ECO-COLONIAL RUINS: THE DUAL FRACTURES OF NATURE AND HUMANITY IN HEART OF DARKNESS AND LORD OF THE FLIES
Keywords:
Decolonial Ecology, Double Fractures, Eurocentrism, Heart of Darkness, Lord of the FliesAbstract
The present research is intended to provide a comparative analysis of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and William Golding’s Lord of the Flies in the context of Malcolm Ferdinand’s Decolonial Ecology, with specific emphasis being placed on his theoretical concept of double fracture- simultaneous subjugation of the human population combined with the exploitation of natural ecosystem. Using Ferdinand’s theory, through the analysis, it is shown how both novels challenge the Eurocentric narrative of colonialism as a civilizing force demonstrating its dehumanizing and devastating effects to nature. In Heart of Darkness, the exploitation of African natives and looting of Congo’s natural resources are the manifestations of the corrosive nature of imperial greed. While, in Lord of the Flies, the boys’ decline into savagery and the desolation of the island through environmental degradation. The study finds that when approached from the perspective of decolonial ecology, these texts become profoundly anti-colonial literary accounts of the unfolding of the colonial modernity that demonstrates the human and ecological interrelation of the suffering. While applying a decolonial ecological lens on traditional literary works, this research finds participation in academic discourse concerning the topic of postcolonial literature, environmental justice, and more sustainable relationships between man and planet.
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