An ecocritical reading of Richard Powers' Gain

Abstract EN

Ecocriticism is very clear in Richard Powers‟ Gain.

Through the novel, readers know how man and nature are both abused.

Ecocriticism can simply be defined as the study of the relationship between literature and physical environment.

Ecocritics start from the premise that humans, industry and their bad treatment of the environment are the causes of the problems of the ecosystem.

Ecocriticism is about nature and how we relate to nature and how nature relates to us.

The novel‟s main victim is Laura Bodey who is a single mother living in Lacewood, which is polluted by chemicals produced by the Clare Soap and Chemical Corporation.

The main focus is concentrated on Laura‟s suffering from ovarian cancer.

Unfortunately, Clare‟s company for soap and chemicals chooses Lacewood as a suitable place to prosper, turning it to a famous and a rich place.

Richard Powers gives us the two stories side by side.

He narrates some details about Laura, a forty-two years old woman, who is divorced and has a seventeen-year-old daughter and a twelve-year-old son.

Then, he shifts to Clare‟s Company, telling some other specifics about its history, after that he connects between the company and the minute details of Laura's life.