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In the novel, some selfish businessmen regard themselves as the governor of the universe and have interrupted the ecological balance without considering their status in the ecological community. Grandmother, represented by all the non-humans, warns Kate not to continue doing so, otherwise people will die from their wrongdoings.

When Kate reunites with her boyfriend Yolo, he summarizes that there has never been a worse condition of the world exampled by animal extinctions and global warming. He recapitulates the pessimistic ecological situations. When Kate meets Grandmother, Walker uses the predicaments of endangered animals to describe her moods. Kate thinks of rare creatures like deer or antelope or buffalo or polar bears when approaching Grandmother. Her thoughts indicate that the animals cannot be sheltered from danger. “She knew that if human beings, on a global level, gave in to the fear of being wiped out, disposable, like all the other creatures, they would never be able to think and feel their way out of their dilemma” (62). Kate is nervous and conjures up the death of non-humans. Kate predicates the plight of humans according to the end of other lives. The eradication of some animals has taken place before. Moreover, when Kate converses with Rick, she associates with the scenes of the Klamath River in northern California. “The landscape that had been so lush and powerful was left bare and desolate; the young trees coming up had no shade to protect them from the blistering sun that baked the earth to ash” (94).

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Conclusion

Attention to human subsistence is one of the social responsibilities that writers cannot shirk, some of whose literary works explore approaches to human salvation. Therefore Alice Walker，like other modern writers, now concentrate on the existential plight and spiritual predicament of humanity, which are generated by national turmoil and social evolution. Walker has established herself as a major protagonist of African American literature. Her subsequent works are noticed and commended consistently by a large number of critics and readers. In her eighth novel Now is the Time to Open Your Heart, Walker records, from Kate’s seeing, hearing and feeling, the life predicament and mental crises of women and marginalized people in the modern world as well as the connectedness between humans and nature. In the meanwhile, through the journey of Kate, Walker indicates the writing of community.

Community is a set of interpersonal ties as well as a sentiment among people. A member of a community feels a sense of safety, belonging, trust and mutual caring. What’s more, one is provided with the identity of an individual and collectivity. Since the dawn of the century, community has been an object of debate. The thesis is inspired by the theory of community advanced by Tonnies, Williams, Anderson, Nancy, Miller, Bauman and Yin Qiping. They identified the elements that shape a community, examine mutual relationships and confirmed the importance of creating an organic community.

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