Faded Green and Raged Red: Human Dignity in the Dystopian World in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road and Agustina Bazterrica’sTender is the Flesh

Abstract

The value of human dignity based on epistemological dominance establishes self and other between humans and non-humans. This anthropocentric comprehension of the human-nature relationship neglects the possibility of consensus between ecology and nature and establishes a perennial bias in human beings against natural entities. Against this backdrop, this research paper explores human dignity in two dystopian novels, namely, Cormac McCarthy’s The Road (2006) and Agustina Bazterrica’sTender is the Flesh (2017)from an ecocritical perspective. Investigating human values and desires in the dystopian world, the study unravels the pathetic predicament of humans on the verge of ecological crisis and their unconditional love to return to the pre-apocalyptic world. In so doing, the study focuses on three specific questions. Firstly, what purpose does the novel serve in articulating a dystopian world where humans crumble for survival? Secondly, why do these novels disfigure the conventional (anthropocentric) notion of human dignity, presenting the characters haunted by the lost world? And thirdly, how do the characters in the novel offer the instinctual need of nature and restructure the conception of human dignity? To answer these questions, this research embodies Val Plumwood’s concepts of ‘anthropocentrism’ and ‘ecological crisis of reason’ to investigate the human fallacy in understanding humans and non-humans in relation to human dignity and claims that human dignity is not an autonomous and isolated quality but rather a product of ecological exchange between humans and nature. Human beings have to cultivate dignity in a cordial consensus. However, the moment humans brutalize the harmony, not only is dignity confiscated but also propel them into a regime where they suffer from lamentation and are haunted by nostalgia. Keywords: Ecology, environment, harmony, anthropogenic, apocalyptic, brutality