While the violence and subject matter of the novel may be what an initial reading tends to focus on, a close reading with an eco-critical approach shows that Child of God contains strong and clear eco-critical components. While being a shorter novel it features a multitude of facets and is worthy of further study and analysis. The strongest examples of eco-critical elements may be the purposeful usage of animals in the novel. The focus of the reader may be drawn to the larger mammals of the text: nonetheless as evidenced by this study even an entity as minute as a spider or crickets may be important while engaging in an eco-critical analysis of a text. While arachnids as well as flowers have been discussed by other academics this project has intended to further that discussion. It has also drawn heightened attention to the concepts of hunter/hunted as well as border and transitional areas. Child of God was written and published during an era where there was an increase in environmental consciousness (Bressler 232) that had already been gaining in momentum for many years. It is therefore of particular value to re-engage in close readings of novels from the 1960’s and 1970’s today so as to establish how eco-critical components have been incorporated and theorized, as this project has focused on doing with specific reference to Child of God.
In conclusion, this project has also evidenced the duality of canines and felines straddling both the realms of societal civilization as well as the wilderness in the novel. Additionally, it has explored the potential cricket metaphor. Furthermore, the project has also presented additional possible religious intertextuality regarding the blacksnake sequence. These areas have not been a clear focus of previous studies engaged with for this project. Therefore, this project may be viewed as contributing to the hitherto published academic studies pertaining to the novel.
Godkänt datum 2021-06-06