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Abstract
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Reading literature in the light of new critical approaches is one of the ways of revealing hidden themes, which in its sense, can improve our understanding of literary works. Ecocriticism, one of such approaches, as a combination of ecology and literature is an interdisciplinary domain, in which literary works are analyzed in the light of ecological discourses. We also know that setting plays a pivotal role in understanding a literary work. In this study, three of Hemingway’s novels, A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Old Man and the Sea, are examined to stress how wars and intrusion of machinery and military vehicles into Nature, masculine animal killers, and also activities like fishing, bullfighting and hunting cause environmental degradation. In A Farewell to Arms, for instance, soldiers of the opposing armies fight each other using heavy weaponry such as howitzers, as well as warships providing fire support for them which not only creates destruction for the ecosystem, but also leads to the suffering of humans as well. In For Whom the Bells Tolls, a war is depicted which is devastating animals as well as humans. Animals and women alike are at the mercy of brutal masculine characters who kill men and animals mercilessly. In The Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway arguably depicts a marine life under heavy exploitation. Young fishermen exploit seascape with their modern fishing techniques in the sea. This study attempts to understand the interplay of human activities, like war, hunting, bullfighting, fishing, and their destructive impact on man and Nature alike, through the lens of Ecocriticism and Ecofeminism.
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