ECOCENTRIC WORLD VIEW AND EMPATHY IN ROALD DAHL’S THE MAGIC FINGER

บทคัดย่อ

Roald Dahl’s The Magic Finger illustrates the ecocentric world view through creating the empathy for the wild ducks. The empathy is carefully crafted in a depiction of role-switching between humans and ducks in which the hunter becomes the hunted. Roald Dahl’s language leads the readers, particularly the children, to empathize with “lower” creatures and respect all creatures as equal beings. The language of children’s literature has an eminent power to sow a sustainable notion of ecocentric world view in the young readers’ heart. This paper presents how the language in The Magic Finger is achieved in creating a sense of empathy not sympathy. The emotions are ignited and soften throughout the story; the more the readers identify themselves with the situations, the more they go beyond the level of sympathy and reach the one of empathy. The change of the name from “Gregg” to “Egg” at the end of the story also enhances the power of language in conveying the bond between humans and the other creatures. The empathy thus creates the ecocentric world view and is also created by the same world view.