The Line Between Humanity and Animals in Western Literature

Abstract

An analysis of how author David James Duncan expresses ideas of holistic equality between man and nature through the narrative of protagonist Gus Orviston in Duncan's novel The River Why. The paper charts the progress of Gus's transformation of perspective in regards to how he views himself in relation to the natural world from beginning to end, emphasizing how Duncan's ideas about animals rights, wildlife conservation, and perspective are important to understanding and respecting the interconnectivity of all life on earth.