Abstract:

Herman Melville is a famous American novelist and poet in the 19th century. Most of his works describe oceanic and island life to reflect real life and express his thoughts. Moby Dick, as Melville’s magnum opus, is one of the literary classics in the world, and is the novel which expresses Melville’s ecological ideology greatly.
Willa Cather is one of the most famous women writers in the first half of the 20th century in the American literary history. She is also the first one who concentrates on describing the unique charm of savanna of American West in the American literary history. Her works are famous for its describing of pioneers’ life and singing of pioneers’ spirit in the world. O Pioneers! is one of the most characteristic novels in Cather’s works.    
Moby Dick and O Pioneers! shape two images who confront with nature——Ahab and Alexandra. In face of nature, they both have the firm faith and strong spirit. However, their different ecological consciousness determines their different destiny.
Since ancient times, “Man and nature, who is the winner” is the invariable topic that human has studied. This thesis makes a comparative study of Moby Dick and O Pioneers! from the perspective of Eco-criticism. It aims to make readers realize more profoundly that only when human respects nature, uses natural resources reasonably, and gets along well with nature, can human get out of trouble and have the lasting existence.

Key words ：Moby Dick; O Pioneers!; Eco-criticism; comparative study

摘要：

赫尔曼·麦尔维尔是19世纪美国著名的小说家和诗人。他的作品大多通过描写海洋和海岛生活来反映社会现实，并表达其思想态度。《白鲸》是麦尔维尔的代表作，是世界文学经典之一，也是最能展现麦尔维尔生态主义思想的一部作品。   
薇拉·凯瑟是20世纪上半叶美国著名的女作家,也是美国文学史上第一位潜心描写美国西部大草原独特魅力的女作家，其作品以描绘拓荒者的生活和歌颂拓荒者的精神而著称于世。《啊，拓荒者》是她最具特色的代表作之一。                            
《白鲸》和《啊，拓荒者》分别塑造了两位与自然对抗的人物形象——亚哈和亚历山德拉。在大自然面前，他们都有着坚定的信念和顽强的精神，然而他们不同的生态意识注定了他们不同的命运。
“人与自然，谁为胜者”是自古以来人类所探讨的亘古不变的话题。本文从生态批评主义的角度对比分析《白鲸》和《啊，拓荒者》，旨在让读者更加深刻地认识到人类只有尊重自然，合理地利用自然资源，并且与大自然和谐共处，才能走出自身的生存困境，从而得到持久的生存。

关键词：《白鲸》；《啊，拓荒者》；生态批评主义；对比分析