiation because of nuclear tests. (Cf. 2015: 1)
The term Anthropocene has appeared frequently in articles and is even the title of a new academic journal, yet there is still a debate going on whether or not this term should be made official. Thus, a study group of the International Union of Geological Science was formed and is currently working on this issue. (Cf. Trexler 2015: 1). The term has yet to be officially recognized, but has already spread widely within the discussions of our decade (cf. Clark 2015: 1). Trexler prefers the term Anthropocene over climate change, because of the constant debates over the scientific certainty of climate change. He hopes that the framework he created for the Anthropocene avoids the discussions that dominated environmental politics (cf. Trexler 2015: 4) as he states that the “Anthropocene indicates that atmospheric warming is not merely a theory, but a phenomenon that has already been measured and verified across scientific disciplines […]” (Trexler 2015: 4). Another purpose of using this term is, according to Clark, to establish a way to convey the seriousness of the issue to the general population. Humanities have adapted the term in a way that goes beyond its geological meaning. It is used as an umbrella term for issues on a planetary scale such as climate change or more generally the decay of ecosystems. (Cf. Clark 2015: 2) Trexler calls the Anthropocene a “truly global event” (2015: 4) even if the effects for local climates and ecosystems differ. (Cf. Trexler 2015: 4).
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3 Analysis of Climate Fiction
The aim of this chapter is to analyze several works of climate change fiction, to provide a more holistic view of the field of climate fiction as well as to do justice to the variety of aesthetic expression in this subgenre. My analysis focuses on three contemporary novels, namely Flight Behavior (2012) by Barbara Kingsolver, Solar (2010) by Ian McEwan and A Friend of the Earth (2000) by T.C. Boyle. These works differ considerably in form and style: Flight Behavior is a very realistic Bildungsroman, Solar is a satirical work of fiction and A Friend of the Earth includes many dystopian and apocalyptic elements. However, thematically they all belong to the genre of climate fiction as they tackle the issue of global warming, albeit in completely different ways. As already discussed in the previous chapter, the majority of research in this field of literary studies is in the form of close analyses of close readings. This has been criticized by scholars who aspire to do wider and more wholesale research. I, therefore, aim to provide a more comprehensive analysis, which contributes to a universal understanding of climate fiction. As I already elaborated in the previous chapter, the analysis of climate change has so far mainly been dealt within the field of natural sciences. Experts, however, urge that interpretative research needs to be perceived as equally important. The majority of research in literary studies tackles texts by ‘literary’ authors. The chosen works fall into this category. In the previous chapter, I asserted that some researchers argue for an inclusion of all kinds of popular fiction. The reason why I used novels by more established authors is the fact that this is a diploma thesis and, thus, I needed to confine my research in order not to exceed the limitation of it. In order to cover all areas of climate change fiction, additional novels would have to be examined.
With this chapter, I want to provide answers to the following research questions, which will be presented and discussed in the fourth chapter of this thesis. First of all, I will analyze the function of climate change fiction and identify aspects that other means of information about climate change, for example documentaries and non-fictional texts, are not able to provide. It is therefore important to highlight the distinct potential of narrative fiction with regard to climate issues. Related to this relatively broad question is the analysis of ways, in which cli-fi can make the readership care and think about the issue of climate change and, thus, ideally lead to activism against a further warming of our planet. In this regard, I want to explore why utmost variety even within climate change fiction is of paramount importance. Secondly, the relevance of why and in what ways cli-fi is relevant to society is analyzed. Finally, the limits of representing climate change in fictional texts are investigated.
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Initially, I will analyze the novels separately in detail and subsequently place the outcomes of my research in a larger context and compare various features of the novels. The order of analyses was chosen arbitrarily and, therefore, does not have any implications. One aspect that is of significance is the gender of the authors. Two of the novels were written by male authors and one by a female author. This aspect is often disregarded. In my analysis, I will explain theories and terms whenever it is necessary. The examined aspects will differ in the analyses of the novels, due to their different plots and generic styles. The novels are analyzed by applying close and detailed readings of text passages from an ecocritical viewpoint.
3.1 Flight Behavior
To the question raised by Kerridge, saying “where are the rigorously realist novels, with present-day settings dealing with people’s emotional responses to the threat of climate change?” (2014: 373), Garrard replies that Barbara Kingsolver’s Flight Behavior (2012) is the closest book we have as an answer (cf. 2016: 301). Flight Behavior is considered an unreached masterpiece amongst cli-fi novels and has been called the “most widely read and immediately influential work of American climate change fiction to date” (Schneider-Mayerson 2017: 313). The 2012 novel can be read as a very realistically depicted Bildungsroman with profound scientific background, due to the author’s studies in the field of biology (cf. Wagner-Martin 2014: xi). In Wagner-Martin’s extensive study of Kingsolver’s oeuvre, the author is described as “one of the scientifically informed positivists of literature in the twenty-first century” (2014: iix). According to the scholar, Kingsolver has focused on and provided illustrated ecocriticism for her readership (cf. Wagner-Martin 2014: iix).
Flight Behavior lays the focus on interconnecting different aspects of human life such as family issues, religion, poverty, environmentalism, and science (cf. Whiteley et al. 2011: 30). It demonstrates the intersecting features between human life and nature in a deft prose. Dellarobia Turnbow is a young stay-at-home mother of two children. She has a high school diploma, and is married to a man who is constantly obeying his parents. Her family lives a simple, rather unhappy life on a farm in rural Tennessee, when things suddenly change. At the beginning of the novel, Dellarobia is about to cheat on her husband but is stopped by the arrival of a miracle, namely a colony of monarch butterflies which would usually go to Mexico to hibernate, but that autumn due to initially unknown reasons did not. The butterflies bring scientists and the media into the otherwise dreary village of Feathertown and awaken a fire in the protagonist, who starts to re-evaluate her past, present and future. 22
3.1.1 ‘A woman with flame-colored hair’ – Human/Animal Interconnections
When we first get to know Dellarobia, she is hiking up a hill though the forest in order to meet a man who is not her husband in a hunting shack. She is about to throw her “good life away” (FB: 1) believing that this affair could change her life for the better. As she arrives on an even part of the path, she suddenly discovers what she believes to be “a hornet’s nest” (FB: 16). She refers to the butterflies as “these things” and compares them to “giant bunches of grapes” (FB: 17). She later calls it a “forest fire”, but at the same time contradicting herself, because this kind of fire did not make noises. “Not fire, she thought, but her eyes when opened could only tell her, Fire, this place is burning. They said, Get out of here.” (FB: 20). This fire urges her to exit the forest and therefore re-think her decision of being unfaithful. “Unearthly beauty had appeared to her, a vision of glory to stop her in the road. For her alone these orange boughs lifted, these long shadows became a brightness rising. It looked like the inside of joy, if a person could see that. A valley of lights, an ethereal wind. It had to mean something.” (FB: 21). Dellarobia has a heightened sensitivity to omens and, thus, her first thought is that God had sent her a sign to save herself and her children. Anything could have stopped Dellarobia from committing adultery, but the author deliberately decides that it should be an endangered species. The epiphany and the discovery of the butterflies can be seen as an obstacle on Dellarobia’s journey. She was on her ‘flight’ away, finally deciding for herself that this might not be the best way to step out of her dire situation. Initially, the reader might be disappointed that the protagonist’s development seems to slow down already within the first couple of pages. Dellarobia appears to subside in the wet and muddy ground that is well described by the author. She complains about her dependence on her husband and his parents, but she is unable to act against this and change her situation. With the help of the scientific community, however, Dellarobia does eventually develop and begins to change her life.
The monarchs are an extremely well-conceived symbol for Dellarobia. Not only does her “flame-colored hair” (FB: 1) match her description of the butterflies calling them a flame of “showers of orange sparks” (FB: 19), but as Murphy mentions, the title of the novel itself correlates with both the plot of Dellarobia as well as that of the butterflies (cf. 2014: 158f.). Garrard ascribes two different roles to the butterflies. One the one hand, they are, in his words, a ‘character’, which is very likely to become extinct, but in the end they survive by a whisker. One the other hand, the concept of the butterflies, also comprises a large set of symbols and inferred meanings. The various actors on the scene such as locals, scientists, Mexican immigrants, representatives of the media, British hippies etc. have their own connection to the 23
monarchs. (Cf. 2016: 307) He concludes that this “endows the monarch character with a function that is, at once, socially conciliatory and epistemologically consilient (Garrard 2016: 307). The dichotomy of the butterflies’ beauty and their ecological meaning is difficult to comprehend, especially for Dellarobia. She initially perceived them as a sign of God that stopped her from making a mistake, but learns that the fact that the butterflies are roosting on her family’s land is actually a sign of disaster and means inexplicable ecological harm. The change in habitat of the monarchs is evidence that the health of our planet is thrown out of kilter.
Flight Behavior is written in “folksy free and indirect discourse” (Schneider-Mayerson: 313) and Dellarobia is the focalizer of the heterodiegetic narration (cf. Garrard 2016: 303). Thus, the narrative voice is strongly pervaded by her thoughts and opinions. The reader tends to experience the happenings and problems of Feathertown and the Turnbow family through the eyes of the protagonist. Dellarobia’s ideas, opinions and feelings, also towards global warming are filtered through her mind. With this, the reader gets insight into her thoughts and feelings without the intrusions of a visible authorial guidance. With this sparse use of a narrator figure Kingsolver encourages immersion into the main character’s world and creates empathy.
The reader is not provided with a denouement for Dellarobia. Even within the concluding pages of the book she is still bemired: “Her feet sank deeper as the water reached her knees and the current pulled in a way she understood to be dangerous” (FB: 592). We do not know what will happen to her when she attends college. Will she feel accomplished and finally be happy or is this still not the life that fulfills her? How much influence will she have over her children and will she manage to combine family and education? Wagner-Martin even states that Kingsolver “does not even explain whether she lives or dies” (2014: 3). The focus of the narrative is put entirely on the remaining butterflies. Throughout the novel the emphasis is placed upon the counting of dead butterflies, concluding that too many of them had died. The butterflies are able to take their ‘flight’ and Dellarobia is present in this moment and perceives their departure.
She’d come out here to see the butterflies. Since yesterday she had watched them leave their clusters […]. Now they dotted every small muddy rise that was not yet swamped. Wherever she looked she saw their aggregations on the dwindling emergent places: forming bristling lines along tree branches and the topmost wire of the fence, clustered on driftwood, speckling even the distant, gleaming roof of her car. Orange clouds of the undecided hovered in the air space above them. The vivid blur of their reflections glowed in the rumpled surface of the water, not clearly defined as individual butterflies but as masses of pooled, streaky color, like the sheen of floating oil, only brighter, like a lava flow. That many. (FB: 596)
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The reader is somehow surprised by this euphoric description of fluttering, alive masses of butterflies. In the progress of the narrative one wonders how many monarchs had perished and now, at the end, how many of them managed to push through. (Cf. Wagner-Martin 2014: 2f.) The metaphor of the butterflies is a source of infinite hope. It is nature, even in chaotic circumstances, that provides information and prospect for humanity. The butterflies, like so many other living organisms, are facing total annihilation, but manage to fly “out to a new world” (FB: 597). In the midst of climate change and its consequential global alterations, which are detrimental, the butterflies have unexpectantly found a place to exist. (Cf. Wagner-Martin 2014: 3) Dellarobia’s world, like the one of the butterflies, came apart at the seams, when she became pregnant in her teenage years. The survival and ‘flight’ of the monarchs gives us hope that we and our protagonist can find a place to live, too. Wagner-Martin observes, Kingsolver decided to “force the natural world to become integral to the human one” (2014: 3). In her thorough study, she highlights the author’s progression from a focus on fictional characters to an increased importance of the world which supplies a base for both the setting and an appealing narrative. This is visible in Flight Behavior as the plot moves from being a tale of the Turnbow family’s life to an account of their land. (Cf. Wagner-Martin 2014: 192f)
3.1.2 ‘The weather has turned weird’ – Spatial and Temporal Setting
Flight Behavior takes place in the near present. In terms of seasons, the story opens in fall. The reader is not provided with any exact dates. However, in the concluding “Author’s Note”, Kingsolver makes reference to a calamitous flooding that occurred in Angangueo, a Mexican mountain town, in 2010. While this definitely pinpoints a timeframe, the reader is unaware of the catastrophe until the very end. By referencing personalities such as Barack Obama it is illustrated that the story happened recently and that similar events may occur again in the present or very near future.
Geographically, Flight Behavior is set in rural Tennessee at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains, far away from major centers of education and economy. The village of Feathertown is mentally dominated by the church. For most of the residents, religion is a very prominent part of their lives. The church is the center of the village and people spend much of their time in facilities provided by it. Kingsolver knows this area like the back of her hand as she settled in southern Appalachia. She is aware of the problems that afflict this region, where farms exist next to coal mines. She consciously decided to set her story in this area. In a 2012 interview with Time she stated “[…] climate change is not some kind of abstract future threat here. It is 25
literally killing our farm economy. We’ve had record heat years. We’ve had record drought years. So the people most affected by climate change already are people among whom I live” (Walsh 2012: online). The deliberate decision not to set the story in a remote and developing country but more or less in Dellarobia’s backyard implies that an ecological disaster can happen anywhere and that nobody is safe from global warming. In this regard Wagner-Martin states, “there is nothing magical or mysterious about the setting for Flight Behavior” (2014: 189). The ordinary is what instantly raises awareness and leads the reader towards a more emotional perception of climate change.
Figuratively and literally, the beautiful orange butterflies bring color into the otherwise gray and dull setting and into the lives of the villagers, impacting, in particular, the life of Dellarobia. Such a luxurious color definitely was nowhere to be found before. In my opinion, the monarchs also bring the story to life. As Wagner-Martin puts forth, initially, the reader might expect a feminist story of the protagonist’s escape from her static and unhappy married life (cf. 2014: 4). While Dellarobia’s story certainly can be read as such, the ecological aspect is more prominent.
The reader is constantly made aware of the mostly horrible weather situation, which at the beginning, and not knowing of course that this novel is a work of cli-fi, solely adds to the emotional state of the protagonist. Already on page two, Dellarobia frowns “at the November sky. It was the same dull, stippled ceiling that had been up there last week, last month, forever.” (FB: 2) Just a few pages further the reader is made aware of an uprooted tree:
After maybe centuries of survival it had simply let go of the ground, the wide fist of its root mass ripped up and resting naked above clay gash in the wooded mountainside. Like herself, it just seemed to have come loose from its station in life. After so much rain upon rain this was happening all over the county, she’d seen it in the paper, massive trees kneeling over in the night to ravage a family’s roofline or flatten the car in the drive. The ground took water until it was nothing but soft sponge, and the trees fell out of it. (FB: 7)
The incessant rain is the talk of the town and all characters are constantly complaining about it. On shearing day, however, the weather is nice and dry, which is not perceived as a cast of fortune: “But good luck was too simple for Hester, who now declared that God had taken a hand in the weather” (FB: 28). While throughout the novel it is illustrated that the meteorological phenomena are unusual and abnormal, no one even thinks of an issue such as climate change. The changed weather conditions are initially perceived as a whim of nature. Only with Dellarobia’s development, that appears to go along with the newly gained scientific knowledge about the butterflies, global warming becomes part of her mindset. As the story 26
progresses, the reader feels that things have changed and that she perceives the real reason for the disastrous weather: “But what about all the rain we had last year? All those trees falling out of the ground, after they’d stood a hundred years. The weather has turned weird, Cub. Did you ever see a year like we’ve had?” (FB: 360) This statement demonstrates change. While in the quote above Dellarobia feels sympathetic for the dead tree and perceives the uprooted trees as a metaphor for her life, she now connects the problem to an alteration in the climate. Another example for Dellarobia’s growth is that she now confesses that the “weather has turned weird” (FB: 360) while before she just commented on the fact that “the world of sensible season had come undone” (FB: 67). The first text passage clearly shows that she is now emotionally attached to the situation.
Climate change is present not only in the weather descriptions such as “the day darkened outside and thunder rumbled, an unusual sound for the first of December” (FB: 106) or “summer’s heat had never really arrived, nor the cold in its turn” (FB: 67), which illustrate the changed natural world, but even in conversations with her husband Cub, who is even further away from believing in such a strange and complex concept such as climate change. Due to the constant rain, which is responsible for the washed out driveways of Feathertown, Cub has more work to do: “every disaster proved useful for someone, it seemed, and flooding was good for the gravel business” (FB: 213). Dellarobia and Cub sometimes even struggle in trying to place the month of the year because “It felt like no season at all. The season of burst and leaky clouds.” (FB: 116) The changed climate is responsible for many of the problems of the villagers and the weather descriptions provide a meaningful setting for the different events and scenes. Additionally, they “help the reader understand the complicated progress of the planet’s warming” (Wagner-Martin 2014: 7).
An interesting fact is, how climate change is handled by the author. Garrard applauds Kingsolver by pointing out that “she knows what she is doing: holding back on the controversial, potentially preachy stuff until she can be confident we are hooked.” (2016: 303). The first time the term climate change appears is after a third of the novel. It occurs in a conversation with Ovid Byron and his assistant Pete: “The monarchs had to leave the Mexican roost sites earlier every year because of seasonality changes from climatic warming. She wondered whether any of this was proved. Climate change, she knew to be wary of that.” (FB: 202). By introducing climate change only relatively late, the reader has already established a connection with the protagonist and most of the other characters. They are immersed into the story and will, therefore, continue to read even if they are skeptical about global warming. Later 27
on in the novel, the issue of climate change is discussed more intensely, but never excessively. Wagner-Martin also comments on Kingsolver’s ability to entice the readers stating, “Flight Behavior, most readers would say, is ‘about’ global warming. The ways in which Kingsolver makes the reader move into, and sometimes away from, stable positions about the state of the ecological world is the crux of her artistry – the proof of her authorial identity – in this new and strangely foreboding work of fiction” (2014: xii).
Kingsolver intentionally set the story in the middle of nowhere, amongst a community that is very skeptical about climate change. As I already argued in chapter two of this thesis, the issue of global warming is often depicted as a debate and not as scientific fact, especially in the media. This is exactly how the characters in the storyworld think about it. While Dellarobia starts to be more open towards this issue stating, “there is more to it than just these butterflies, a lot of things are messed up. He [Byron] says it’s due to climate change, basically”, her husband just answers, “What’s that?” (FB: 360), and later refers to global warming as “global weirding” (FB: 361). Pete even outlines the situation by pointing out, “the official view of a major demographic […] is that we aren’t sure about climate change. It’s too confusing” (FB: 318). In another scene, Dellarobia asks, “why would we believe Johnny Midgeon [the person giving the weather report] about something scientific, and not the scientists?” (FB: 361). This passage underpins the perception of an ongoing debate about global warming. Schneider-Mayerson calls Flight Behavior “a distinctly American story” (2017: 313) as the denial practiced by the people of Feathertown has largely been an American tendency and, thus, it has so far, not been a theme in cli-fi by European authors. Furthermore, he calls it a very realistic depiction of American life. (Cf. 2017: 313)
The denial, the avoidance and the acceptance of a changing climate definitely play a significant role in Flight Behavior. The characters had not even thought about the issue before the scientists arrived and are skeptical about it. Only Dellarobia becomes emotionally attached and progresses from being wary about the problem to actually believing it and participating in its solution. She observes, “nobody was asking why the butterflies were here; the big news was just that they were.” (FB: 293). Garrard states “it is not facts that people primarily believe, as Kingsolver shows us, but other people” (2016: 305). As a thought experiment, imagine Ovid Byron had never shown up, and the only source of knowledge available to Dellarobia had been a study about the monarchs, her involvement would probably have been completely different. She might not even have believed in it. Initially, it was her connection to the scientist that made her believe in climate change. A person she thinks highly of and regards extremely charismatic 28
believes in it and even looks for evidence to prove climate change is occurring. It is the relationship that makes her believe in it too. Additionally, explanations provided by people we trust are usually accepted as facts and likely to be more comprehensible. The accumulation of scientific facts throughout the novel is in parts tedious. This also goes for the extratextual reader who becomes open for these issues because they ‘know’ these people.
3.1.3 ‘Educated people had powers’ – Science, Education and Class Distinction
Kingsolver has found a way to make the complex issue of climate change more palpable using the monarch butterflies as an example. The focus is mostly on the butterflies and they provide the base for scientific explanations. Information about global warming is inferred from this example. As I have already pointed out previously, it is information provided by people that is generally accepted, rather than hard facts. The character of Ovid Byron helps in breaking down the complexity as he is the source of scientific information. At first Dellarobia assumes that Byron is just another man who wants to see the phenomenon that is the forest of butterflies. In order to provide him with additional information and maybe also to impress him, she consults Wikipedia. She presents her newly acquired knowledge to him at the dinner table. Eventually, putting one and one together she feels paralyzed and mortified: “‘A little bird tells me,’ she says, pointing at Ovid, ‘you are a scientist’.” (FB: 165). In contrast to most of the other characters, Dellarobia is aware of how little she knows, which in all likelihood is the reason why her character develops further (cf. Garrard 2016: 304). With the emergence of Ovid Byron, a classical scientist-hero, we have many situations in which scientific talk is simplified. One striking example for this is Byron’s conversation with Dellarobia’s five-year-old son Preston:
Ovid crossed his arms over his chest and made a face that said, Very impressed, nodding admiringly at Preston. […] He turned his chair a little toward Preston and asked in his lilting way, “now tell me something. Why do you suppose a butterfly would fly so far to join his companions in the winter? Preston put down his fork and closed his eyes, the better to engage every brain cell. Finally he gave it a shot: “He’s lonely?” “A reasonable hypothesis,” Ovid replied. “His friends are very dispersed, you know. They fly all about. They cover a large territory. So, coming back to the group gives him a chance to find a wife, right? […] Ovid continued, “Why else do you suppose he might go so far? So far south, to be precise. To the sunny land of Mexico? “To keep warm!” Preston blurted quickly, like a contestant on a game show. “So they will not freeze, exactly. Really Preston, I like your thinking […] (FB: 162f.)
This conversation certainly only includes very basic information suitable for a small child. However, the reader is simultaneously educated. Most importantly, the lepidopterist and his 29
assistants are teaching Dellarobia. Throughout the book we find instances in which they explain scientific information in more comprehensible terms. The following text passage, explaining why the monarchs arrived in Feathertown, is only one example of many:
“They seem sturdy,” she [Dellarobia] said. “Seems like they always find their way.” “They respond to cues,” Pete said. “Temperature, solar cues, it’s all they can do. It works perfectly until something changes. Like, if they’re roused off their wintering grounds to fly north before the milkweeds come up, they show up to an empty cafeteria. Or it’s too dry and they desiccate. Every year that we record temperature increases, the roosting populations in Mexico move farther up mountain slopes to find where it’s still cool and moist. But there’s only so far you can go before you run out of mountain.” “And then I guess you come to this one,” Dellarobia said, presuming this was the answer. “Is that so bad? They are beautiful. […] “They are beautiful,” Ovid said evenly. “Terrible things can have beauty.” “What’s the terrible part?” […] “If you woke up one morning, Dellarobia, and one of your eyes had moved to the side of your head, how would you feel about that?” […] “I’d scream,” she said. “I’m scrinchy about eyes, to begin with.” “Well, that is about the sum of it. Your eye might look very pretty over there beside your ear. But what we see here worries us. We are scrinchy, as you say.” (FB: 203-205)
In this passage, we find some illustrative examples of how the complexity of climate change is made tangible through concrete images and analogies. Firstly, the image of the mountains in Mexico allow the reader to clearly understand the problem. When reading this, one can visualize the butterflies settling higher and higher on the mountains until, they eventually reach the summit and then there is no further way. Secondly, the image of a head with displaced eyes proves to be a powerful analogy to the anomaly with which the butterflies are confronted. It reinforces that this is a severe deviation from normality. Thirdly, the example of the cafeteria is an analogy to human experiences and links the potential danger to the butterflies to a meaningful image which is comprehensible for human beings. Additionally, adopting words from Dellarobia such as “scrinchy” gives the impression that the scientist tries to connect with her and to enhance intelligibility. Bryon also makes use of metaphors and similes in order to familiarize Dellarobia (and the extratextual reader) with the situation. By providing a comparison to her life and her knowledge, she can establish her own connections and extract scientific information. Garrard highlights that compared to real scientific talk, the conversation of Byron and Dellarobia is staged “for metanarrative reflection” (2016: 307). The discussions in the narrative about how climate change is depicted and perceived state a clear opinion on this issue. However, there are parts in which Byron struggles in articulating complex issues in a simple language when talking to Dellarobia. As Wagner-Martin points out, “he does not know how else to express his knowledge” (2014: 14). He is used to talk about the monarchs in 30
scientific terms, which of course attempts to be free of emotions. Additionally, he generally talks about them with college students, who have already required basic scientific terminology and knowledge about the butterflies. This is when Dellarobia steps in as a ‘pedagogical tool’ and shows that you can combine passion with objective knowledge: “How was that even normal, to cry over insects?” (FB: 202). She not only teachers her son Preston, who is curious and bright, but also other people of the village.
“No, just … I’m thinking about the logging. How are we supposed to decide?” “I don’t know. Look at the facts?” “What are they?” he [Cub] asked. “Well, for one thing,” she [Dellarobia] said, “when you clear-cut a mountain it can cause a landslide. […] You can see it happening where they logged over by the Food King, there’s a river of mud sliding over the road. And that’s exactly what happened in Mexico, where the butterflies were before. […] “That’s Mexico,” Cub said. “This is here.” […] “Do you know what they’re saying about the butterflies being here? Dr. Byron and them? They said it means something’s really gone wrong.” “Wrong with what?” Cub asked. “The whole earth, if you want to know. You wouldn’t believe some of the stuff they said, Cub. It’s like the End of Days. They need some time to figure out what it all means. Don’t you think that’s kind of important?” (FB: 234-237)
Dellarobia is able to comment and actively lead these discussions because she is working with the scientists and listening to what they have to say about global warming. She is aware of the fact that her knowledge is expanding and understands global climate change and knows about the cyclic nature of the monarchs (cf. Wagner-Martin 2014: 13). While Dellarobia does not detach herself from her emotions Byron feels pressured to do so.
Ovid Byron seems to constantly remind the reader and, for the most part, also himself that he must not get emotionally attached to the situation of the monarchs. Stating, “I am not a zookeeper […] I’m not here to save monarchs. I’m trying to read what they are writing on our wall” (FB: 442) and “[a]ll we can do is measure and count. That is the task of science” (FB: 337). Dellarobia does not understand this saying “[i]f you’re not, who is?”. He dismisses this stating that it is concerning the conscience of people and “[n]ot of biology. Science doesn’t tell us what we should do. It only tells us what is.” (FB: 442). The reader, however, knows he is deeply committed to saving the butterflies from extinction. According to Garrard, Byron, like many others in this branch, misunderstand the concept of objectivity, believing they must deny emotional connection in research. Clearly, a certain distance is indispensable in order to carry out responsible research. (Cf. 2016: 306).
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With the arrival of the scientists, the environmental message of Kingsolver intensifies, but turns, in my opinion, never preachy. She clearly states her attitude towards climate change and uses the character of Dellarobia to show progress. Dellarobia did not know much about climate change in the beginning and was skeptical about it. Throughout the story, however, she is educated about the topic and believes in it. She, thus, can work as some kind of role model for people and might turn non-believers into believers. The basic premise of global warming, for example, is explained in the following text passage:
“Three hundred fifty parts per million,” he replied. “The number of carbon molecules the atmosphere can hold, and still maintain the ordinary thermal balance.” […] “It’s a greenhouse gas, carbon,” Ovid added. “It traps the heat of the sun. That number has been going up.” […] “So the carbon goes up, when we burn oil and stuff.” […] He nodded. “Up, up, up.” […] “So what goes out of whack, when it hits three-fifty?” “The thermal stability of the planet” (FB: 383f.)
The people of Feathertown seem uncomfortable with people from outside their close-knit community, thus, the arrival of scientists, the media and later various environmentalists intimidates them. People are put into categories quickly. When Ovid Byron arrives, Dellarobia almost instantly classifies him: “He wasn’t a country person, anyone could see that.” (FB: 153). Her mother-in-law Hester simply states “[h]e looks foreign” (FB: 180). The villagers are not highly educated and mostly appear narrow-minded. Dellarobia herself states, “oh, kids in Feathertown wouldn’t know college-bound from a hole in the ground. They don’t need it for life around here. College is kind of irrelevant” (FB: 308). Dellarobia initially wanted to pursue a higher education but when she became pregnant at the age of 17 she dismissed her intention. Most of the people are farmers or work in jobs closely linked to it. All the village characters seem to have simple jobs that do not demand a higher education, probably because such positions do not exist in this area. Dellarobia used to be a waitress in a diner, her best friend Dovey works at the meat counter of a grocery store, and Cub drives trucks and delivers gravel. The reader instantly gets the impression that Dellarobia definitely has the brains to go to college and she, too, is aware of that. As soon as Byron’s students arrive she appears to be jealous of them because of their education and thus the way they live their life. She envies them for the places they have seen, even though only doing field work researching the butterflies in Mexico: “these students had all been to Mexico. […] No older than twenty-five or so, and already [they] had ridden air planes, moved among foreigners, walked on the ground of other countries.” (FB: 192)
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Class differences are embedded in environmentalism. Ovid Byron, his assistants and students know about climate change, actively spread the word and aim at protecting the environment, while the people of Feathertown are mostly sceptics and do not even believe the scientists. This divide is also perceived by Dellarobia within the storyworld. Ovid tries to sum up her point: “What, you’re saying this is some kind of contest between the peasant class and the gentry?” (FB: 444). Dellarobia admits that “[t]he environment got assigned to the other team. Worries like that are not for people like us. So says my husband” (FB: 445). Living in an area where well paid jobs do not exists, Dellarobia realizes that “educated people had powers” (FB: 172). One might have the impression that the villagers are dull and simple, while the outsiders are belonging to a higher, more wealthier and definitely more intellectual class. Even Dellarobia herself states, “that’s kind of typical with farming, people are slow to take up things” (FB: 281). The author sets Dellarobia apart from the other villagers, making her see how ‘outsiders’ see them. The following text passage shows this very clearly: “She felt herself looking at things through their [the students working with Byron] eyes sometimes. A lot of times, in fact. Their days here were like channel-surfing the Hillbilly Network: the potholed roads, the Wayside, the sketchy diner, her tacky house. She herself was a fixture in their reality show. Redneck Survivor.” (FB: 222f.). Dellarobia seems to be the bright spot amongst a sea of ‘hicks’. At least this is how some have interpreted it. In a review in the Los Angeles Times Tobar claims that Flight Behavior is a “Blue State morality tale about Red State people and Red State thinking.” (2012: online), implying that Kingsolver’s perspective is one of the “Democrat-dominated parts of the USA” (Garrard 2016: 304) and that the Republican-dominated parts are portrayed as being close-minded and backwoods (cf. Garrard 2016: 304). Tobar heavily criticizes Kingsolver for depicting Feathertown as detached from civilization, creating a series of hillbilly characters and being preachy (cf. 2012: online). However, as Garrard points out, that critique misses the empathetic and compassionate stance of the author towards rural poverty. He highlights the fact that Dellarobia confronts air of condescension when facing it (cf. Garrard 2016: 304). “Teams had been chosen, and the scientists were not us, they were them. That’s how Cub would see it.” (FB: 235). Only Dellarobia eventually switches teams by leaving Feathertown and enrolling in college in the next town.
In the conversations between Dellarobia and Ovid, the place of science in public discourse is addressed. It is safe to say that in Feathertown the closest link to science is the weather report on the radio or for the Turnbows farming and lambing. Scientific information does not have any significance for the villagers. Thus, they also do not know much about climate change. Even when villagers encounter the scientists, they do not understand why people would fly 33
across a “whole damn country” (FB: 147) or how watching butterflies could be a job. However, Dellarobia has understood that the task of science is more than measuring and counting: “Someone had to explain things. If men like Ovid Byron were holding back, the Tina Ultners of this world were going to take their shots.” (FB: 337). In fact, she is the only one who understands that both is important, scientific knowledge and its dissemination among people. Her in-between position is ideal for mediating this issue.
The novel directly addresses the depiction of climate change as a debate: “Fifteen years ago people knew about global warming, at least in a general way […]. In surveys, they would all answer, Yes, it exists, it’s a problem. Conservatives or liberals, exactly the same. Now there is a divide” (FB: 443) Tina Ultner’s character is used to represent the media’s misrepresentation of climate change. In a heated discussion with Ovid Byron, she constantly accuses and provokes him:
Tina blinked once, twice. “Scientists tell us they can’t predict the exact effects of global warming.” “Correct. We tell you that, because we are more honest than other people. We know evidence will keep coming in. It does not mean we ignore the subject until further notice. We brush our teeth, for instance, even though we do not know exactly how many cavities we may be avoiding. “Well, a lot of people are just not convinced. We’re here to get information.” He [Byron] rolled his eyes to the ceiling and showed his teeth in a grimace, the tip of his tongue just visible between his front teeth. When he finally looked at her again, this seemed to cause him actual pain. “If you were here to get information, Tina, you would not be standing in my laboratory telling me what scientists think.” (FB: 506)
According to Byron, the media do not fulfill their duty, he even states, “You have a job to do, woman, and you are not doing it.” (FB: 507) Earlier in the book she asked the scientist to briefly summarize why the monarchs lighted in the Appalachian mountain, whereupon Byron plainly stated that this “won’t fit in a nutshell” (FB: 502). Tina Ultner aims to provide the news her audience wants to hear. Wagner-Martin puts Ovid Byron’s proposition to the point stating that “the message should be ‘damage’, not beauty.” (2014: 17). In other words, it does not help the world when a disordered system is depicted as a beautiful miracle, rather the population needs to be enlightened about the catastrophe that will eventually happen. Dovey films the entire contention and uploads it on YouTube. The video goes viral and viewers agree with the scientific community communicating how terrible the media represents the situation. Byron’s meta-discursive elaborations try to answer the complex question of why the relationship between science and the media is so complicated explaining, “Ecology is the study of biological communities. How populations interact. It does not mean recycling aluminum cans. It’s an
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experimental and theoretical science, like physics. But if we try to make our science relevant to outsiders, right away they look for a picket sign.” (FB: 447). He also likes “to think academics are the referees” (FB: 446) who can talk to both sides, in the case of Flight Behavior the skeptical people of Feathertown and the demonstrating environmentalists. However, he does not like to talk to the media arguing “if we tangle too much in the public debate, our peers will criticize our language as imprecise, or too certain” (FB: 447). Passages such as the ones above show that it is the complexity of the issue that impinges on a more fruitful relationship between the media and science. This is where art, especially literature steps in. In the novel we find a connection between science and art in the characters of Bryon and his wife Juliet. “[H]e was there as a representative of science, and she of art” (FB: 536), this is how they met at a conference. Both most certainly, benefit from each other’s background and, thus, constitute a perfect example.
Garrard argues that Kingsolver needs to take skepticism more seriously (cf. 2016: 309). The majority of the sceptics appears to be doubtful of the issue because of their lack of scientific knowledge and interest. In other words, the reader is not confronted with a scientific voice that argues against global warming. Additionally, Charles points out, “there’s a marked absence of villains throughout this story, which, frankly, saps its drama a bit: no corrupt ministers or rapacious developers; Dellarobia’s unambitious husband is boring but never unkind; even Dellarobia’s bitter mother-in-law evolves into one of the more complicated characters.” (2012: online). He is not wrong, the political discussion about the situation is completely omitted by the author. Garrard understands this as an “avoidance of irresolvable political conflicts” (2016: 309). I partly disagree. While I do see his point that it would have been especially interesting to see how local politicians would deal with the issues presented with this complexification within the storyworld of Flight Behavior, I felt relieved by the fact that the political side of the issue was excluded as Kingsolver would have run the risk to spoil the captivating storyline. The novel mostly tackles the scientific side, which on its own, is already a tough nut to crack. Additionally, in the course of the second half of the novel the representation of climate change (and science in general) in the media is highlighted. I personally think that additionally including the political dimension of the issue would have been overpowering. Garrard furthermore observes that Dellarobia does not leave her husband because he is a climate skeptic, but because he simply is the wrong man for her. If it would have been the other way around, this definitely would not have emphasized the environmental message of the novel. I assume quite the contrary would have happened. The reader understands that Cub and Dellarobia are
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not meant to be, but naming an environmental issue and, thus, a different opinion on climate change as an issue would have appeared superficial and overstated.
I have already discussed the problem of climate change being regarded as a debate and not as proven scientific fact in the second chapter of this diploma thesis. Literature can be a means to act as a mediator. Garrard argues that Flight Behavior “itself implicitly enters a plea for the importance of imaginative literature in a consilient re-conceptualization of climate change” (2016: 302). An advantage of novels is that they manage to integrate true facts, in this case scientific information about the monarch butterflies and global warming, with imaginary and attractive people and storylines (cf. Garrard 2016: 305). Wagner-Martin additionally argues that Kingsolver provides us with relatable characters, in this instance ‘hillbillies’ living in the Appalachian mountains (cf. 2014: 190). The author was surprised how little was known about the ‘hillbilly’ community and how little they were respected. Therefore, she aimed to take a defensive stance in order give the marginalized group a voice (cf. Snodgrass 2004: 13). Novels such as Flight Behavior are necessary counterparts to scientific research as they provide us with the emotional approach and make us care about issues such as global warming. They provide the reader with an insight into a world, in this case the provincial Feathertown, they would probably not have ‘visited’ in regards to climate change. With Dellarobia as reflector figure, we feel her emotions, what confuses her, what scares her, in what ways she feels inhibited and unable to act etc. but also what moves her, makes her want to show activism and potentially changes her view of environmentalism.
I have already touched upon the fact that in Feathertown people rely more on religion than they do on science. The Turnbow family, besides Dellarobia, is very religious. In particular, Hester and her son Cub seek their fortune in their faith. Throughout the novel, Hester tries to find explanations with the help of her faith: “Hester thinks God is keeping the winter mild to protect the butterflies. […] The butterflies knew God was looking after things here, and that’s why they came to Feathertown” (FB: 415). Complicated questions are usually answered with the same line according to Dellarobia: “The Lord moves in mysterious ways.” (FB: 204). With answers like this, complex issues are simply dismissed. Claiming that God is responsible for the occurrence of unusual or even unfortunate events ends the discussion. It is seen as a valid answer that does not need additional elaboration. Bobby Ogle, the pastor of the local church, tries to interconnect environmentalism to religion by stating “[…] the Old and New Testaments together had over a thousand passages about respecting God’s earth” (FB: 229). This shows that religion also includes environmentalist aspects, which can help religious people to identify 36
with the novel. Text passages such as the one above allow interconnections between fields that, at first glance, do not seem to overlap to a great extent.
3.1.4 ‘Fly less’ – Environmental and Economic Challenges
In terms of environmental challenges, the most striking issue is the abnormally bad weather. The author includes descriptions of the current weather situation in every chapter, thus highlighting it as important for the plot. As I have already elaborated on the weather in a previous chapter in more detail, I now want to focus on how the novel meaningfully links the consequences of the bad weather with economic aspects. Throughout the novel characters discuss the fact that landslides are happening everywhere in the area.
“Have you looked at that mountain since they finished logging it out? It’s a trash pile. Nothing but mud and splinters. […] I drive past there every time I go to Food King […] It looks like they blew up bombs all over it. Then these rains started and the whole mountain is sliding into the road. They have road crews out there blading the muck out of the way. I bet I’ve seen that six times since July.” (FB: 54f.)
The danger of a landslide soon becomes relevant for the Turnbows, too. The reason for this are financial straits. Bear and Hester took out a loan for new machinery and Cub and Dellarobia still redeem the instalments for their house. In order to be able to pay back the loan, Cub’s father Bear decides to log a hillside. Then the butterflies arrive. Dellarobia and Hester are against the logging, because of the monarchs, and try to postpone it until the butterflies have moved on. Additionally, the eventuality of a landslide becomes relevant for the family, even if their chief does not want to see this. In preschool, Dellarobia’s son Preston befriends a girl from Mexico. Eventually, they find out that the Mexican family had to leave their home because of a landslide, “[s]he’d done some looking on the Internet about the town in Mexico where Preston’s little friend and her family lost their home, and logging was a part of it.” (FB: 189). Dellarobia is aware of the fact that logging the mountain would not ease the situation on a long-term scale, rather chances are high that doing so would lead to an even bigger problem. The family is stuck in a vicious circle. They have the choice between the devil and the deep blue sea.
The environmental challenges are at least partly responsible for the economic ones. It is not only the Turnbow farm that struggles with financial problems, other farms in the area, too, could not afford to continue the business and had to find other ways to grant a stable income. Early in the book the reader learns about the troubles of the Turnbows and the poverty that weighs upon the area.
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This time of the year the mow should have been packed like a suitcase, filled side to side and top to bottom, but the cavernous loft was more than half empty. They’d lost the late-summer cutting because three consecutive rainless days were needed for cutting, raking, and baling a hay crop. All the farmers they knew had leaned into the forecasts like gamblers banking on a straight flush: some took the risk, mowed hay that got rained on, and lost. Others waited, and also lost. (FB: 49f.)
Nobody can impact the weather and it is somewhat ironic that the constant rain happens to afflict an area in which most people do not know and/or care about global warming and its effects. The family will have to additionally purchase hay from other places just to keep the farm going, not even knowing if they will make a profit in the end.
Poverty is a major issue in the novel. Already in the first chapter we learn that Dellarobia and her family have money problems. She is wearing boots that are too big for here, but only cost a couple of dollars at the second-hand store and were still looking okay. Already on the first page we read “[r]ight up to the day when hope in all versions went out of stock, including the crummy discount brands, and the heart had just one instruction left: run.” (FB: 1). Poverty runs like a unifying thread through the novel. Scenes like the following are generic:
Dellarobia steered toward her husband, vowing to try and be sweet, but of course he picked up the can of Folgers. “Put it back, Cub,” she said. “Get the store brand.” “I thought we liked the Folgers” “Six dollars. The store brand is one seventy-five. Which one do we like?” (FB: 231)
This of course has an impact on the protagonist’s relationship as money struggles are one of the reasons for fights with her husband Cub. Nothing the Turnbows own is of greater material value. “Cub still drove the same pickup truck they’d dated in, now on its third engine overhaul, with so many miles on it you’d think surely he’d been somewhere. But he hadn’t seen a state line […].” (FB: 61). The family is shown to be completely caught in their situation and there are no easy ways out. The complex network of material problems, is intricately linked to issues of climate change. With the arrival of the butterflies comes the idea to charge people for seeing this miracle on the Turnbow grounds. A family friend suggests this: “here’s what you ought to do, about all these people coming up? You should charge them” (FB: 112). Hester, even though seeing the butterflies as a religious sign, goes through with this plan and uses the “butterfly money” (FB: 213) to pay back the loan. Cub’s father, Bear, wants to kill the ‘bugs’, as he calls them. While Cub believes that there is “a reason for everything” (FB: 75), his mother believes that “[t]his could be the Lord’s business.” (FB: 76). This again heightens the seriousness of the
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situation. Although they are believing people, they still have to exploit the butterfly colony to make at least a little money.
Although, Kingsolver has been criticized in several reviews and Flight Behavior has been called a patronizing morality tale by some, Garrard calls it “anything but simplistic” (2016: 305). He mentions that Kingsolver is able to demonstrate how horrible and cruel poverty in a wealthy nation can be. (Cf. Garrard 2016: 305) The following text passage is a good example for this:
Some sickness made her deride his [Cub’s] simplicity. Really the infection was everywhere. On television, deriding people was hip. […] A night or two ago they’d seen comedians mocking some old guy in camo overalls who could have been anybody, a neighbor. Not an actor, this was a real man, standing near his barn someplace with a plug of tobacco in his lip, discussing the weather and his coonhounds. Billy Ray Hatch: she and Cub repeated the name aloud, as though he might be some kin. (FB: 257f.)
This clearly shows that the author is aware of the problems in rural regions, discussing not just poverty itself, but also class differences and educational differences. Billy Ray Hatch’s story, his problems and his way of talking are so relevant to Dellarobia and her family that for a second they believe it is someone they know. They do not understand what is supposed to be funny about the character and feel ridiculed. With Dellarobia being the focalizer the reader sensitized and made to see that mocking poor, less educated and rural people is definitely not what the novel aims at. Due to Kingsolver’s familiarity, locally and emotionally, she manages to mediate the precautions situation of this community in an authentic manner.
A central part of the novel with regard to environmental issues is the passage when Dellarobia interacts with people who understand global warming and who show activism towards change, inform people and highlight the issue. Dellarobia meets Leighton Akins, who is wearing a “plastic poncho”, appears in a “dreamy state” (FB: 450) and complains about the fact that he ran out of flyers asking her where he could copy his last flyer so he can distribute more of them between all the activists and supporters of the monarchs that are currently residing in the area. Akins’ flyer features a list of things people should stop doing in order to be more environmentally friendly and lower their carbon footprint. He calls it a “Sustainability Pledge”. Eventually, Akins reads the list to her while she keeps on watching and counting the butterflies:
“Number one. Bring your own Tupperware to a restaurant for leftovers, as often as possible” “I’ve not eaten at a restaurant in over two years.” “Jesus. Are you serious? May I ask why?” She was tempted to glare, but didn’t want to lose the butterflies in her sights. Cub had been known to get fast food while he was on deliveries. She’d find the evidence on the floor of his
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truck, and he’d swear it wouldn’t happen again, like a man caught fooling around. He knew it was not in their budget” (FB: 451)
Next he asks her to not buy bottled water, at which she answers “[o]ur well water is good. We wouldn’t pay for store bought” (FB: 452). Additionally, Akins demands to cut the intake of red meat. Dellarobia’s answer to this is: “Are you crazy? I am trying to increase our intake of red meat.” (FB: 452), meaning that only eating mac and cheese is not enough. Akins is seemingly affected by this: “His dark eyes swam like tadpoles behind his glasses” (FB: 452). This simile is one of the many examples where Kingsolver makes a connection to the natural world. She could have compared his teary eyes to anything, but deliberately chooses ‘baby frogs’ as a vehicle. In this regard Wagner-Martin states that Kingsolver’s story worlds have changed and sees a “progression from the author’s focusing on her fictional characters to focusing on the world that provides both setting and interesting narrative for them” (2014: 192).
In the conversation with Dellarobia, Akins learns that she does not own a computer, already drives the shortest routes to save gas, always turns their thermostat down and never up again. When discussing the financial category, he himself realizes that points such as “switch some of your stocks and mutual funds to socially responsible investments” (FB: 453) do not apply and, thus, skips the rest of them. In the end he discusses transportation:
“Buy a low-emission vehicle. Sorry, no buying anything, you said. Properly inflate your tires and maintain your car.” “My husband’s truck is on its third engine. Is that properly maintaining?” “I would say so, definitely.” (FB: 454)
The very last advice Akins gives to Dellarobia is to “[f]ly less” (FB: 454). To sum up, there is nothing on this list that Dellarobia and her family could do to reduce their carbon footprint, besides the things they are already doing in order to save money. They do not live a life of comfort, they live a life most people cannot even relate to. Kingsolver highlights how a changing climate is both responsible for poverty and how people in indigent circumstances do not even have power to do anything against it, and already live a simple, and unwittingly, also an eco-friendly, life. The irony which is created through the irrelevance of Atkins’ list for the underprivileged showcases the necessity to include issues of class when talking about climate change.
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3.1.5 ‘They are a sign of something’ – Migration
The topic of migration is prominent in different ways throughout the novel. The most obvious migration is the one of the Delgadoes, a Mexican family. Dellarobia’s son Preston and Josefina have become friends in school, and when Preston tells her about the butterflies, she and her family stop by at the house of the Turnbows as they also have a connection with the monarchs. The migration of the Mexican family offers Kingsolver the platform to discuss migration as a result of radical climate change and its effects (cf. Wagner-Martin 2014: 8). They had to leave their home just like the butterflies had to change their habitat. Immigrants from Mexico are quite common in the area: “[…] she knew some farmers were planting Christmas trees again, hiring Mexican workers for the winter labor. Presumably the same men who showed up in summers to work tobacco. They used to go home in winter and now stayed year-round, like the geese at Great Lick that somehow quit flying south” (FB: 70). This quote again makes a comparison of immigrants and migratory animals. As it is a passage from early on in the book, Dellarobia is not aware of climate change yet and, thus, does not understand why the geese are not migrating south anymore. Vice versa the laborers used to go back during less productive times and now stay, probably because their native area does not offer opportunities for a steady income.
The reader quickly has the impression that foreigners are not very welcome though. When the Delgadoes show up on Dellarobia’s porch her acquaintance Crystal lets her know that “[t]hey’re foreign”. Later, when Ovid Byron arrives in Feathertown Dellarobia observes “I’m not about to let Hester get hold of him. She’d probably charge him double as a person of color” (FB: 147). Eventually, however, Hester finds out about him and instantly remarks, “He looks foreign, […] [i]s he even Christian? He could be anything. And you in here with the children. Bear and I are a hundred percent on the fence about him being here.” (FB: 180) Hester’s racist attitude shows how close-knit communities such as Feathertown, who are not used to ‘foreigners’ regard them as intruders and a threat. The foreigners are approached with skepticism. A reason for this might be that the population of Feathertown is not multicultural, but very much composed of families from the same region. Besides the Mexican laborers, who cultivate the fields of local farmers, foreigners do not have a reason to come to this rural area.
The Delgadoes are refugees from Angangueo in Michoacán, Mexico. They decided to come to this area because they already had family here who worked on the tobacco fields. The family stop by to see the butterflies and tell Dellarobia that they used to live next to a butterfly colony:
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“The monarcas are from Michoacán, and we are from Michoacán.” (FB: 135). Now both, the family and the butterflies, are in the USA. The area had been the place where the monarch colony hibernated before disastrous flooding and landslides demolished the village and the roosting site of the butterflies, killing more than 30 people:
“A landslide?” Josefina nodded soberly, her body shrinking into the sofa. “Corrimiento de tierras.” The mother lifted the girl onto her lap, folding both arms around her protectively. The whole family now looked close to tears. “I’m sorry,” Dellarobia said. The father spoke quietly in Spanish, and then Josefina said simply, “Everything was gone.” “What was gone?” “The houses. The school. The peoples.” “You lost your own house? “Yes,” the girl said. “Everything. The mountain. And the monarcas also.” (FB: 140)
This example clearly shows that the Delgadoes are relatively new in southern Appalachia. The parents are unable to speak English and therefore the daughter translates. Additionally, as Wagner-Martin observes, the fact that Josefina renders the story in both languages, Spanish and English, makes the scene even more emotionally touching. Josefina’s narration highlights the differences in vocabulary between the scientific community and the native people. Moreover, the Mexican farmers have different concepts, knowledge and myths of the butterflies: “some people believe they’re the souls of dead children” (FB: 536). This is pertinent to Dellarobia’s and Cub’s experience. The reason for their marriage at a very young age was Dellarobia’s pregnancy at the age of 17, which tragically ended in a miscarriage. This might also be a reason why Dellarobia’s feelings and attitudes towards the butterflies remained highly emotional.
Before the catastrophe Reynaldo, the father, had been a guía and took people on horses to the butterfly colonies and gave them information about the monarchs. Additionally, he carried out scientific tasks while Josefina’s mother Lupe had cooked food for the tourists. Josefina is the first to give Dellarobia basic information about the butterflies. She tells her that they would only be in Mexico during winter and “[i]n summer days the monarca flies around everywhere drinking the flowers, she flies to here to your country. And in winter she all comes home to Angangueo. My town. Every year the same time coming.” (FB: 138). In the “Author’s Note” at the end of the novel, Kingsolver informs her readership about the true and fictional events in the book. The flooding and mudslides did happen in 2010 in Angangueo, and the town is known for being the home of the hibernating monarch butterflies. However, “the entire migratory population of North American monarchs still returns every autumn to the same mountaintops
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in central Mexico.” (FB: 598). The change in habitat to southern Appalachia is therefore fictitious and is used in the novel in order to convey Kingsolver’s environmental points.
Dellarobia is distressed about the situation of the Mexican family and, thus, decides to look into the case: “She’d done some looking on the Internet about the town in Mexico where Preston’s little friend and her family lost their home, and logging was part of it.” (FB: 189). She sees these similarities, the butterflies and the logging, as an omen: “It’s like the butterflies came here, and we might be next. Like they’re a sign of something” (FB: 235). Dellarobia is especially worried about the situation because her father-in-law wants to log not any mountain side, but the one close to her and Cub’s house. The circumstances do not leave Dellarobia’s thoughts and she tries to find out more about the migratory behavior of the monarchs:
She was relieved Bonnie hadn’t suggested the butterflies had come straight here from Mexico. The thought of them running up here after the landslide and flood, displaced along with Josefina’s family, was a worrisome possibility she did not want to entertain. It would give her family’s mountain an air of doom. If these butterflies were refugees of a horrible misfortune, there could be no beauty in them. (FB: 198)
It is of importance to Dellarobia to learn about the migratory behavior of the monarchs. She learns that the insects only live for six weeks, “[t]he ones that lived through the winter lasted longer” (FB: 200). She comprehends that no butterfly lived long enough to hibernate in the south, fly north in the summer and then back south again the next winter. Dr. Byron explains, “[a]t winter’s end, the now-elderly butterflies in Mexico roused themselves and mated like crazy. The males copulated their brains out, then left it to the pregnant single moms to struggle north across the border into Texas looking for milkweed plants, the sole sustenance that could feed the caterpillars. There they laid their eggs and died without ever seeing their young.” (FB: 201). For Dellarobia it is fascinating how the Monarchs know where to go without ever having been there before. They do it intuitively. It could be argued that Dellarobia sees the butterflies as a role model. If they have faith to go where they have never been, maybe she can do so too.
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3.2 Solar
McEwan’s publication of a cli-fi novel was eagerly-awaited and already hyped up prepublication. Yet, according to Garrard, McEwan’s Solar received a great deal of disappointment from its critics. Garrard further claims that McEwan himself is to some extent responsible for the unfavorable criticism. In his opinion, there was dissonance between the elevated expectations that his own aforegoing publicity had created and the result of his cli-fi experiment, Solar (cf. Garrard 2016: 301). In his article published in Time, Walsh states that “Ian McEwan has written the first great global-warming novel” and calls Solar “the book on climate change” (2010: online). However, already in 2009, McEwan promised that the novel will not be a didactic one and instead aimed to place the issue of global warming in the background rather than making it a central theme (cf. Zalewski 2009: online). This contradiction consequently led to readers feeling misled as they anticipated a novel on climate change. Garrard states that under regular circumstances one would never criticize another author for “being wrong” (Garrard 2013: 123), but added that the circumstances of the publication were not ordinary. As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provided more data that proved the reality of climate change, the injurious human impact on the environment and the necessity of immediate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, ecocritics and environmentalists hoped that global warming would be the focus of the novel. They believed that a publication by an author of McEwan’s status would positively contribute to the discussion about climate change and potentially have impact on the vox populi. (Cf. 2013: 123f.) As I shall try to show in this chapter, McEwan’s unusual approach to the issue of climate change can, after all, be seen as a valuable contribution to the debate, as it puts the focus on the factor of human weakness. With this, it addresses an aspect in climate-change debates which has hitherto been neglected. In particular, the use of the satirical mode which has been quite rare so far in climate fiction creates interesting new aesthetic perspectives.
While most works of cli-fi approach the topic of global warming in more emotional and empathic ways, Solar is an allegorical satire with comical parts. The combination of environmentalism and comedy is scarce in cli-fi and constitutes a rather unusual approach (cf. Trexler & Johns-Putra 2011: 188). However, Traub senses “general cultural fatigue towards the pathos” (2018: 86) and mentions critics such as Morton and Branch, who plead for more humor in environmental writing (cf. Traub 2018: 86). In Solar, McEwan brings in the humor through this 53-year-old anti-hero, Michael Beard. Beard is a Nobel Prize-winning scientist, who is constantly craving unhealthy food and seems to be gaining weight by the minute. At the 44
beginning of the novel, he tinkers with the affair of his fifth wife and tries to get his mind off of her unfaithfulness by committing to ‘jobs’ where he merely has to attach his name in order to make money. He is not a believer of global warming, but eventually ends up in the field of clean energy research; a field that he knows is lucrative and aspiring. His character has been described as a “recognisable Ian McEwan type, a one-dimensional, self-deceiving man of science” (Cowley 2010: online).
3.2.1 ‘See global warming for himself’ – Structure, Spatial and Temporal Setting
The novel’s title, Solar, already hints at a major concern of the work. In reference to the book, however, ‘solar’ also gains a more metaphorical meaning. Goodbody, for example, points out that the addressed luminary connotes hope. Solar stands for the planetary dimension of the ecological crisis as well as for the pivotal role of the question regarding future clean energy. Goodbody further argues that solar power can be seen as a symbol for the dream to save the planet by the discovery and usage of a new, inexhaustible natural source. (Cf. Goodbody 2010: 131f.)
Solar is divided into three parts. Part one starts in the year 2000, part two in 2005 and part three in 2009. The first part introduces the reader to all the characters and to Beard’s current life including his scientific background, which eventually leads to information about artificial photosynthesis and climate change. The second part depicts Beard’s comeback as a renowned scientist as he talks about global warming and ‘his’ project to do something against it on various conferences. The ideas, however, are actually stolen from his postdoctoral associate, whose decease happens at the end of part one. The majority of the third and final part is staged in the US as Beard is preparing for the opening ceremony of ‘his’ solar panel and finds another woman to spend his time with. Eventually, living a life of carelessness catches up with him and we experience Beard’s final and fatal denouement. Much of the above-mentioned adverse criticism is a response to the fact that readers fail to identify with the complex and allowedly unlikeable protagonist, as well as with the digressive structure of the novel. Solar uses figural narration as the predominant form with Bread as the focalizer. The reader is guided by this reflector figure, as he provides the point for orientation. In other words, the perceptions and consciousness of the fictional events are presented using the focalizer (cf. Nünning & Nünning 2012: 118). While generally narrated in free indirect discourse, the story also includes parts that go into the direction of stream of consciousness (cf. Zemanek 2012: 52), thus, the reader might find it hard to follow the random, irrational and sometimes incoherent mental processes of the focalizer. 45
His thoughts are disjointed and, what is more, he often fails to present a logical and comprehensible worldview. In regards to this, Wally addresses an interesting point by claiming that the non-cohesive structure of Solar implies that “reality does not correspond to a simple, linear narrative” (2019: n.p.). The character of Beard fails to provide a coherent view of the world (cf. ibid), which can be seen, for example, in his self-reflections that follow his scientific talks. Other examples are actions and events of the plot that are disrupted by analepses, rendering Beard’s memories of former relationships and bygone encounters.
The time-frame of the novel is particularly interesting and rather uncommon for the genre. While most novels tackling the problem of global warming are set in a time around the present or deal with a future scenario, the story about Professor Beard takes place in the past. If set in the present, stories usually revolve around the development of apocalyptical or disastrous ecological scenarios, such as species extinction, as discussed in the analysis of Flight Behavior. If set in a future time, cli-fi often depicts a gigantic collective catastrophe, as will be examined in more detail in the analysis of A Friend of the Earth later in this thesis. Zemanek further observes, that in Solar there is “neither a climax of delightful horror at sight of extreme natural events, nor a personified nature taking revenge against humanity” (2012: 51). Solar deals with the risks and anticipates a potential disaster. (Cf. Zemanek 2012: 51) It does not take the reader into a future, neither a dystopian nor a utopian one (cf. Traub 2018: 99). McEwan’s concept of time, according to Goodbody, is a cyclical one which allows constant postponement (cf. 2010: 142). Beard’s construct of mistakes is on the verge of collapsing many times throughout the novel, yet the protagonist manages to postpone its complete breakdown several times.
The story is mostly set in England, although as the story progresses the United States of America and Norway also serve as locales for Michael Beard’s experiences in the first decade of the 2000s. The spatial setting itself does not provide much data for ecocritical analysis, as the story does not deal with the repercussions of global warming. However, the excursion to Longyearbyen, a village on the Norwegian island Spitsbergen, is of interest as Beard is supposed to see “global warming for himself” (Solar: 63) when visiting this village.
I have already briefly touched upon the fact that Solar is not solely a novel about climate change, although it has mostly been marketed as such. The topic of global warming and scientific inventions to mend the incipient danger of climatic deterioration provide, at first glance, only a backdrop for the story. However, as a closer reading of the novel reveals, the form of satire and the allegory of Beard as an ‘Everyman’ are powerful rhetorical tools to shed
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new light on the topic of global warming. Furthermore, the fact that a novelist of McEwan’s renown has turned to a prevailing and omnipresent topic such as environmentalism gives further proof of the urgency of the problem. As I shall show, the climatic aspect in Solar, against the opinion of a number of critics, is definitely an important one, especially as works of this generic style are quite rare in cli-fi. Goodbody calls Solar a hybrid of the picaresque novel and the ‘comic apocalypse’ (cf. 2010: 138f.). In her recent piece contributing to the discussion of humor in cli-fi, Traub argues that texts such as Solar “forgo pathetic rhetorical styles such as the jeremiad and the sublime, ones closely associated with ecocatastrophic narratives.” (2018: 86). According to Wally, the underlying objective of the novel is the analysis of the difficulty to “tell the truth from the untruth” (Wally 2019: n.p.). He suggests that this is true for scientists as well as non-scientists. Due to the countless opinions that we face on a daily basis, it has become increasingly difficult to form one of one’s own. (Cf. Wally 2019: n.p.) To conclude, variety in the discussion of climate change is indispensable. Problems of this scale need to be in the focus of all aspects of our culture and our society. Cli-fi adds one layer, and within this category an utmost variety in terms of generic styles is vital, which is one of many reasons why I chose to examine Solar in my analysis of cli-fi. The novel certainly can be read in many ways and provides data for analyses of various aspects. For my purpose Solar well definitely be regarded as cli-fi. Especially with regard to the notion of literature as cultural ecology the novel’s unique satirical make up adds an essential new perspective within the climate change debate.
3.2.2 ‘The planet is sick’ – Beard as an Allegory of the Planet and Human Nature
“He belonged to that class of men – vaguely unprepossessing, often bald, short, fat, clever – who were unaccountably attractive to certain beautiful women. Or he believed he was, and thinking seemed to make it so.” (Solar: 3) The opening lines of Solar already advert to the importance of the protagonist, the anti-hero of the story, Professor Michael Beard. Some critics stated that the novel mainly uses the topic of climate change as a framework, which might seem to be true on a surface level, as already mentioned above. The tumultuous private life of Beard certainly attracts attention and distracts the reader from focusing on the environmental aspect. However, Beard’s character and life is vital for an ecocritical analysis of the novel. The personal and professional catastrophe that ends Beard’s story is interesting to ecocritics, especially as it needs to be read as an allegory (cf. Zemanek 2012: 51).
As a Professor, Beard’s life is committed to science and all the aspects that come with this profession, for example holding honorary university posts, sitting on the board of various 47
commissions, lending his name to institutes, attending events and lectures, being a consultant editor of scientific journals, writing peer-reviews for these, accepting honorary degrees, and giving the same old lectures and speeches about the discovery he is famous for: the Beard- Einstein Conflation. He is aware of the fact that “two decades had passed since he last sat down in silence and solitude […] to do some thinking, to have an original hypothesis, play with it, tease it into life” (Solar: 19). He still lives off his one-time success that happened many years ago: “He lacked the will, the material, he lacked the spark. He had no new ideas” (Solar: 19). Beard reflects on all of this, but is unable to act and potentially change this dreary situation. He even seems to be quite content with his rather boring professional life. It allows him to earn enough money to live a nice, and most importantly, comfortable life. All the action seems to happen in his private (love) life. In the first part of the book, Beard mostly broods about his wife’s affair with their builder Tarpin. Ironically enough, Beard has spent many nights with other women during his marriage himself. As Traub notes, this is exactly what makes Beard comical:
[…] he embodies much, if not all, that the novel designates as rotten with the society in which he pursues his work – from greed and intellectual dishonesty to mindless consumerism and sexual prowling, as well as cool indifference to the worst effects of climate change so long as they don’t meaningfully disrupt his life or prevent him from scoring his next plate of greasy food. (2018: 100)
Furthermore, Beard is often described as a sluggish character, which is not only visible in his work ethic but also in his physical appearance:
Catching sight of a conical pink mess in the misted full-length mirror as he came out of the shower, he wiped down the glass, stood full on and took a disbelieving look. What engines of self-persuasion had let him think for so many years that looking like this was seductive? That foolish thatch of earlobe-level hair that buttressed his baldness, the new curtain-swag of fat that hung below his armpits […]. Once, he had been able to improve on his mirror-self by pinning back his shoulders, standing erect, tightening is abs. Now, human blubber draped his efforts. […] Naked, he was a disgrace, an idiot, a weakling. (Solar: 7)
His life is far away from being a healthy one, especially since he has learned about the affair. The reader knows from the start that Beard is obese, lazy and drinks too much. Throughout the novel there are many descriptions of his eating habits, all similar to the following example: “To help think matters through he poured a scotch and watched football. In place of dinner he ate a litre tub of strawberry ice cream and prised apart a half-kilo of pistachios.” (Solar 16). His sleep patterns are off balance too: “He drank half the bottle and before eleven fell asleep fully dressed on the bed with the overhead light on, and for several seconds did not know where he was when,
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some hours later he was woken by the sound of a voice downstairs.” (ibid) Although already 53-years-old at the beginning of the novel, Beard certainly does not limit the risks of becoming ill at a future point in his life. Zemanek calls Beard’s risk management “disastrous” (cf. 2012: 52). Thus, to summarize the protagonist’s character, it can be said that he personifies almost all of the seven deadly sins, apart from wrath (cf. Wally 2019: n.p.), as Beard appears too lazy to even get angry.
Throughout the novel, the reader might struggle to identify with Beard as he remains irresponsible and ignorant even though he is aware of all these issues. The deviation between his awareness of problems and his actions, or rather their absence, is likely to unnerve parts of the readership. During his stay in Norway, his lack of exercise is explicitly presented to him whilst performing outdoor activities with others:
Eight years ago he could still touch his toes. Surely, it was not inevitable that he should get heavier by the month until he dropped dead? He arranged to take a daily hike on the fjord, a two-mile circuit around the ship, escorted by Jan carrying a gun. After the second excursion, lying on his bunk in the afternoon with aching legs, he made a mental list of the food he would no longer touch. He was fifteen pounds overweight. Act now, or die early. He swore off all the usual things – dairy produce, red meat, fried food, cakes, salted nuts. And crisps, for which he had a particular weakness. (Solar: 101)
Beard, unsurprisingly, does not stick to his resolution, which is already foreshadowed in the same paragraph: “There were other items, but he was asleep before the list was even complete.” (Solar: 101). He does not even have the stamina to finish a list of food he wants to abstain from but rather gives in to his sheer laziness. Throughout the novel we have many incidents where he reaches for food he knows is bad for him, the most prominent, and entertaining one being the ‘Unwitting Thief-episode’.
In the ‘Unwitting Thief-episode’, Beard is on the train from London Heathrow to Paddington train station, when his thoughts wander to his love life, asking himself the question whether he actually loves Melissa, his new lover, and why he cannot not bring himself to leave her. Eventually, “[h]e put away his palmtop, leaned back in his seat and half closed his eyes. Right before him on the table, shimmering through his barely parted lashes, were the salt and vinegar crisps, and just beyond the packet was a plastic bottle of mineral water belonging to the young man” (Solar: 167) next to him. Beard starts to eat the crisps even though he wants it “less than he did, but still wanted it” (Solar: 168) and is certain that those “industrial compounds might stir his metabolism into wakefulness. It was his palate, rather than his stomach, that was looking forward to the acidic tang of dust coating each brittle slice.” (ibid) The situation takes a comic 49
turn when the other passenger starts to help himself to the crisps as well. Beard gets angry and as a revenge for the theft of his crisps, he takes a massive gulp of the fellow passenger’s bottle of water. The young man, however, remains calm and even helps Beard by lifting down his luggage from the compartment. After Beard gets off the train, he becomes aware that his bag of crisps is still under his coat and that he was the actual thief by consuming the other man’s crisps. Wally notes that this episode is meaningful in the way that it is “an acknowledgement that there is no such thing as a direct encounter between an objective reality and an experiencing subject. Rather, this encounter is always mediated.” (2019: n.p.) Culture influences and forms our expectations and, therefore, also our consequent experiences. Socialization enables us to make sense of life by providing schemes. (Cf. Wally 2019: n.p.)
Considering the professor’s behavior, it can be concluded that Beard’s character allegorically stands for humanity, and in particular for its flaws, such as egoism or our exorbitant consumerist behavior. He knows that certain types of food are bad for his health and is even aware that crisps are industrially processed; yet he still gives in to temptation. Beard’s behavior must be understood as an allegorical concept, which stands for humans’ perception of global warming. Believers, and to some extent even sceptics, are probably aware of the fact that our planet is heating up. The issue, however, is enormously complex and influenced by a myriad of factors, which are admittedly hard to counteract. Furthermore, changing a habit, such as switching from consuming unhealthy food and creating a better lifestyle, might seem almost impossible as human beings are, of course, completely immersed in their culture and in its conventions.
The standard of Beard’s comfortable life unmistakably mirrors the life of many of us. In order to live more environmentally friendly, humanity would have to forgo much of its accustomed comforts. Just as Beard is unable to change his life for the better, global citizens seems unable to relinquish comfort and convenience in order to enhance the chances of saving our planet. This is directly addressed in the novel as Beard himself does “not believe in profound inner change” (Solar: 92). On the other hand, as Goodbody claims, Beard is still concerned about the rescue of humanity (2010: 145). It is difficult, however, to acknowledge this point for several reasons: It appears rather bizarre that a person with that many bad habits and weaknesses would become an advocate for reclaimable energy and to some degree an environmentalist. It is already a paradox that his immoral plan (almost) leads to an invention that has the power to provide energy for humanity, while idealist’s and activist’s actions remain ineffective.
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The novel repeatedly suggests connections between the environmental aspect and Beard’s life. When Beard visits a dermatologist because of changes on his skin, the doctor warns him not to be so casual about his melanoma: “Don’t be a denier,” Doctor Parks had said, appearing to refer back to their previous climate-change chats. “This won’t go away just because you don’t want it or are not thinking about it” (Solar: 328). It seems to be in the nature of humans to ignore issues and to avoid matters, which turn out to be complex. Just like Beard appears to avoid thinking about his skin cancer, humanity avoids cogitating over global warming. Goodbody adds that in our society egoism and greed as well as restricted temporal horizon are in contention with willingness to cooperate. To him, the human race jumps from one stopgap to another. (Cf. 2010: 141) Zemanek notes, that Beard’s defective risk management mirrors the stagnation of global politics regarding environmentalism (cf. 2012: 53).
The ‘Unwitting Thief-episode’ is interesting also with regard to “foreshadowing [Beard’s] downfall” (Zemanek 2012: 57). Towards the end of the first part of the novel, Beard’s post-doc Aldous, who is currently having an affair with Beard’s fifth wife, dies in a bizarre accident. When Beard confronts Aldous about his and Patrice’s liaison, Aldous trips over a rug while running towards the professor, a scene which constitutes one of the climaxes of the novel’s tragicomic make-up.
The polar-bear rug on the polished floor was waiting for him. It came alive. As his right foot landed on the bear’s back, it leaped forward, with its open mouth and yellow teeth bucking into the air. Aldous’s legs flew up before him […], though his arms flailed instinctively downwards to break his fall, it was the back of his head that made first contact, not with the floor, not with the edge of the glass table, but with its rounded corner, bluntly penetrating the nape of his neck. (Solar: 124)
Instead of calling an ambulance, Beard aims to make this incident look like a murder. He insinuates that Tarpin, Patrice’s previous lover, has committed this crime. A little later he commits theft by stealing the ideas of the ingenious post-doc regarding artificial photosynthesis and solar energy. This episode can be regarded a mise en abyme, that reflects the intellectual theft of Aldous’ ideas (cf. Wally 2015: 163). Similar to the ‘Unwitting Thief-episode’, Beard steals something, in this case, plagiarizing scientific ideas, which at the end of the novel when he is close to his success, catches up with him when Aldous’ relatives haul Beard to court.
An allegorical aspect that is very prominent occurs in the boot-room-episode. This scene takes place when Beard travels to Longyearbyen, Norway, to attend an expedition about climate change and to experience the effects of global warming. All the outdoor gear of the participants is stored in the ship’s ‘boot room’. Each passenger is provided with the same kit on the first 51
day. They are warned not to create chaos. On the second day, however, the boot room is already a mess.
[…] the boot room continued to deteriorate. By midweek four helmets were missing along with three of the heavy snowmobile suits and many smaller items. It was no longer possible for more than two thirds of the company to be outside at the same time. To go out was to steal. […] Four days ago the room had started out in orderly condition, with all gear hanging on or stowed below the numbered pegs. Finite resources, equally shared, in the golden age of not so long ago. Now it was a ruin. (Solar: 108)
McEwan himself participated in a similar expedition in 2005 and later fictionalized his experiences in Solar (cf. McEwan 2005: online). In the novel, Beard is seemingly frustrated by the chaotic conditions, but at the same time appears to be amused by them: “It was perverse or cynical of him to take pleasure in the thought, but he could not help himself. How were they to save the earth – assuming it needed saving, which he doubted – when it was so much larger than the boot room?” (Solar: 108f.) Wally comments on the fact that this episode indicates the failure of humanity to evenly distribute limited resources (cf. 2019: n.p.), which certainly can allegorically be understood as the inability of humanity to work together for the sake of planet earth. The participants of this expedition, who are artists, scientists and journalists, are all involved with the issue of climate change in some way or the other. Their aim is to discuss solutions, in which thoughts about environmental concerns could reach a wider public. (Cf. McEwan 2005: online) Thus, the group technically has a common background and a common goal, but still fails in supporting and organizing themselves accordingly (cf. Zemanek 2012: 54). Beard calls the boot room a “general disgrace” and “a matter of human nature” (Solar: 110). He concludes that “[b]oot rooms needed good systems so that flawed creatures could use them properly. […] Only good laws would save the boot room. And citizens who respected the law.” (Solar: 110f.) Zemanek observes this as “one of his very few reasonable statements” (2012: 55), even though it had no reasonable consequence. Furthermore, Wally notes that the “good laws”, which are supposed to save the boot room, are an analogy for planet earth (cf. 2019: n.p.).
I have already elaborated above that Beard allegorically stands for humanity or rather for human nature. Additionally, it can be argued that Beard, or more precisely his body, allegorically also represents planet earth. This appears logical because, eventually, Beard is punished by his own abused body. Throughout the novel, Beard expresses intentions to live a better life, to exercise more, to drink less alcohol, and stay away from junk food, but then he never adheres to them. His health gets increasingly worse. In the third part of the novel, Beard is already under medical
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treatment. The preparations for the opening ceremony of the photosynthesis plant make demands on Beard’s time. After he tells his co-worker that he has a doctor’s appointment, Hammer states, “Don’t let him make you ill. This is not the time.” (Solar: 295). Beard answers, “That’s my worry too. A diagnosis is a kind of modern curse. If you didn’t go and see these people, you wouldn’t get whatever it is they want you to have.” (ibid). Towards the end of the novel, it becomes clear that Beard suffers from skin cancer: “The biopsy was in. Doctor Eugene Parks had confirmed in the morning that it was a melanoma and that it had grown just a half- millimetre deeper into the surrounding tissue than he would have preferred” (Solar: 328). His doctor urges him not to lose any time to get treatment, as metastases were a possibility. In the end, however, it is not the cancer that kills the scientist, but what appears to be a heart attack: “As Beard rose to greet her [his daughter Catriona], he felt in his heart an unfamiliar, swelling sensation, but he doubted as he opened his arms to her that anyone would ever believe him now if he tried to pass it off as love. (Solar: 384).
According to Zemanek, it can be implied that Beard “physically embodies the ‘sick earth’” (2012: 57). Just as the professor mistreats his own body, anthropogenic climate change is caused by an ill-treatment of the natural resources by humanity and the lack of ecological awareness of the human race. Furthermore, Zemanek points out that Beard’s sudden demise ironically seems to save him from a fate much worse (cf. 2012: 57). Beard is charged with theft of intellectual property, ‘his’ solar plant is destroyed and the mother of his child learns about his mistress. Yet, his heart attacks spares himself much pain that would have come with his skin cancer and all his other crises. However, the interpretation of Beard’s personal demise with regard to the future of our planet is rather convoluted. Zemanek is unsure about whether it is a “dark prognosis” (2012: 57) for our planet, or if it rather proposes a happy ending for scientists and idealists (cf. ibid). One could argue that a sudden collapse of the planet (maybe due to a meteoroid?) would potentially save humanity from horrible future living conditions resulting from global warming. In his article about the allegory in Solar, Wally concludes that the novel hints into the direction of an apocalyptic catastrophe, which is a common approach in cli-fi. However, the apocalypse is depicted in a lighthearted manner and on a micro-scale (cf. Wally 2019: n.p.), which is Michael Beard’s life. This certainly sets Solar apart from other novels on climate change, and might be the reason for the lukewarm reviews by critics.
Nevertheless, Beard is not entirely bad. He, just as humanity, is capable of achieving something great, hopefully something that saves planet earth (cf. Wally 2019: n.p.). The idea of using artificial photosynthesis to generate energy certainly was not the protagonist’s idea. However, 53
a few decades ago Beard had truly incredible ideas, which found recognition by being rewarded with a Nobel Prize. This shows that not all hope is lost. Traub states that Beard’s efforts will have an impact in science, even though his attitude behind everything is insincere. Other scientists will further develop his ideas and could potentially limit the consequences of global warming. It can thus be argued that McEwan suggests that only developments and discoveries in science could save the planet from a fatal climate crisis, further implying that it does not matter, how this is achieved, as long as it is. (Cf. Traub: 104) Wally argues that Solar is not entirely about climate change, but about human nature and highlights the fact that McEwan decided to link “global warming to a discussion of the essence of human nature” (2019: n.p.). He states that the phenomenon of climate change is not random, but triggered by humanity and concludes that the novel explicitly depicts anthropogenic climate change. In order to save the planet, humanity, thus, would have to change its nature. Taking up the allegory of Michael Beard again, one has to admit that he is not a virtuous character and his flaws seem to resemble an “universal trait of human behavior” (Wally 2019: n.p.), which does not necessarily raise expectations for a transformation within the human race. According to Wally, a new spirit that “appeals to the biological universals of human nature” (2019: n.p.) is needed. Humanity needs to recognize that it is a part of an elaborate and enormous system, reassess its position in nature and learn that it cannot exploit the planet any longer. (Cf. Wally 2019: n.p.)
3.2.3 ‘If the place isn’t hotting up?’ - Science and the Depiction of the Climate Change
Already within the first few pages of the novel, the readership is made aware of the fact, that Solar certainly is not a didactical work of cli-fi. Quite early on in the novel it becomes clear that the protagonist is not an environmentalist in the literal sense. Beard is aware of global warming, but does not lose any sleep over the problem. As he is a scientist, he knows how humanity contributes to the heating up of the planet.
Beard was not wholly skeptical about climate change. It was one in a list of issues, of looming sorrows, that comprised the background to the news, and he read about it, vaguely deplored it and expected governments to meet and take action. And of course he knew that a molecule of carbon dioxide absorbed energy in the infrared range, and that humankind was putting these molecules into the atmosphere in significant quantities. But he himself had other things to think about. And he was unimpressed by some of the wild commentary that suggested the world was in ‘peril’, that humankind was drifting towards calamity, when coastal cities would disappear under the waves, crops fail, and hundreds of millions of refugees surge from one country, one continent, to another, driven by drought, floods, famine, tempests, unceasing wars for diminishing resources. (Solar: 20f.)
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In this excerpt the causes and consequences of global warming are described as ordinary. Being a scientist, his explanation could be more detailed, however the vagueness of this statement can be interpreted as mistrust in the prognosis of the effects and the progression of climate change. Beard does not believe that the world is acutely in danger and is not impressed by the horrifying scenarios which are advertised. Additionally, Beard mocks the discourse about global warming within the mass media and calls it a “wild commentary” (Solar: 20). The text passage continues with comparisons of other alleged apocalyptical instances throughout history. (Cf. Zemanek 2012: 53)
There was an Old Testament ring to the forewarnings, an air of plague-of-boils and deluge-of- frogs, that suggested a deep and constant inclination, enacted over the centuries, to believe that one was always living at the end of days, that one’s own demise was urgently bound up with the end of the world, and therefore made more sense, it was just a little less irrelevant. (Solar: 21)
These disasters turned out to be false, as doomsday has not actually occurred. According to Zemanek, Beard “defames risk discourse in general without being able to disprove the actual prognoses” (2012: 53). With these comparisons he reduces the earnestness of climatic change, implying that the peril state of the planet will never result in an apocalypse. The scientist considers, for example, that climate change is a modern counterpart to “Christian millennial sects,” suggesting that it is “another beast” awakened by “the apocalyptic tendency” (Solar: 21) of humans (cf. Wally 2019: n.p.). By saying this, Beard seems to imply that humanity is just imagining global warming.
Zemanek links this perception to Michael Crichton’s novel State of Fear. Similarly to Solar, this novel is concerned with the impression that interest groups in the fields of media, science and politics, deliberately create risk scenarios and stage global warming in order to profit from people’s fears. According to Zemanek, McEwan makes use of a similar rhetoric. The question arises whether or not McEwan counts on the ability of his readership to recognize the narrowness of his elaboration. The reader could certainly contradict Beard’s argument. For climate change deniers, as Zemanek argues, Beard’s attitude will have a comforting effect, while environmentalists will be alerted about it, specifically because it hinders actions against a further warming. (Cf. 2012: 53f.) However, we have to keep in mind that Beard is not featured as a role model being at times rather repulsive character.
The publication of Solar further led to discussions about McEwan’s personal attitude towards global warming surfaced. According to Brand’s typology, McEwan considers himself a
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“warner”, which means that he considers himself as informed about developments, he recognizes climate trends and acknowledges anthropogenic causes (cf. 2009: online; cf. Zemanek 2012: 58). McEwan stated that literature cannot “do much about climate change. I [McEwan] suppose it can reflect the problem and pose the problem in terms that might be useful to people.” (Roberts 2010: 191). In Solar, McEwan created a dichotomous and complex protagonist, who in public presents himself as a “warner”. Zemanek, however, argues that Beard truly is a sceptic and anti-environmentalist at heart. (Cf. 2012: 58) It is not until Beard finds out that the clean energy business is quite lucrative, that he actually becomes interested in the discourse of global warming.
“Solar energy?” Beard said mildly. He knew perfectly well what was meant, but still, the term had a dubious halo of meaning, an invocation of New Age Druids in robes dancing around Stonehenge at Midsummer’s dusk. He also distrusted anyone who routinely referred to “the planet” as proof of thinking big. (Solar: 34)
When the professor eventually figures out how to turn the ideas of Aldous, his dead post-doc, into a profitable business idea, he suddenly becomes quite obsessed with global warming (cf. Wally 2019: n.p.). Yet, Beard remains a bad person, who is fighting for a good cause, not because he actively wants to change things and believes in climate change, but rather because he knows that by selling Aldous’ ideas as his own, he can add to his reputation and, more importantly, make a fortune. It remains ambiguous whether Beard is skeptical because of the vagueness of scientific interpretation in regard to the prognosis of possible disasters or because of how the media handles the disaster prognosis. (Cf. Zemanek 2012: 54) As the reader, however, is not led to regard Beard as a role model but rather as a warning example how attitudes like his can undermine endeavors to save the planet, the overall effect of the novel is still one of critical impact.
Throughout the novel the reader feels as if the protagonist does not care about the future of humankind at all. This might well be the case, especially because he also does not seem to care about his own future. In the following paragraph he mercilessly comments on the ramifications of global warming. He does neither believe in the potential effects, nor would he care about them if he experienced them. He is dead certain that he, or anybody he cares about, would live long enough to experience these predictions, if they were to come true.
The Gulf Stream would vanish, Europeans would freeze to death in their beds, the Amazon would be a desert, some continents would catch fire, others would drown, and by 2085 the Arctic summer ice would be gone and the polar bears with it. Beard had heard these predictions before
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and believed none of them. And if he had, he would not have been alarmed. A childless man of a certain age at the end of this fifth marriage could afford a touch of nihilism. (Solar: 104)
When Beard attends the expedition to the North Pole, he is surrounded by people aiming to make global warming a topic of conversation for the general public. There is no doubt that ‘everybody’ but Beard “was worried about global warming” (Solar: 93). Zemanek concludes that while Beard can be considered a sceptic of global warming, McEwan is a sceptic of the capability of humans to change (cf. 2012: 57).
Towards the end of the novel, an interesting conversation occurs between Beard and Toby Hammer. Together with Hammer, Beard has founded the company, which is set up to produce clean energy with the help of artificial photosynthesis. Shortly before the launch, Hammer gets cold feet and worries that there might not be a market for renewable energy after all. Apparently he has heard from business people and climate scientists that climate change is only a myth. He reports that it seems like only a small number of scientists back global warming, because they are ostensibly afraid to admit that they were wrong all along. To summarize his point he simply states, “if the place isn’t hotting up, we’re fucked” (Solar: 297). From this point forth it becomes rather clear that Beard knows that climate change is real, as he states evidence of global warming to remove Hammer’s doubts:
Here’s the good news. The UN estimates that already a third of a million people a year are dying from climate change. Bangladesh is going down because the oceans are warming and expanding and rising. There’s drought in the Amazonian rainforest. Methane is pouring out of the Siberian permafrost. There’s a meltdown under the Greenland ice sheet that no one really wants to talk about. Amateur yachtsmen have been sailing the North-West Passage. Two years ago we lost forty per cent of the Arctic summer ice. Now the eastern Antarctic is going. […] It’s a catastrophe. Relax! (Solar: 298)
This paradox (“It’s a catastrophe. Relax!”) provocatively highlights the bizarre situation in which society finds itself, as it makes clear that representatives of capitalism only see the factor of material profit. At this point Beard is excited about the fact that people are dying because of climate change and tries to soothe Hammer’s nerves with horrible evidence. Both men believe that they will make a fortune, which is why the approaching destruction of the earth is, in some way, ‘good’ news to them (cf. Wally 2015: 156). Instead of being shocked about the ramifications of global warming, Beard seems elated. According to Traub, this scene satirically shows how far people with a capitalistic mindset would actually go in their inexhaustible search for profits. Not even a problem as dangerous as climate change will make humanity rethink their actions and bring about a more moral view of the world that could lead to a more
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sustainable way of doing business. (Cf. Traub 2018: 103) With this focus on human weakness and greed McEwan showcases the effect of capitalist conditioning on environmental issues.
One could certainly criticize the author for not including a dissenting voice that makes a stand against the skepticism towards climate change. With figural narration and Professor Beard being the focalizer of the novel, hardly any other voices or opinions are audible. However, the ecocritical drive of the novel results not from identification but from the satirical exposure of appearance and reality. The only real character who supports environmentalism, Tom Aldous, already dies in the first part of the novel. Aldous is one of Beard’s post-docs at the Center, a governmental research establishment, who originally applied for the position because “he thought the planet was in danger” (Solar: 33). He is also the one who introduces the concept of solar energy to Beard, whose “interest in technology [is] even weaker than his interest in climate science” (Solar: 32). Aldous lectures Beard about clean energy by explaining to him that, “coal and then oil have made us, but now we know, burning the stuff will ruin us. We need a different fuel or we fail, we sink. […] there’s no way around it, the future is electricity and hydrogen, the only two energy carriers we know that are clean at the point of use.” (Solar: 35f.).
In another scene Aldous is giving Beard a lift home. During this drive Aldous lectures Beard telling him about all the horrible effects of global warming. Beard stops paying attention after some time, not “because the planet was in peril” (Solar: 49), but because “someone was telling him […] with such enthusiasm. This was what he disliked about political people – injustice and calamity animated them, it was their milk, their lifeblood, it pleasured them.” (ibid). Aldous even encourages Beard to read cli-fi: “There were novels Aldous wanted him to read – novels!” (Solar: 39). Apparently, Beard does not understand how a work of fiction can be of any relevance. This is again ironic, as Beard himself is a character that only exists in a novel. To distance himself from the opinions of his protagonist, McEwan stated in a reaction to a review of his novel Saturday that “a character in a novel who expresses hostility towards novels in general should not be seen as an entirely trustworthy mouthpiece of his novelist creator” (McEwan 2007: online). After Aldous’ passing in Solar, the reader is left without an alternative opinion to that of Beard. However, it needs to be said that McEwan had never intended to write a didactical novel.
The complicated relationship between the sciences and the humanities is also a topic in the novel. Wally calls it a collision between “a ‘scientific’ outlook on the world and a ‘humanistic’ worldview” (2019: n.p.). Being a scientist, Beard does not understand why it could be important
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that climate change is also discussed in other disciplines such as art. Yet, whilst visiting Norway, he finds himself surrounded by artists who are equally concerned with global warming. His opinion of them could not be any lower: “He was among scientific illiterates and could have said anything” (Solar: 103). However, in contrast to his own worldview, the artists are strongly concerned about global warming and want to actively participate in spreading the word about its prognosed effects. Beard, however, cares “little for art or climate change, and even less for art about climate change” (Solar: 101). In an analepsis he is musing about his college girlfriend Maisie, who is a literature student, and comes to the conclusion that literary studies is neither important nor difficult: “The reading was a slog, but he encountered nothing that could remotely be construed as an intellectual challenge, nothing on the scale of difficulty he encountered daily in his course” (Solar: 277). In another part of the novel, Beard thinks about rumors he had heard previously: “It was said that humanities students were routinely taught that science was just one more belief system, no more or less truthful than religion or astrology” (Solar: 182). The constant debate about the relevance of the two separate disciplines rarely results in a reconciliation. Ecocritics often argue for a collaboration of these two, admittedly different, fields, further supporting fact that in order to be relevant for the general public they need to find common grounds and ways of benefitting from each other’s findings.
As already mentioned above, Bread excoriates the arts and literature. Yet, it is his own behavior that could be strongly criticized by the readership. His haughty comments on the humanities cannot be taken too seriously as Beard himself is only a character in a literary work. Assertions by a fictional character, such as the ones mentioned above, reveal this exact absurdity. (Cf. Wally 2019: n.p.) Wally argues that while Solar definitely satirizes humanity, its prime target is the academic milieu, in particular scientists (cf. 2019: n.p.). Their major representative, Professor Beard is resting on his laurels, mostly pretends to work in order not to work, lacks new ideas, is a thief, a fraud and a cheater. Eventually, it seems as if he actually starts to work for the general good, but in reality he is just as selfish as ever by seizing the opportunity to ‘sell’ Aldous’ ideas as his own and using them to found a potentially lucrative business.
Summing up, Solar clearly favors eco-pragmatism over eco-sentimentality. The reflector figure, Michael Beard, is more than just skeptical about any form of artistic expression with regards to climate change and does not understand how these kinds of approaches could be useful. He puts down the dreams and hopes of activists and environmentalists. The reader certainly needs to take this with a grain of salt, as there is irony, of course, as the author ridicules his own medium. (Cf. Traub 2018: 102) 59
3.2.4 ‘It’s a catastrophe. Relax!’ – Satirical and Comic Effects
I have already identified Solar as an allegorical satire. Although the apocalypse only takes place in Beard’s life, which allegorically stands for humanity, one could further argue that the novel can be regarded a comic apocalypse as well. In the comic variety of the apocalypse, evil is portrayed through incorrect behavior and salvation occurs when errors are realized. The comedy as opposed to the tragedy does not result in a final catastrophe, but is rather open and episodic. Garrard additionally argues that the protagonist of a comedic apocalypse is usually an ambiguous character, who is free to act according to their own will. (Cf. Garrard 2004: 87) In his analysis of the writing strategy applied in Solar, Goodbody states that already 30 years ago, human ecologist Meeker recommended the use of comedy when discussing environmental concerns. Meeker argues that human survival demands adjustment and realization in regards to our dependency on nature. Thus, he calls for literature to provide examples in order to rehearse specific behavior. He advocates assimilation and the acceptance of restrictions and advises not to attempt to halt the unstoppable developments. According to the scholar, there are two comic life strategies: firstly, the escape from a hostile world, and secondly, the adjustment to a hostile world. The latter occurs in the picaresque novel, for example. In worlds marked by change and risk the protagonist manages to deviously struggle through life. At the end of the picaresque novel problems are not solved permanently as the enemies are often not defeated and no new truths are discovered. (Cf. Meeker in Goodbody 2010: 138f.) According to Goodbody, this description matches Solar as it is a combination of the ‘comic’ apocalypse and the picaresque novel (cf. 2010: 139).
I have already elaborated on the fact that satire is quite untypical within the genre of climate fiction. Although satirical and comic effects are unusual modes for a topic of this seriousness, they bring enormous advantages. Not only is Solar very different from other cli-fi and therefore accomplishes to instantly shock and confront the reader, but also to elicit different feelings within the readership. Solar’s deviation from more common approaches in ecocatastrophic narratives, such as the jeremiad and the sublime holds back feelings of paralysis which are often a side effect of these kinds of novels. McEwan’s satirical novel counteracts these paralytic responses by making the readership do something they would not expect: they make the reader laugh. According to Traub, this kind of entertainment does not necessarily lead to comic relief, but it evokes discomfort resulting from the discrepancy between the seriousness of the topic and its manner of representation. As a consequence, the reader is encouraged to reflect environmental problems and risks. The absurdity allows more critical and complex questions. 60
(Cf. Traub 2018: 86f.). Furthermore, Wally comments on the fact that the comic and frisky approach does not reveal where the author positions themselves within the discussion, which is important because it allows the reader to interpret stories in different ways (cf. Wally 2019: n.p.).
Traub continues with the argument that the public seems to continuously lose interest in the dark apocalyptic novels, blockbusters and video games, which according to the scholar, have become completely predictable. Resulting from the success of authors such as Atwood or McEwan, she senses an appetite for different approaches in climate fiction. Her opinion matches that of Seymour, who calls for a more sophisticated and diverse selection of means that tackle global warming in emotional and aesthetic ways in order to “embrace our sense of our own absurdity, our uncertainty, our humor, even our perversity” (Seymour 2012: 57). Traub states that the satirical strategies found in Solar show remarkable connections to war and nuclear disaster narratives, which were common in the mid to late-twentieth century. Thus, satirical Anthropocene fiction can be related to ‘traditional’ socio-political satires. (Cf. Traub 2018: 87)
To a certain extent, Solar makes fun of the failure of properly attending to ecological and technological risks by making the narratives about them sound highly inappropriate. One scene which stands out for its dark humor is the one of Aldous’ grotesque demise. One cannot help but laugh at the death of the only character that genuinely cares about the prevention of, what Traub calls the “worst-case-climate-change scenario” (2018: 88). He dies because of a polar- bear rug which “came alive” (Solar: 124) and has a “frozen laugh” (Solar: 127) and “hard, glassy eyes” (ibid) which look murderous. Aldous slips and hits his head on the edge of a glass table. This situation seems so silly and unreal to an extent that it makes the reader contemplate how a person can even die like this, especially as Aldous is the only moral character. His death, and the way he passes away seem unfair. Aldous is not killed by an experiment gone wrong and does not die in a tragic accident, but he slips on what used to be a polar-bear while verbally fighting a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who will eventually take credit for his own efforts. Traub suggests that this scene can be regarded a “symbolic revenge on humans for their environmental crimes” (2018: 88). It seems like the polar-bear takes revenge for the crimes committed by humans who continuously destroy the planet and therefore the natural habitat of the animals. In this scene, climate change is turned “into an uneasy subject of humor” (ibid). (Cf. Traub 2018: 88)
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Aldous’ death happens rather unexpectedly and leaves the readership in shock. The scene almost functions as a cut or like a re-set button, as everything changes after it and the reader’s expectations are left unfulfilled. The fact that Beard does not call an ambulance and is therefore responsible for Aldous’ death certainly alters the readership’s perception of him. In this regard, Branch notes that laughter is “a response to the gap between expectation and reality, between what it seems should happen and what actually happens”. (2014: 387) The death scene certainly happens unexpectedly, and also should not have happened in this manner. The ludicrous triviality of the circumstances of Aldous’ death generate laughter due to its deviation from dark humor is a typical feature of the twentieth-century satirical comedy. It exposes the divide between political or social expectations and realities. These types of socio-political satires such as the ones from Alexander Pope were against corruption and political failings and were often directed against prominent authority figures. The “catastrophe satires” (Traub 2018: 91), as Traub calls them work similarly. They are aimed at “socioeconomic and political institutions and the irresponsibility, incompetence, or moral failings of their leaders” (ibid). What makes the situation even more precarious is that the disasters stemming from various forms of ill- treatment are likely irreversible. While the satires do criticize, they do not provide extensive solutions. (Cf. Traub 2018: 91)
Aldous’ bizarre death scene ends with: “It was the dead polar bears you had to watch” (Solar: 127). This sentence refers to a situation earlier on in the novel, when Beard arrives in Norway for the expedition about global warming. Beard is urinating in the icy cold and gets panicky because he believes his genitals might fall off because of hypothermia. Additionally, Beard is scared that the polar-bears might get to them and as a consequence harm or even kill them. When the ‘call of nature’ happened Beard was out on a snowmobile with another participant. McEwan describes Beard’s urinating in detail stating, “[h]is mistake was to wait a few seconds at the end, as men of his age tended to do, mindful that there might be more” (Solar: 81). Due to this incident Beard’s ‘member’ “had attached itself to the zip of his snowmobile suit” in the “way only living flesh can do on sub-zero metal” (ibid).
As the polar wind raged against the cliff-face and rebounded against his shivering form, he watched in horror as his penis shrank even smaller, and curled tighter against the zip. And not only was it shrinking before his eyes, but it was turning white. Not the white of a blank page, but the sparkling silver of a Christmas bauble. […] The burning sensation in his groin was spreading […] (Solar: 82-84)
McEwan devotes an astonishing amount of space to the grotesque descriptions of the protagonist’s bodily functions and habits. This scene is probably the most outstanding one 62
among many, in which the reader finds elaborations on his excessive consumption of fatty food or his constant urinating. According to Traub, McEwan deals with the anti-hero’s body as an object of extreme amusement and grotesque fascination. The situation is reminiscent of the slapstick comedy, due to its deliberately clumsy actions and embarrassing events. (Cf. Traub 2018: 100) The situation continues with Beard contemplating whether or not he is going to survive this day. Coming to the conclusion, “[n]onsense, of course he would survive. But this was it, a life without a penis. How his ex-wives, especially Patrice would enjoy themselves. But he would tell no one. He would live quietly with his secret. He would live in a monastery, do good works, visit the poor” (Solar: 82)
While the Arctic is usually considered as sublime in traditional romanticism, it is not important and loses its dramatic impact in this continuing scene: “[…] and they were speeding in the wrong direction, hurtling northwards towards the Pole, deeper into the wilderness, into the frozen dark, when they should have been rushing towards a well-lit emergency room in Longyearbyen.” (Solar: 84) The Artic is directly referred to with terms such as “wilderness” and “frozen dark”, however, because the scene is rather comically bizarre, the exceptional setting does not seem to be of relevance. Furthermore, this incident is of interest because Beard seems to lose against nature. Although he is dressed in clothes designed with the help of modern technology, these can only do so much in protecting and preventing him from harm. Without the special clothing Beard is utterly vulnerable to the environment. The harsh and merciless elements such as wind and cold make him suffer. Traub concludes that this scene is “perhaps the unique moment in which Beard reckons lucidly with the reality of his own physical vulnerability and porous connections to the more-than-human world.” (2018: 101). It is a hilarious image that emerges in the reader’s mind. Beard with the “burning sensation in his groin” speeding in the opposite direction, away from civilization into the dark.
One might argue that in the scene discussed above Beard gets what he deserves. I have asserted that humor has so far not played a great role in cli-fi, however, as Traub points out, ecocritics tend to overlook “the important tradition of satire and dark humor in twentieth-century science fiction with ecocatastrophic themes” (2018: 89). Stableford argues that writers of ecocatastrophic sci-fi felt that humanity “would get no more and no less than they deserve” (2005: 140) due to the fact that humans destroy and poison their surroundings (cf. Stableford 2005: 140). Solar’s protagonist suffers from skin cancer and eventually dies of a heart attack, he has lied and cheated his way through life, not caring about anyone but himself. He is reckless not just to the people around him, but also to his own body and to the environment. Sci-fi and 63
speculative fiction have made use of comedic narration in order to stage how a future world might look like. These authors argue that comic incongruity is a means to generate self- reflection and possibly even to convince humanity to act and behave more ethically. (Cf. Traub 2018: 90) The discrepancy between the seriousness of the topic (Beard visits Norway to experience climate change) and the mode of narration certainly make this a comic scene of powerful critical impact.
In his Ecology without Nature, Morton suggests that ‘dark ecology’ contrasts sentimentalism (cf. 2007: 19). He argues that the comic mode has advantages in motivating the readership to change, as it can break the ice, even if the joke is about a serious topic (ibid: 162). To conclude, Solar is a subtle, and striking satire on global warming and discusses greed that hinders the Western world from actively working against a further warming of the planet and from confronting the ecological risks. Comedy is used to sneak the dreary topics past the reader’s defense mechanisms. The grotesque descriptions and absurd accidents make the grim matters void. (Cf. Traub 2018: 99)
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3.3 A Friend of the Earth
In his review of T.C. Boyle’s A Friend of the Earth, Knudsen points out a highly interesting detail. On the book’s cover, where the reader would usually find further information on the genre of the book, for example ‘a novel’ or ‘stories’, Boyle labels his work ‘fiction?’. This question mark is quite intriguing and might not even be noticed by some readers. By using the question mark, Boyle implies that his view of the planet as described in the book might turn out to be strikingly accurate. When reviewing the book in 2001, Knudsen stated, “Boyle has done an extraordinary job of evoking the world that may well evolve from our current one, twenty- five years down the line.” (2001: 330). He further notes that, while it is not the year 2025 yet, more than two thirds of the time span have already passed and the chances of the real world resembling the storyworld of A Friend of the Earth in the near future is highly unlikely. Knudsen concludes that Boyle’s work is not fiction with a question mark, but an “extraordinary fine example” (2001: 331) of fiction, followed by a period. (Cf. Knudsen 2001: 330f.)
The book is a combination of a realistic, romantic narrative and a foray into speculative fiction, which appears to be a new feature of Boyle’s prose. The text is rather experimental and makes use of features from realism and dystopian science fiction, but is still regarded an influential environmental novel. (Cf. Gleason 2009: 112) Although A Friend of the Earth is the oldest book featured in this analysis of climate fiction, the story contributes another aspect as well as a different approach vital to my analysis. Both title and cover art of the novel already point to the theme of the story: environmentalism. In fact, all of Boyle’s novels published in the 2000s tackle environmental issues in some way or another. Tortilla Curtain, the novel preceding A Friend of the Earth, for example, deals with “illegal immigration or the surface, but the subtext is about the environment and our overpopulation” (Birnbaum 2003: online). Thus, it clearly seems to be an issue close to the heart of the author.
A Friend of the Earth revolves around Tyrone “Ty” Tierwater, a former environmentalist, and his family. The reader initially meets him in the year 2025, while he is working as a zookeeper for a onetime superstar on the West Coast of the United States of America. The story is put into motion, when all of a sudden his ex-wife, Andrea, appears. In tow she has a friend of hers, who is eager to write a biography of Ty’s daughter from his first marriage, Sierra, who died in her mid-twenties due to an accident while protesting against deforestation. In the course of the novel the reader learns about Ty’s past and the dreadful life conditions of life in the 2020s.
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3.3.1 ‘Santa Ynez, November 2025’ – Structure and Focus of the Novel
A Friend of the Earth is composed in a binary structure. The story is divided into alternating sections and opens up with a prologue set in Santa Ynez, a town near Santa Barbara, California, in November 2025. It is followed by the first part, which opens with a chapter set in the Siskiyou Mountains in July 1989. The chapters set in the years 2025 and 2026 are narrated in the first- person, while the sections set between July 1989 and December 1997 are narrated in third- person with Ty as the focalizer. The chapters set in the 1980s and 1990s, tell us about Ty’s and his family’s background and their pro-environmental undertakings, back when the planet was still in an acceptable and well-functioning condition. The parts of the novel that are set in the future, though narrated as the present, describe a collapsed biosphere and life conditions that are just horrible. Moreover, each chapter has a title composed of the spatial and temporal setting it is set in, for example “Lompoc/Los Angeles, September-October 1991” (Friend: 199).
In the year 2025, Ty is already 75 years old. He used to be an environmentalist and originally comes from a rather wealthy family as Ty’s father made a fortune with shopping malls. Ty gives most of his money to ‘Earth Forever!’, a radical environmentalist organization that he joins during a rather depressing time in his life. In the 1980s and 90s, Ty protested against lumber companies and even got arrested a couple of times because of his radicalism. In the flashbacks to 1989, the reader learns about the protest campaign in the Siskiyou Mountains, where Ty, his then 13-year-old daughter Sierra, his wife Andrea and Teo van Sparks, another member of Earth Forever!, cement themselves into the ground in front of a forest in order to hinder a lumber company from cutting down trees. (Cf. Gleason 2009: 112f.)
The theme of global warming is always present throughout the novel. The reader is introduced to a horrifying state of the world caused by climate change and furthered by people’s narrow- mindedness and their carelessness concerning their surroundings. On several occasions the reader is presented a longing for the past, where everything was better and worth living. The major characters of the book, such as Ty, Andrea and Sierra, are environmentalists and even the minor characters, for example Mac or Ratchiss, are somehow involved in saving the planet from the worst possible outcome. Schäfer-Wünsche points out that in A Friend of the Earth, the reader is only confronted with one perspective, namely that of an elderly white male. Thus, there are no counter arguments and no discussions. (Cf. 2005: 414) The plot revolves around issues caused by the changing climate or around actions trying to prevent a further warming of
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the planet. In the book, the reader is presented with a detailed description of climate change, viewed from the protagonist’s perspective:
Global warming. I remember the time when people debated not only the fact of it but the consequence. It didn’t sound so bad […]. The greenhouse effect, they called it. And what are greenhouses but pleasant, warm, nurturing places, where you can grow sago palms and hydroponic tomatoes during the deep-freeze of the winter? But that’s not how it is at all. No, it’s like leaving your car in the parking lot in the sun all day with the windows rolled up and then climbing in and discovering they’ve been sealed shut – and the doors too. The hotter it is, the more evaporation; the more evaporation, the hotter it gets, because the biggest greenhouse gas, by far and away, is water vapour. Global warming. It’s a fact. (Friend: 185f.)
By making use of two time frames, Boyle allows for comparison of the two. Additionally, he uses different locations for different time frames in order not to confuse the readership. His use of first-person and third-person narration clearly separates the sections from each other. Ty’s voice is not only omnipresent in the parts narrated in the first-person, but also in the ones mainly composed in third-person narration. In these sections, the reader is often puzzled by passages formatted in italics and put in brackets, which function as a reminder of Ty’s presence and control.
3.3.2 ‘The sky is black’ – Imagination of the Future Environment
With the story being set in the years 2025 and 2026, the reader is taken into a world unfamiliar to everything they know. Boyle provides one of many possible versions, and it is a dark and unfriendly one. The prologue describes Ty’s experiences and observations through an autodiegetic narrator. We learn that Ty is an “animal man” (Friend: 1), which is also an endangered ‘species’, who works at a menagerie that is a home to some of the last animals of their respective species. In the opening pages he deals with the depredations after a storm and the reader learns about the weather conditions.
Of course, there isn’t going to be anything left of the place of the weather doesn’t let up. It’s not even the rainy season – or what we used to qualify as the rainy season, as if we knew anything about it in the first place – but the storms are stacked up over the Pacific like pool balls on a billiard table and not a pocket in sight. […] We’ve all been hit hard. Floods, winds, thunder and lightning, even hail. (Friend: 1f.)
The weather gradually becomes more extreme, especially as it is not merely about the rain anymore, but every approaching storm brings more destruction and more discomfort to the animals and the humans. It appears that not even science is able to analyze the weather anymore; nothing seems sure and definite.
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The sky is black – not gray, black – and it can’t be past three in the afternoon. Everything is still and I smell it like a gathering cloud, death, the death of everything, hopeless and stinking and wasted, the pigment gone from the paint, the paint gone from the buildings, cars abandoned along the road, and then it starts raining again. (Friend: 2)
The entire environment is destroyed by the constant rain, and even the sun, as Ty describes it, “comes back to pound us with all its unfiltered melanomic might” (Friend: 2). The living situation is desperate, as the extreme weather conditions do not allow for periods of comfort. In her analysis of the abject in A Friend of the Earth, Mayer intensely focuses on the development of subjectivity and identity in ecological dystopias. She defines the abject as
an “other”, not as an object, which provokes fear, which threatens, which calls into question the boundaries on which notions of self and society are founded – boundaries that are articulated in the realm of symbolic signification, but are again and again challenged by the forces of the realm of semiotic signification. (2007: 222)
She further argues that the subjectivity of the protagonist is influenced by encounters with the abject. In the text passage above, Ty has the feeling that he smells like “the death of everything” (Friend: 2). This smell, however, applies not only to his physical body, but also to his current state of mind. He is extremely frustrated and hopeless, thus, his situation ‘stinks’. Throughout the book, there are endless remarks that further describe the protagonist’s frustration. Another example can be found just a few pages later:
The place smells of mold – what else? – and rats. The rats – an R-selected species, big litters, highly mobile, selected for any environment – are thriving, multiplying like there’s no tomorrow (but of course there is, as everybody alive now knows all too well and ruefully, and tomorrow is coming for the rats too). They have an underlying smell, a furtive smell, old sweat socks balled up on the floor of the high-school locker room, drains that need cleaning, meat sauce dried onto the plate and then reliquefied with a spray of water. It’s a quiet stink, nothing like the hyena when she’s wet, which is all the time now, and I forgive the rats that much. (Friend: 6)
In this paragraph, Ty again refers to bad smells again and connects the surrounding smells to odors that are familiar to the readership, sweaty socks, clogged drains and dirty dishes. Additionally, this ‘quiet’, overall stink is compared to an even worse, acute malodor, namely the wet hyena. According to Mayer, Ty’s living conditions “keep confronting him with experiences that challenge common notions of cleanliness and bodily comfort” (2007: 223). We learn that he lives in a moldy place that is invested by rats, which bring along the disgusting smell. In the Western world, rats often carry negative connotations as they thrive in dirty and unattended places.
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Mayer highlights that not only the ‘natural’ environment is associated with disgust and loathing, but the effects of the change in climate have also entered spaces inhabited by humans and thus have made these nearly uninhabitable (cf. 2007: 223). One of the main consequences that came with the mentioned climate change is the persistent wetness that has forced people to have to deal with constant humidity. Ty comments on this when he meets his ex-wife in a restaurant, “[…] the kind of humidity you’d expect from the Black Hole of Calcutta. No air conditioning, of course, what with electrical restrictions and the sheer killing price per kilowatt hour.” (Friend: 9). Mayer calls the discomfort caused by the extreme weather and its ramifications on life an “insult to the senses” (2007: 224). The ecological alterations led to discomfort because the sensual perceptions are unfamiliar to Ty, who lived most of his live in an environment, in which the biosphere was intact. Mayer adds that under these conditions the body is exposed to filth, dampness, bad smells and extended periods of darkness and, thus, there is no easing for the senses. The boundaries between the body and the world need to be redefined. The consequent discomfort, which in parts dominates Ty’s account, appears as a great burden. Thus, it can be implied that Ty has not been able to adapt to the new environment. (Cf. Mayer 2007: 224)
Ty clearly has not gotten used to the changes and struggles with dichotomy between the memories of the past, which he remembers as being cleaner, healthier and more natural than his current situation of ecological disaster (Cf. Mayer 2007: 224).
This used to be an open country twenty-five years ago – a place where you’d see bobcat, mule deer, rabbit, quail, fox, before everything was poached and encroached out of existence. I remember stud farms here, fields running on forever, big estates like Mac’s set back in the hills, even an emu ranch or two. Now it’s condos. Gray wet canyons of them. And who’s in those condos? Criminals. Meat-eaters. Skin-cancer patients. People who know no more about animals – or nature, or the world that used to be – than their computer screens want them to know. (Friend: 7)
Throughout the novel, Ty is not able to accept the way his life turned out to be: “There is nothing I want, except the world the way it was, my daughter restored to me, my parents, all the doomed and extinguished wildlife of America […] put back in their places. I don’t want to live in this time. I want to live in the past. The distant past.” (Friend: 260) He is stuck in his misery and seems unable to stop glorifying the past. Therefore, one might conclude that because he lacks acceptance of the tragedies that occurred throughout his life, he cannot find peace and, thus, cannot adapt to the new environment.
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However, it is not only the weather conditions that have changed dramatically, but also the surfaces that have modified. Most parts of the world have become infertile, due to the damages caused by “forces of inanimate nature” (Zumbansen & Fromme 2010: 279). Borders separating states do not have any relevance anymore. Ty emphasizes that “the whole world is Africa now, and India, Bloomington, Calcutta and the Bronx, all wrapped in one” (Friend: 232). The deep rift between the first and the third world as we know it has now leveled. The typical Southern Californian environment now consists of torn-up streets because of floodings and all kinds of dislocated objects. The popular travel destination seems to be experiencing some of the worst effects of global warming. Additionally, as the population now consists of “eleven and a half billion people on the earth, […] sixty million of them right here in California” (Friend: 15), the villages and cities have also altered in their appearance. A larger world population logically results in a suppression of nature. (Cf. Schäfer-Wünsche 2005: 413) Cities have merged, for example Los Andiegoles or San Jose Francisco, or grown massively. Mexico City, Shanghai, Dhaka, Reykjavík or Lagos are bigger than New York City in 2025 (cf. Friend: 42). Thus, Ty considers himself old and feels as “if [he has] outlived [his] time” (Friend: 42).
In 2025, Ty is 75-years-old and therefore belongs to the group of the ‘young old’. Groundbreaking improvements in medicine have led to people being able to reach a higher age in the 2020s, but only when they can afford it. There is still a division between a tiny number of wealthy people and a mass of ordinary people without any power or influence. Ty, who was taken in by the affluent Mac, was able become older, however, he is unhappy about it: “We could live another twenty-five or fifty years even. The thought depressed me. What’s going to be left by then?” (Friend: 260). The following two text passages clearly demonstrate that Ty still feels sick and aged:
And then there are the eye and lung problems associated with all the particulate matter in the air, not to mention allergies nobody had heard of twenty years ago. A lot of people – myself included – wear goggles and gauze mask during the dry season, when the air is just another kind of dirt. But what can I say? I told you so? This is the world we’ve made. Live in it. (Friend: 13)
I have a space heater, and it never gets too cold here, not like in the old days – never below sixty, anyway […] how can I account for the fact that I’m shivering like a cholera victim by the time I actually shrug off the slicker and stamp out of my boots and take a towel to my head? Because I’m old, that’s how. Because sixty degrees and wet at my age is like the temperature water turned into ice when I was thirty-nine […]. (Friend: 6)
Schäfer-Wünsche states that the population is no longer save as they run the constant risk of being crushed by random objects flying around or by catching a lethal virus (cf. 2005: 413). Thus, she concludes that “both the materiality of the body (including the medically enhanced 70
body) and the materiality of space are powerfully foregrounded in this ecocritical dystopia” (Schäfer-Wünsche 2005: 413).
The hurting and aging of the physical body is definitely emphasized throughout the novel. In addition to Ty’s glorification of the past and his disdain of living within the changed environment, his body also seems to become weaker and raises problems: “I step shakily out of the car – the hips! The knee! – and fall into the arms of the heat.” (Friend: 258). Additionally, Ty has difficulties with his bowel movement and urination. The protagonist’s body can be understood as a parallel to the destruction of planet earth. (Cf. Gleason 2009: 115) It seems broken and it appears that there is no remedy to fix the body or the earth, even though the technology developed by humanity is very advanced.
Many of the things that have been available infinitely in the twentieth century are now nowhere to be found. Beer, which has been a staple for most of Ty’s life, is not accessible anymore. The preferred alcoholic beverage in 2025 is sake, wine made from rice, which is now locally grown in California in the former wine regions, such as the Napa Valley. Ty highlights that “grapes are a thing of the past” (Friend: 15). He is, however, pleasantly surprised that “the Norwegians are planting California rootstock in the Oslo suburbs” (ibid). Another striking example is the scarcity of eggs. In the first week that Ty moved in with Mac, all the eggs were already used up, which is why they now live on rice, meat and canned vegetables. It is not only food items that are unavailable in the new world, but also other everyday items: “We don’t see newspapers much anymore, I should tell you that – everybody gets their news electronically now, and the cost of paper, even newsprint, is prohibitive.” (Friend: 75). The Los Andiegoles Times is available in print every two weeks and Ty usually acquires the issues for the sake of nostalgia. He still mourns over the loss of the old world, which seems to be a version of paradise to him now. He is frustrated about the fact that the world did not entirely collapse: “And people thought the collapse of the biosphere would be the end of everything, but that’s not it at all. It’s just the opposite – more of everything, more sun, water, wind, dust, mud.” (Friend: 8) The destroyed biosphere in 2025 can, thus, be regarded as a version of hell. The total collapse of the world would have freed the population from suffering, but doomsday did not occur and instead forces the ‘survivors’ to exist in an unwelcoming environment that makes life hard, painful and sometimes unbearable.
Gleason points out that Boyle’s writing style often consists of spontaneous switches between the narration of a comic event and a tragic one. This might irritate the reader and lead to strong
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reactions to the consequences of environmental neglect. One outstanding scene is the killing of Mac by Dandelion, a lion that was saved from drowning by Ty and since then lived in the cellar of Mac’s villa. (Cf. Gleason 2009: 117)
The roaring alone is enough to seize your heart – and I’ve never seen Dandelion like this, so wrought up and nasty, whirling, biting, slashing – and then there’s the sight of the blood. And worse, the sight of Mac – our benefactor, Dandelion’s benefactor, the provider of meat, money, health, care, companionship, a true and caring friend of the animals – lying there so still in the cradle of his overturned chair. His hat is gone, the shades are crushed, the eel whips drawing the blood out of his scalp like the bright-red tips of a painter’s brushes. (Friend: 195)
It is not surprising that the enormous changes in climate and the resulting deteriorating living conditions have had an impact on the health of the human race. In addition to the poor quality of the air and the dampness of living spaces, epidemics, formerly only known in tropic regions of the world, now also occur in California. One of these epidemics is the so-called dengue fever: “They call it dengue fever, and the mosquito that carries it is the Aedes aegypti, formerly known to occur only in the tropics. They call it bonebreak fever too, because your bones feel like they’re snapping in half when you’ve got it.” (Friend: 113) Andrea informs Ty that there was a new strain of mucosa, a terminal disease that also befell Ty’s third wife Lori. He remembers her demise in the following passage: “Lori died in my arms, both of us wearing gauze masks, the mucosa so think in her lungs and throat she couldn’t draw a breath […]” (Friend: 73). Zumbansen and Fromme highlight the fact that the spreading of exotic viruses around the world is not fiction, but already taking place (cf. 2010: 279). As the climate has become increasingly mild in Europe and the United States, some midges have found a new habitat in these parts of the world. The insects are vectors of viruses and heighten the possibility of a worldwide proliferation of unknown tropical diseases. The tiger mosquito, for example, whose natural habitat is in Southeast Asia, has, according to Budde, already emerged into Italy and the US. The mosquito is able to pass on over twenty viruses, seven of which can also be dangerous for humans. (Cf. Budde 2007: online) Zumbansen and Fromme conclude that Boyle’s research with regards to A Friend of the Earth is generally profound, although they observe that the seasonal changes and weather conditions in the book are exaggerated (cf. 2010: 279f.).
The novel ends on a rather conciliatory note. Ty and Andrea leave Mac’s villa to go to Southern Oregon in order to live in a cabin. They had stayed there before, after they ‘freed’ Sierra from her foster parents. Although Oregon has also transmuted into a wasteland the place still nourishes hope: “The woods – these woods, our woods – are coming back, the shoots of the new trees rising up out of the graveyard of the old, aspens shaking out their leaves with a sound
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like applause, willows thick along the streambeds. At night you can hear the owls and the tailing high shriek of coyotes chasing down the main ingredient of their next meal.” (Friend: 274). Along with the reawakening of nature and animals, Ty and Andrea rekindle their relationship. Schäfer-Wünsche, thus, suggests that “heterosexual monogamy is asserted and becomes a paradigm of continuity and hope” (2005: 416). While taking the Patagonian fox, Petunia, on a walk, Ty and Andera run into a young girl who resembles Sierra. The girl asks about Petunia, “[i]sn’t that a, what do you call them, an Afghan?” and Ty answers, “that’s right, she’s a dog. […] [a]nd I’m a human being” (Friend: 275). Ty does not know why he added the fact that he belongs to the human species. By doing so the species are again distinctly separated from each other. However, as Schäfer-Wünsche points out, the understanding of the term species must have changed as the former wild Patagonian fox is now introduced as a dog. (Cf. Schäfer- Wünsche 2005: 416). Gleason adds that by deliberately deciding not to tell the girl that he wants to preserve the species of the Patagonian foxes, Ty might hope to prevent her from dying for the cause of environmentalism like his own daughter Sierra did. It can, thus, be concluded that because he does not want her to get involved, environmentalism in the year 2026 is regarded as ineffectual. (Cf. Gleason 2009: 118f.)
Zumbansen and Fromme conclude that recent works of fiction do not only tackle the threat of a prospective environmental disaster, but rather stir towards a total destruction of the planet and play with the idea of humanity’s end as a predominant species. Additionally, setting the narrated present in the future enables the reader to gain an insight into what life after the potential catastrophe could look like. In other words, humanity is presented with what could possibly be in store for us if we continue to mistreat nature. Hence, there is an interrelationship between humanity and nature. While nature does not quite vanquish humankind in A Friend of the Earth, the world is depicted as uninhabitable and life is not something humans find delight in anymore. For the most part, Ty seems to merely wait for his and the world’s demise. All inventions and advancements cannot compete with nature, which is going to be the stronger force if/when it comes to the worst. (Cf. 2010: 277f.)
3.3.3 ‘Enemy of the people’ – Environmentalism, Love and Nature
The relationship between humanity and nature is rather complex and multifaceted in A Friend of the Earth. The novel’s title already suggests this interconnection. The word ‘friend’ is usually attributed to human beings, but is it actually possible for humans to befriend a planet? Ty surely has not always been friends with the earth: “[…] for the record – for the better part of my life I 73
was a criminal. Just like you.” (Friend: 42). Not only does this example emphasize that there has been a time when the uber-environmentalist Ty did not care about the world surrounding him, but the overt narrator also directly addresses the reader and, thus, gives the reader a guilty conscience about consumerist tendencies and the way they treat the planet. In the following sentences Ty elaborates this statement and explains that he had “an oil burner the size of Texas, drove a classic 1966 Mustang for sport and a Jeep Laredo […] to take me up to the Adirondacks so I could heft my three-hundred-twenty-dollar Eddie Bauer backpack […]” (ibid). He continues listing other ‘horrible’ things he committed, such as buying clothes or hair care products, only recycling “maybe twice a year” (ibid), driving fast, accumulating things, and squeezing down “the windows of [his] car to add [his] share of Kleenex, ice-cream sticks, and cigarette wrappers to the debris along the streaming sides of the blacktop roads” (Friend: 43). It is clear, however, that Ty was aware about the fact that he contributed to the deterioration of the planet, even if it was on the “periphery of [his] consciousness” (Friend: 42). Eventually, Ty, with the help of Andrea and other members of Earth Forever!, “saw the light” (Friend: 43), sold everything and “became a friend of the earth” (ibid):
Friendship. That’s what got me into the movement and that’s what pushed me way out there on the naked edge of nothing, beyond sense or reason, or even hope. Friendship for the earth. For the trees and shrubs and the native grasses and the antelope on the plain and the kangaroo rats in the desert and everything else that lives and breathes under the sun. Except people, that is. Because to be a friend of the earth, you have to be an enemy of the people. (Friend: 44)
Ty’s deduction that one cannot be a friend of the earth and similarly a friend of the people foreshadows what will occur throughout his life. Zumbansen and Fromme argue that by becoming a fanatical environmentalist, he distances himself from ordinary life and people and, thus, also from the mainstream society. (Cf. 2010: 282f.)
The environmental thinking is deeply ingrained in Ty’s thoughts. Within the twenty-first century sections of the novel, Ty’s struggles with his digestion are constantly talked about. The following excerpt highlights how absorbed he is in his environmental thinking:
My guts are rumbling: gas, that’s what it is. If I lie absolutely still, it’ll work through all the anfractuous turns and twists down there and find its inevitable way to the point of release. And what am I thinking? That’s methane gas, a natural pollutant, same as you get from landfills, feedlots and termite mounds, and it persists in the atmosphere for ten years, one more fart’s worth of global warming. I’m a mess and I know it. Jewish guilt, Catholic guilt, enviro-eco- capitalistico guilt: I can’t even expel gas in peace. (Friend: 106f.)
His extremism goes so far that he is even worried about the fact that his flatulence contributes to global warming. He feels guilty about his share of methane gas and, thus, regards himself as 74
a contributor to the further warming of the planet. However, it appears as if he realizes how irrational his thoughts are, and how frustrated he is about the fact that he cannot even fart in peace.
Ty’s growing obsession with environmentalism and his resulting radical behavior also impacts his family life. At one point, for example, Ty receives a postcard from Earth Forever! in the mail, inviting him to an information meeting. At this event, he meets his second wife, Andrea, who is already a member. Ty’s daughter Sierra was merely a child when her father joined the organization, yet she often joins them in their actions. In the first flashback to 1989, Ty, Sierra, Andrea and their friend Teo are cementing themselves into the ground in order to protect the forest from being cleared. However, the risky venture ends badly, as the Earth Forever! delegation gets arrested:
He handcuffed the four of them – even Sierra – and his deputies had a good laugh ripping the watchcaps off their heads, wadding them up and flinging them into the creek, and they caught a glimpse of the curtains parting on redneck heaven when they cut the straps of the bota bags and flung them after the hats. […] And his daughter, his tough, right-thinking, long-haired, tree- hugging, animal-loving, vegetarian daughter – she folded herself up like an umbrella over the prison of her feet and cried. Thirteen years old, tired, scared, and she just let herself go. (Friend 34f.)
The disrespectful handling of the situation is especially disturbing for Sierra, who is just a teenager at the time, but already completely absorbed into the organization. Ty becomes increasingly angry with the lumber companies and the way they behave towards nature, as well as with the government, which simply ignores environmental problems. In the course of the novel, he becomes progressively frustrated about the ineffective protests organized by Earth Forever!. Because of his anger, he starts to act violently and irrationally. (Cf. Gleason 2009: 113) His anger increases to an extent, where he even commits eco-sabotage while in the Sierra Nevada:
And what was I carrying in that pack? […] Pipe wrench, socket wrenches, gloves, wire cutters, hacksaw, flashlight, plastic tubing and plastic funnel, a couple of granola bars, bota bag, sheath knife, matches. I was equipped to wreak havoc, no excuses, no regrets. The least of those machines was worth fifty thousand dollars, and I was prepared to destroy every working part I could locate […]. I only wished I could be there to see it happen, see the looks on their faces, see the trees I’d saved standing tall while the big yellow machines spat and belched and ground to an ignominious and oh-so-expensive halt. (Friend: 138f.)
Actions like this one eventually lead to Ty’s imprisonments. The court decides to accommodate Sierra with foster parents until his release. However, Ty and Andrea get her back illegally and the family is forced to live in complete seclusion afterwards. Because of this, Sierra is again 75
separated from her peers and disconnected from familiar surroundings. Gleason outlines a highly interesting aspect, stating that, “while the reader is disappointed with Ty for losing his sense of detachment, he or she also forgives him because his lack of objectivity derives not only from his personal anger but also from his love for Andrea and Sierra.” (2009: 114). Ty is an idealistic character – a man who seems to lose his ability to love because of his absurd compulsion. However, the love he feels for the two women in his life makes the idealistic protagonist more humane and gives his character more depth. Gleason calls A Friend of the Earth a conciliating work as it explores how individual obsessions can have negative effects on relationships. (Cf. Gleason 2009: 113f.)
While Ty is in jail, his wife and daughter miss out on his company. As he is away from them for longer periods of time, their relationship becomes increasingly fragile. The damage is especially visible in his marriage with Andrea when Ty starts to believe that Andrea is cheating on him with Teo: “About you and Teo. All those nights on the road, Connecticut, New Jersey, wherever. You slept with him, didn’t you?” (Friend: 141). As the story progresses, his tone and choice of words become more direct and mean: “And while we’re on the subject of numbers, how many guys did you fuck while I was in Lompoc [a prison]” (Friend: 239). This accusation occurs during a conversation in which Ty gives vent to his anger and dissatisfaction about the ineffectiveness of Earth Forever!. Gleason understands this as evidence that environmentalism and jealousy stem from a comparable source of obsession. However, Ty’s jealously and how bad he feels after his accusation, reveal his love for Andrea. In 2025, Ty realizes that he had “been wrong about Andrea and Teo – there was nothing between them” (Friend: 263). (Cf. Gleason 2009: 114f.)
Ty’s extreme attitude towards environmentalism has quite the impact on his relationship with his daughter as well. Due to his crimes, his daughter, who does not have a mother, is placed in a foster home and separated from her only family member. Sierra grows up around extreme environmentalist activism and is, thus, prone to continue her family’s tradition. However, her approach differs, from that of her father, as she is not aggressive or angry, but acts rather peacefully. Before her sudden death, she was a “martyr to the cause of the trees” (Friend: 12). Shortly before the fatal accident, Ty tries to get Sierra to leave her home in the forest: “I was trying to tell my daughter something with that forlorn bride: it was time to come down. Time to get on with life. Go to graduate school, get married, have children, take a shower, for Christ’s sake.” (Friend: 264). Ty, until the very end, cannot accept the loss of his daughter, who he believes to be the only person who still regarded him as a hero, even after he was convicted for 76
his crimes. To a certain degree, Ty feels responsible for his daughter’s death. (Cf. Gleason 2009: 115f.) It appears that he and his daughter were not able to find a golden mean as both, in their own way, turned towards extremism, which often appears conflicting. The following passage shows how Sierra justifies her mission to live in the trees, far away from society and its conventions.
“It’s not just about wolves and caribou and whoop-ing cranes – it’s about the whole earth. I mean, you have to think about what right do we have to dig up ancient soil and disturb the fungus and microbes, the springtails and pill bugs and all the rest, because without them there’d be no soil, and we have even less right to manufacture and mutate things into new forms –“ “Like the mug in your hand,’ I [Ty] said. “Or the shirt that’s going to keep you warm tonight.” “Compromises,” she [Sierra] said, “everything’s a compromise” (Friend: 153)
For her it is not merely about flora and fauna – her opinion is rather radical as she worries about the soil and microorganisms too. It is her father that points out that she is drinking from something created with enormous effort by humans, who altered materials provided by the earth in order to produce it. In a conversation with a logger, Ty is presented the oppositional perspective:
“Let me ask you this,” he said, leaning into the bar and fixing Tierwater with a stone-cold crazy look, “you live in a house or a cave? Uh-huh. And what’s it made out of? That’s right. You use paper too, don’t you, you got some kind of job where you don’t get your hands dirty, am I right? Well, I’m the one that give you the paper in your nice clean office, and I’m the one that cut the boards for your house – and if I didn’t you’d be living in a teepee someplace and wiping your ass with redwood bark and aspen leaves, now, wouldn’t you?” (Friend: 133)
Here, the reader might get the impression that Ty, just like his daughter, behaves contradictory. In order to stand by his opinion, Ty would have to live in a cave and not use paper (including toilet paper) at all. Schneider-Mayerson summarizes that the novel criticizes the ineffectiveness of political action and attacks American environmentalists (cf. 2017: 316). Extremists, such as Ty or Sierra, cannot improve the situation for a longer period of time. Short-term actions, for example the destruction of machinery or hindering loggers from clearing a forest, will have an impact in the moment, however, new machinery will be bought and another forest will be logged. What the Tierwaters do, resembles the famous drop in the ocean. Ty is aware that none of his actions have lasting impact, which is why he is utterly frustrated most of the time. He feels as if he is one of the few people fully aware of what is about to happen, and simultaneously unable to intervene with effective measures (cf. Schneider-Mayerson 2017: 316).
Ty and Sierra are outsiders, not only from society by being members of a radical environmental group, but also outsiders within their organization. Earth Forever! is to some degree supported
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by the popular opinion, but is still considered a marginalized group. Within the organization, Ty’s constant lack of self-control becomes increasingly problematic as he leans more and more towards illegality. (Cf. Kerridge 2016: 88) Andrea stresses that it is time for the ‘eco-nuts’ to stop the “guerrilla tactics” (Friend: 238) as the organization keeps on losing followers, especially because Ty’s bad behavior keeps being a topic in the media. However, Ty cannot stop his eco-tage. While in the Sierra Nevada, he lights up a tree plantation and keeps it a secret from the other members of his organization. This incident depicts how far Ty has come. He commits a crime just to send a message. By doing this, he intended to lay down a marker against companies that harm the environment in order to pursue their capitalistic goals. Eventually, Ty cannot even celebrate his action as a victory, as he promised that he will stop committing crimes once and for all. His behavior resembles that of a relapsing junkie. Sierra has been apart from her peers for most of her life. She grew up in an environmentalist milieu among adults. In her twenties, she takes up methods similar to those of Julia Butterfly Hill, who lived in a tree for a few years in order to hinder loggers from clearing a forest (cf. Kerridge 2016: 88). Although the Earth Forever! members keep in contact with the martyr, she still lives a totally isolated life. Quite contrary to other Earth Forever! members, Sierra is an adherent of the ‘Deep Ecology’ concept, which believes that “all elements of a given environment are equal and that morally speaking no one of them has the right to dominate” (Friend: 153). According to this approach, the environment is not preserved for the sake of humanity, but for its own benefit. Humans are regarded only a small part of this living organism. The difference in perspectives towards environmentalism puts Sierra in an outsider position.
In A Friend of the Earth, the environmentalists’ knowledge and opinion is never questioned. It is depicted as if they never even had a chance of preventing the world’s collapse. Kerridge argues that there is “no sign that any different strategy would have worked” (2016: 89) or that they just missed their goal. The environmentalists did not follow a wrong path or make mistakes; instead the novel highlights the powerlessness of the environmentalists. (Cf. Kerridge 2016: 89f.) By providing insight into the past and the future, it becomes clear that the members of Earth Forever! were right in their assumption about the destruction of the planet, as in 2025 the biosphere of the planet has collapsed, climate has changed tremendously and the bulk of animals are extinct. The situation is hopeless and Ty does not believe in environmentalism anymore. Early on in the novel, he states: “I’m an environmentalist, after all – or used to be; not much sense in using the term now” (Friend: 6). Quite contrarily, Andrea still regards environmentalism as important and wants to persuade Mac to provide money for a revival of Earth Forever!. Gleason notes that in the sections set in the twenty-first century, Boyle 78
“employs black comedy to satirize the environmental destruction that humanity creates for itself” (2009: 117). In A Friend of the Earth, natural disasters and the destruction of the world are understood as man-made disasters: “This is the world we’ve made. Live in it.” (Friend: 13). It is further ironic how nature keeps on taking these people’s lives who are actually trying to save it. Sierra’s mother, for example, is stung by a wasp and dies after an allergic reaction, Sierra accidentally falls from the tree that she is trying to protect, and Mac is killed by one of the lions he is trying to safe from becoming extinct. (Cf. Kerridge 2016: 89f.)
Kerridge calls the mood of the novel one of ‘carnivalesque resignation’. The characters keep making gaffes or create comical misunderstandings, however, this is overshadowed by the ecological catastrophe. The frailties of the characters are also common in our consumerist society, however, in the book they even befall the environmental activists, which are their most relentless critics. When Andrea picks Ty up from prison he is rather shocked by the changes:
This time the car was a smooth black BMW – one of the pricey models, 740i, Andrea’s car, and who’d bought it for her? “You did, Ty, and I love you for it. We needed something with a little class for pulling up at the curb when they’ve got the cameras going, you know? Anyway, I thought I’d surprise you. You like it, don’t you? (Friend: 251)
This passage shows how the environmental organization gradually turns more into a corporation, exemplified by their leaders drive big and expensive cars in order to impress the media and enjoy bottles of expensive Bordeaux. Teo even creates a line of merchandise for the organization by designing a “glossy red plastic mug with the Earth Forever! logo stamped on it” (Friend: 152). At this point, Ty starts to wonder if environmentalism is just another career for the people around him.
Kerridge concludes that because of the complexity and the large timescale of ecological issues, conventional structures with regards to plot do not work in the ways they should as they require some kind of closure or solution and, which poses a challenge for novelists and ecocritics (cf. Kerridge 2016: 99). The novel might be criticized for mainly exploring the dangers of consumerist society and, thus, for merely highlighting contemporary problems, while neglecting the aspect of generating activism. However, Boyle’s narrative and structural approach allows the reader to imagine how a version of the future might look like. In A Friend of the Earth, doomsday does not occur all of a sudden and does not completely alter life overnight. On the contrary, the deterioration of the planet and hence the quality of life decreases rather continuously over a longer period of time. By providing a gap between the two temporal settings, the reader is presented with two utterly different environments, which are thought-
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provoking and further allow the reader to experience one of the many potential outcomes if humanity does not change their behavior towards planet earth. However, the novel also demonstrates that even when living under horrible circumstances, not everything is bad. Zumbansen and Fromme highlight that Boyle stresses the importance of interpersonal relationships. The book’s ending gives off the impression that getting on well with people and having meaningful relationships is what truly matters in the end. (Cf. Zumbansen & Fromme 2010: 286)
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4 Comparison of Findings
The three analyzed novels can be regarded as representatives for the existing stylistic, thematic and generic variety within climate fiction. The genre of climate fiction is quite complicated to define as there are many different aspects that contribute to its characterization. The genre coincides with others, for example with the genre of science fiction or the dystopian novel, additionally the genre’s limitations are adjustable and alterable. The concretization of the genre is not only a great asset for various fields within the study of literature, but is also desperately needed in the twenty-first century’s fast-paced, passive and consumerist society. Climate change will continue to be on the radar of governments, scientists, environmental activists and, hopefully increasingly, also in the minds of the general public. Scientists and writers agree on the fact that fiction that deals with the topic of global warming can reach people in a way purely scientific information cannot (cf. Evancie 2013: online).
The most prominent narrative situation within all three novels is figural narration. Solar and Flight Behavior are written in the third person, and the most common mode of speech and thought is free-indirect discourse. Solar, in specific, also includes parts that resemble stream of consciousness. A Friend of the Earth is a hybrid of first and third person narration and, thus, also of figural and first person narrative situation. The novels use the protagonists as focalizers, which function as points of orientation for the readership. These focalizers, Dellarobia Turnbow, Michael Beard and Ty Tierwater respectively, however, are largely dissimilar and thus have different functions. While Dellarobia’s character makes it rather easy for the reader to identify with her personality and her environment, Beard will be regarded as a fraud and impossible to relate to. In Flight Behavior specifically, the topic of global warming is mainly presented in emotional terms. The reader is entirely immersed into Dellarobia’s world and will mostly sympathize with her character as well as her actions and decisions. When reading Solar, on the other hand, the readership might be at a loss on how to feel about the protagonist at first, as Beard is an unpleasant and rather awful figure. For the reader, it is thus almost impossible to put themselves into Beard’s shoes, even though his character is supposed to function as a mirror of society. Ty’s character enables a connection, although the reader might not be able to relate to and understand all of his actions. Ty’s weaknesses are strongly connected to the love for his family and the planet earth and will, thus, be quickly forgiven by the readership.
A Friend of the Earth and Flight Behavior share the didactical aspect, which is non-existent in Solar. While Ian McEwen explicitly did not want to write a didactical novel, T.C. Boyles
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literary background is clearly colored by novelists with didactical and moralizing approaches such as Dickens, Hardy or the Brontë sisters (cf. Gleason 2009: 4). The narrator in A Friend of the Earth is quite overt and directly addresses the reader in various parts of the novel. The narrative voice’s underlying tone is an ethical one, presenting the reader mostly with one opinion, namely that of the protagonist. However, throughout the novel counter opinions are demonstrated. These point out the other side of the fence and highlight discrepancies in their behavior, such as being a member of a pro-environmental organization and driving an expensive BMW. The instructive approach in Flight Behavior is closely linked to the character constellation. As the monarch butterflies soon become a major topic of talk within the village, they alter the lives of the population of Feathertown. The didactical chain starts with Ovid Byron, who keeps on informing Dellarobia about the butterflies and consequently also about global warming. Dellarobia then spreads her acquired knowledge by telling her friends and family, especially her son Preston, about the butterflies. Dellarobia, thus, functions as a ‘pedagogical tool’ and manages to combine scientific information provided by Byron with her emotional relationship to the butterflies. This results in a reduction of the complexity of the issues and makes climate change more comprehensible to the general public. Thus, while reading the novel, the environmental aspect is planted intentionally, but rather unnoticed as the reader is completely immersed into the story.
The degree of awareness of climate change differs greatly within the novels. The people of Feathertown are paradoxically barely aware of global warming. They strongly experience the consequences of climate change such as constant wet weather and harvest losses, but blame religious reasons for the ‘weird’ weather conditions. The term ‘climate change’, however, is still attached to wariness. The arrival of the butterflies, followed by the arrival of the scientists, ensures the enlightenment of the village. Professor Beard is completely aware of the reasons for the planet’s constant heating up and its consequences. However, he does not care. To him, the issue of global warming is exaggerated and media-hyped. Additionally, he does not have anybody in his life who will actually experience the anticipated doomsday. Beard’s interest only awakens when he is presented the opportunity to steal an ingenious idea from his deceased post-doc assistant, Aldous, which would allow him to make enormous profits and to re-establish himself within the scientific community. Ty Tierwater used to be an activist fighting for environmental justice. His degree of awareness is, thus, much more pronounced. In the course of the novel, the reader learns that Ty has not always cared for the environment and used to live a life resembling that of most readers. He changes his life after attending a meeting of a radical environmentalist organization and after meeting the love of his life, Andrea. However, his 82
personal views start to defeat his initial cause as his behavior adopts obsessive features. Eventually, his demeanor hinders environmental activism more than helping it.
While the scientific character is completely missing in A Friend of the Earth, Flight Behavior and Solar both include a scientist in the focus, although with completely different characteristics. Ovid Byron is a caring, hard-working and thoroughly immersed lepidopterist, a classical scientist-hero so to speak. As a university professor, he is constantly surrounded by young and inquisitive people, and thus also carries a didactical background. In the course of the novel, he becomes a mentor figure for Dellarobia and even hires her to work for and with him. Bryon tries to detach himself emotionally from the butterflies, reminding himself that he is not in Feathertown to save the monarchs. He believes that this is necessary in order to carry out objective research. Professor Beard, on the other hand, is the anti-hero in Solar. He is a physicist, who is especially famous for his Beard-Einstein Conflation. Unlike Ovid Byron, Beard has not been an active member within the scientific community for over two decades. He is lazy and lacks the motivation to come up with new, innovative ideas and to test them out in reality. He is ‘busy’ giving the same old lectures and taking on representative positions. While his main task is to attend events, research rarely crosses his mind at all. Even though it does not offer much excitement, Beard is quite content with his life as he earns enough money to live comfortably and to remain busy. While Byron is committed to the scientific investigation of the monarch butterflies’ relation to climate change, Beard neither engages himself ethically, nor uses his knowledge for the fight against a further warming of the planet.
Furthermore, Michael Beard and Ty Tierwater share an interesting characteristic feature. Both protagonists can allegorically be understood as the demise of the planet, although, this phenomenon is significantly more distinct in Solar. Beard, as already mentioned above, functions as an ‘Everyman’, and thus represents the society of the twenty-first century at its selfish worst (cf. Johns-Putra 2016: 270). He mainly serves as a mirror to point out the weaknesses and errors of humanity. As Beard treats his body badly, he becomes increasingly sicker, and eventually suffers from terrible skin cancer before dying of a heart attack. Ty Tierwater is similarly in poor health when the reader meets him in 2025. Medical improvements allow the population to reach a higher age, which does not necessarily mean a life without pain and suffering. Ty struggles with indigestion and suffers from pain in various body parts. He feels unwell within his body and his environment. In 2025, life is certainly less enjoyable and more uncomfortable, due to extreme weather conditions and shortage of power, certain kinds of food and other resources. 83
Solar, Flight Behavior and A Friend of the Earth share another intriguing feature: parenthood (cf. Johns-Putra 2016: 269). Parental concern is definitely important in all three cli-fi novels, although the relationships differ greatly. Beard becomes a father rather late in his life and even then, quite reluctantly. This becomes evident in his faulty relationship with his daughter Catriona, especially as they are unable to develop a full father-daughter relationship. However, this is also largely due to him spending most of his time in the United States, while she lives with her mother in England. Beard thus serves as a negative example in terms of parenthood. According to Johns-Putra, his “selfishness as a father chimes with his failure to act altruistically on climate change” (2016: 269). In contrast to Beard, Dellarobia is a mother of two young children and cares deeply for their well-being. She is aware of the perks and downsides of being a stay-at-home mom, but tries her best to offer them a good life. Her son Preston is especially curious and heavily involved in the examination of butterflies, even though he is only five years old. Preston, like Dellarobia, is part of the didactical chain. By explaining complex issues to him, Dellarobia and Byron break down the difficulty in understanding global warming and thus make the issue more tangible. Preston’s character is also important for the plot, as he, for example, is the one who befriends a Mexican girl in school, which is another major plotline in the story. By making the protagonist a mother, the cli-fi novel further highlights the aspect of future generations, which allows the readership to ponder over how the future lives of Dellarobia’s children might look like. In A Friend of the Earth, Ty Tierwater’s daughter Sierra is a major character in the novel. Her death is never fully accepted by her father, which might also be one of the reasons why he cannot accept the circumstances of life in the 21st century. Sierra follows in her father’s footsteps and becomes an environmental activist. Her demise leads to the question if children should be involved in environmental actions, especially when this turns into extremism. When Ty and his wife meet a young girl who resembles Sierra, it appears as if Ty wants to prevent her from an unnecessary death by leaving her in the dark about the truth about Petunia, a fox they keep as a dog. This may confirm the assumption that Ty (still) feels responsible for Sierra’s death.
While significant parts of Flight Behavior and A Friend of the Earth are set outdoors in nature and forests, large segments of Solar take place indoors, on means of transportations, at events and meetings or at the construction site of the solar panel. The two first-mentioned works of cli-fi use climate change as the main setting. In Flight Behavior, the people of Feathertown are affected by the wet weather conditions, in a way that hinders the largely peasant population from doing their work. Being far away from centers of economy and education, the villagers spend much of their time outdoors and are thus quite close to nature. Major parts of the book 84
take place near the roosting site of the monarch butterflies amidst a forest, which is also a vital location in A Friend of the Earth. The Tierwaters and other members of Earth Forever! spend a vast amount of time in forest preventing the loggers from cutting down trees. The forest stages the most important scenes within the story, such as Sierra’s death, the protest action in the Siskiyou Mountains and Ty’s and Andrea’s return to the Sierra Nevada. It is one of the main aims of the characters within the stories to try and save the endangered quaint nature.
Utmost variety is also noticeable with regard to the temporal setting. Solar, published in 2010, takes place in the past, covering the years between 2000 and 2009. This is, as was already mentioned above, rather uncommon as most works of climate fiction take place in the near present or the future. Solar anticipates a potential disaster and deals with the risks of continuing a life detrimental to the environment. The effects of global warming are scarcely visible and perceptible, however, scientific research predicts a rise of temperature and resultant problems for flora and fauna, as well as society. Flight Behavior is set in the near present, which means that the reader is not provided with specific dates, however, the issues and problems presented in the story resemble our current worries. The people of Feathertown already experience the first signs of the imminent ecological crisis, such as unusual weather conditions and a change in location of the monarch butterflies’ hibernation site. The time frame in A Friend of the Earth differs from the former two as the future time is narrated as the present and large parts of the story consist of flashbacks. This allows a comparison of the two segments and a glimpse of a possible future. The future depicted in the novel shows the ecological demise of the planet, which has not reached its full potential yet, but already makes life almost unbearable for its inhabitants.
As the novels differ in form and style, the genre of cli-fi unites them thematically. Flight Behavior, Solar and A Friend of the Earth all tackle climate change in one way or the other, although using completely different styles and approaches. Each work sets a different focus and has a unique angle on the issue of global warming. With Solar, McEwan tried to make use of a satirical mode. Many scenes are shockingly absurd and are thus more likely to generate laughter. Satirical and comic modes are rather uncommon in fictional works that discuss climate change. Their rare occurrence, however, will extract a different emotional reaction from the reader and might appeal to a different kind of readership. Flight Behavior is a realistic Bildungsroman, which follows a relatable protagonist on her journey of self-discovery and awareness of the issue of global warming. This style allows the reader to utterly immerse themselves in Dellarobia’s life and mind. The plot is extremely believable (although the change 85
in the butterflies’ habitat is completely fictitious) and narrated in a realistic manner. By setting the story in Dellarobia’s back garden the reader feels as if a similar experience could also happen in their lives. A Friend of the Earth adds an apocalyptical and dystopian aspect. The future is not depicted as a friendly and enjoyable environment, but rather as a horrible place to live in. This may catch the reader off guard and generate a moment of shock, which hopefully startles the reader and generates awareness and activism.
To conclude, the aim of this comparison of the three novels is to show how incredibly diverse the genre of cli-fi is. As global warming is such a complex cultural phenomenon, utmost variety is needed in order to cater to all kinds of target groups and readerships. Just like other literature and especially novels, cli-fi allows the reader to experience a world similar or entirely different to their own. It offers a place to escape to, a place to learn and experience new adventures, and most importantly a place for imagination. Visions allow us to develop coping strategies, which as a result will lead to ingenious ideas and solutions. None of the stories will be completely the same and the more we read about global warming, the more knowledge we will gain and the more important the issue will become. It is necessary to also build up an emotional relationship to such a complex and at times overwhelming problem, which is exactly what narrative literature enables us to do. While profound scientific research is definitely needed as basis for climate fiction, science and non-fiction alone lacks the emotional connection that helps us understand the gravity of the problem. With the help of fiction, serious topics can be smuggled into the consciousness of the readers, without being blocked by the complexity of studies or terminology. Cli-fi has to unique ability to hold up mirrors to its readers, who might see themselves in a less distorted fashion than they would hope (cf. Wally 2019: n.p.).
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5 Conclusion
Climate change certainly is not just an issue that is relevant to the field of natural sciences, quite the opposite is true. The problem needs to be discussed in all aspects of life, and one of these certainly is literature and literary studies. While scientific information definitely highlights the urgency and stresses the importance of the phenomenon, it does not generate sufficient awareness or activism. Thus, the temporality of climate change needs to be condensed, which is what cli-fi can do. This is just one of the many advantages of cli-fi. By providing experiences and opinions to relate to, the complex issue is made more palpable and comprehensible. The reader learns from strategies of the characters and might, thus, find ways to cope with problems when they arise. The instincts and decisions of relatable characters definitely influence the reader, who is completely immersed in the story and, therefore, develops a trustworthy relationship with the protagonist and/or other characters. The works analyzed in this thesis deal with climate change in various aspects. The debate between the sciences and the humanities is certainly a focus, however, Flight Behavior, for example, relates global warming also to economic problems, politics, depiction in the media, migration and especially to the animal world.
The fact that the repercussions of global warming are not yet perceptible is certainly a problem. Similar to the world presented in the ‘past’ sections of A Friend of the Earth, the biosphere on planet earth still appears quite intact. This is not entirely true as the first effects of climate change are already noticeable. However, major climatic changes will only be felt in about 50 years, according to experts. Cli-fi provides observations of the experiences of others and offers the reader a space to reflect no only on their expectations of the future, but also to utter anxieties that might occur regarding climate change. Future settings allow the reader to imagine and experience potential scenarios and, thus, might demonstrate ways on how to live in a newly altered world.
Moreover, the existence of global warming is still questioned and debated in the media. In addition, the fact that Western societies are unable to relate to the problem influences the scenario negatively. This inability will certainly lead to individual helplessness and a feeling of paralysis. People are inhibited to change their behavior, although they technically know about the problem. This is problematic especially because of the urgency of the problem. Cli-fi can counteract this inhibition, as already mentioned above, by making the issue more feasible and concrete. Works of cli-fi offer a way out of the misery as they point out strategies on how to
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work against a further warming or inform about possible scientific innovations which might be useful alternatives. Thus, it can be concluded that cli-fi will motivate the general public to rethink the status quo and to even take action.
The immense complexity of the problem in conjunction with the relative novelty of the issue, may hinder the reader’s comprehension and lead to a dispute between the sceptics, who see too much action in economy and politics, and environmentalists who see too little. In this regard experts stress the unique ability of literature as a means to conciliate the two ideologies. However, specific works of cli-fi might also reinforce the view of skeptics if the stance of the author is a rather doubting one.
Another aspect concerning the complexity are the contributions of humanity. Most works of cli-fi that have been published recently deal with anthropogenic, human-made, climate change. While the contributions of single individuals are not measurable, the ones of society as a whole are certainly tremendous. Again, this complex aspect needs to be made more feasible in order to be manageable. In this regard, cli-fi can function as a ‘pedagogical tool’, which aims to educate the readership, who might not even be fully aware of their contribution or how they could live more environmentally friendly. Additionally, cli-fi is able to reduce skepticism of the issue by ‘smuggling’ well founded results of research into a novel, which certainly also aims to entertain.
Cli-fi undoubtedly offers approaches, which are lacking in non-fictional means such as documentaries or scientific studies. Experts particularly stress the importance of stories as they have the exceptional ability to reach people emotionally and in often unexpected ways. Difficult experiences which will very likely confront humanity sooner rather than later, are being described in human terms by novelists. Storytelling has accompanied humans throughout history, who have always relied on stories to make sense of the world and learn from others. The engagement of literature with climate change hopefully adds to the equalization of the humanities and science. The latter has been regarded more important, but maybe lacks effectiveness in extracting activism. Thus, experts demand that storytelling is placed onto the same level as fact finding, as it is equally important for an understanding of the climatological crisis as for example satellite monitoring and precipitation databases. In the end one must never forget that humans inhabit both worlds, the material and imaginative one.
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