Ecological Consciousness in Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing

Abstract

The novel Surfacing by Margaret Atwood focuses that modern technocratic civilization and anthropocentric world view have brought the ecosystem into a critical condition. Human beings and natural elements are severely exploited by the science and technology. Christian theology also promotes the exploitation. The American power companies in Canada are destroying the wilderness of the island Quebec. In such situation, the protagonist in the novel undergoes a serious frustration towards the modern city life. So, the protagonist strongly resists the American consumerist tendency that has annihilated the purity and integrity of the nature. She also assimilates herself with the nature by creating a psychological bond between herself and it. At the same time she celebrates the dynamics of the nature which is a good message to the world in maintaining the ecological balance.