Abstract:
This thesis aims to study the methods that novels with animal narrators use to negotiate with anthropocentrism. Three novels investigated in this study are A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron, Delta the Dancing Elephant: A Memoir by K.A. Monroe and The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa. These three novels negotiate with anthropocentrism in three dimensions, i.e. language, reason, and ethics. To begin with, in the dimension of language, each novel shows that animals try to negotiate with the values given by human beings by criticizing those given values. Next, in the dimension of reason, each selected novel presents animals' capabilities in thinking and reasoning, as well as their self-awareness. This study argues that the aim of presenting those animals' capabilities is to cultivate sympathy for other beings since it shows the qualities mankind shares with other species. In the dimension of ethics, the study argues that animals can perform ethical actions even if those actions are driven by instinct; it also argues that ethical self-reflexiveness may happen to those who pay attention to the relationship between themselves and other animals. However, this study also presents that these three novels cannot transcend anthropocentrism because animal narrators are controlled by human beings. They still need human assistance and acceptance.