Dystopia In Oryx And Crake Vis-a-vis The Utopia Of Walden: An Ecocritical Approach

Ecocriticism is the literary branch of environmental studies. It is an attempt at finding the relevance and role of literature in examining ecological issues and suggesting ways of tackling them. This work examines certain environmental issues and their impact on human life as reflected in Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood and Walden by Henry David Thoreau. Oryx and Crake presents a dystopic vision of life consequent to man's abuse of Nature and a nightmarish vision of the consequences of globalization. Walden projects a utopian world created by man's close communion with Nature. Though utopian, the work is significant for its optimism and radical approach to current issue.