Whirligig by Magnus Macintyre as a specimen of the eco-psychological novel

The 20th century concern about the negative consequences of scientific and technological progress aggravated by the recent disasters and catastrophes has produced a new kind of literature which has been defined as environmental literature', 'nature writing', 'ecofiction', 'ecological literature', 'place-based literature', 'nature oriented literature'. One of the genres of ecofiction is the ecopsychological novel. The definition given by John Davis to the science of ecopsychology may suit to reveal the essence of this genre:

The deep and enduring questions - who we are, how we grow, why we     suffer, how we heal - are inseparable from our relations with the physical world. Similarly, the over-riding environmental questions - the sources of, consequences of, and solutions to environmental problems - are deeply rooted in the psyche, our images of self and nature, and our behaviours. Ecopsychology integrates ecology and psychology in responding to both sets of questions [Davis].

Thus, an ecopsychological novel deals with man's interrelations with nature, its characters manifest ecological consciousness, i.e. concern about environmental problems, and

their reactions and solutions to them are psychologically grounded.

We are inclined to consider Magnus Macintyre novel Whirligig (2013) a specimen of the ecopsychological genre. The novel which is Macintyre's literary debut is likely to be based on the writer's own experience as the professional activities of its main character partially coincide with those of the author.

The title of the novel is polysemantic like the word 'whirligig' itself. At the beginning of the novel Macintyre gives three meanings of the word: 1. A mechanical instrument or toy that whirls or rotates. 2. A fickle, giddy or inconstant person. 3. An instrument of punishment or torture. Obviously all the three senses are implied by the title - the first one is associated with wind farms which turn out to be a touchstone for the personages of the novel, the second one refers to its fickle, inconstant central character Gordon Claypole, while the third one is a metaphor which stands for the adventures and trials the protagonist has to endure.

The novel is set in the north-eastern part of today's Scotland. The prologue, however, treats of the 1980s when the two main characters - Gordon Claypole and Coky Viveksananda, aged nine and seven, were staying with their parents on MacGilp's estate. The events of a summer day affected the lives of almost all the personages. There is also an epilogue from which the readers learn of the further developments in the relations of Gordon and Coky.

Whirligig has a fairly entertaining dynamic plot which hinges on the adventures of Gordon Claypole, a Londoner who because of his financial problems has to move to Scotland and become involved in a controversy about the construction of a wind farm. The tonality of the novel ranges from light humour to tragedy. The former is mostly associated with the actions of the naive and clumsy Gordon Claypole while the latter is connected with an unexpected and absurd death of Peregrine Macgilp on whose estate most scenes of the novel are set.

The events of the novel are centred round the conflict over the project of a wind farm construction in a remote Scottish community. It is expected that the members of the community are well aware of the global warming and climate change issues and will support the idea of an alternative source of energy to replace coal. However the project generates a wide range of attitudes and opinions - from its absolute rejection on the part of Lord Banfield Haines to its pathetic well-grounded promotion by Harry Lightfoot. The controversy brings out a variety of hidden and patent motives which at times have nothing to do with either ecological or technological issues. Each of those involved in the collision represents a certain psychological type and is guided by his or her personal considerations which results in family conflicts. Thus, Dorcas and Bonnie feel concern about climate change but come out against the wind farm project on the pretext that it would bring profit to their brother Peregrine MacGilp. Diametrically opposed to each other are the opinions about the project expressed by Coky and her mother, by Peregrine MacGilp and his son.

Coky, on the contrary, is deeply concerned about global warming, therefore she is very enthusiastic about alternative sources of energy:

Coky explained that she could not catch a bus, look at a view, eat a meal or dream, without thinking of pollution or carbon cycle. She had done her best to avoid it, she said. She had tried to be stupid. She had tried not to care so much, but was always dogged by insistent voices asking her constantly to weigh one action against another in terms of its impact on the environment [Macintyre 2013: 46].

Besides she expects that the wind farm project will put an end to the family feud - the conflict between her mother and aunt, on the one hand, and her uncle Peregrine Macgilp, on the other, over inheritance. Marion Price, a journalist, acknowledges the necessity of alternative sources of energy but she is against wind farms for aesthetic considerations - they will disfigure the landscape. Lachlan, MacGilp's illegitimate son, and Milky, Lachlan's friend, fear that wind farms will have a harmful effect on the fauna - they will exterminate the rare species of birds inhabiting the area.

The main proponent of the wind farm project is Peregrine MacGilp; however, he is least of all worried about ecology but expects to profit by having wind farms installed on his land and stops at nothing to have it done. He resorts to all kinds of machinations and fraud: falsifies the data of Lachlan's report and destroys the papers for fear that they might hinder the implementation of the project. He cynically expounds his plans to Claypole:

Speaking personally,...I am not absolutely convinced that there is such a thing as global warming Anyone who has a wind farm can charge mere for their electricity than someone with a coal-fired power station, or gas or whatever. A lot more. And there's a lot of other financial how's-your-fathers that make it even more attractive [Macintyre 2013: 31].

No less vivid are other characters of the novel - the wise and sober-minded Dorcas, the amorous adventure seeker Bonnie, the unhappy unacknowledged son of MacGilp Lachlan and his devoted friend Milky. One or two scenes are enough for

Macintyre to create memorable portraits of secondary or even tertiary personages like the prim, somewhat hypocritical minister Jim Fry or Gordon's Australian narrow-minded and self-conceited uncle.

The most ardent adherent of the wind farm project is Harry Lightfoot who considers it an effective means of withstanding the global warming. At MacGilp's dinner he easily counters the other guests' arguments by showing their incompetence or by disproving their accusations of unaestheticism of wind farms. He supports his ideas with an eloquent monologue:

Our generation will be asked by the next, "What did you do in the war against global warming?" If the answer is nothing, or not enough, they will be incredulous. They will ask "Why not? You knew there was a problem... you knew it was up to you... and yet you did nothing. " And they will not forgive us. They will hate us, and rightly [Macintyre 2013: 222].

In answer to one of his opponents' idea of the necessity of energy consumption saving Lightfoot says:

This speech provokes a further discussion which takes a philosophical turn. Having exhausted her arguments Lightfoot's opponent Marion Price calls him an ecofascist. Yet it is he who has the last laugh.

There is no doubt that Macintyre makes Harry Lightfoot his mouthpiece. Even the hero's name suggests a victorious advance of the renewable sources of energy idea. At that, however, the writer deliberately deflates his image, even slightly parodies him by, for example, making him go to the extremes -assert that having pets is an anti-environmentalist stand:

You can't own cats and say you are an environmentalist. You just can't. Domestic cats kill about eight million birds a year in Britain, and dogs require an enormous amount of meat, which is incredibly unsound carbon-wise [Macintyre 2013: 216].

Gordon Claypole is an antipode to the charismatic Gordon Lightfoot (their contrast is suggested in the Prologue); at times his image looks like a caricature of man. Yet taking into account the autobiographical nature of the novel we dare to suppose that Macintyre made a sort of artistic experiment (or trick) by dividing his self-image into two components, with Harry Lightfoot as one and Gordon Claypole as the other, resorting in the latter case to self-irony.

In the course of the novel Gordon Claypole undergoes a sort of initiation. A city-dweller to the core he turns out to be absolutely incapable of adjusting to provincial life. The least inconveniences that he experiences in the country cause his discomfort and nostalgia for the noisy and dirty London. Nature itself irritates him:

The countryside is appallingly bloody noisy. In every corner of every valley and on every patch of grass and in every inch of tree are the sounds of beast and bird and everything else fighting or fucking [Macintyre 2013: 218].

However, gradually his attitude begins to change. He experiences a true amazement and elation assisting at the birth of a foal, he enjoys the simple but wholesome food which Dorcas has cooked out of the products which she herself has grown in her own garden and begins to feel genuine interest in agriculture. The fact that while living in the countryside he does not need to bother about financial problems enhances his enjoyment of provincial life and eventually accounts for his becoming Coky's companion on the estate which she has inherited from Peregrine Macgilp. Together they are planning to start environmentally friendly horticulture under Dorcas' guidance.

Dorcas is one of the most attractive characters of the novel. She practices what may be termed as agroanarchist attitude to nature. When Claypole finds himself on her premises he is taken aback at the sight of her disorderly garden. But Dorcas has her principles which she consistently follows:

There's no such thing as a weed. Just a plant in the wrong place. <... > Nothing in the garden should be wasted. It's all useful for something [Macintyre 2013: 114].

In her opinion ecological awareness can be obtained through practical activities:

The environment is complicated. It's complicated and it's messy. But if you care, you have to get involved. You can't live in a city and hope everything is going to be OK. You have to go to the countryside, get busy and make yourself part of it [Macintyre 2013: 116].

Dorcas feels great concern about mankind's attitude to environmental problems; she considers that humanity has not realized their gravity yet, that only some very serious disasters might put an end to people's reckless treatment of nature:

What the world needs is a heart attack. Well, they say that people who have survived heart attacks tend to live longer than they otherwise would because they sit up and pay attention to their life style. The world has had an economic heart attack, and everyone is rushing around to solve the problem. If the climate had a heart attack - say five years of drought in

America, or the whole of Antarctica suddenly melting - we'd all sit up and pay attention. But the fact is, few people have really suffered yet from climate change [Macintyre 2013: 117].

We have every reason to suppose that Dorcas expresses Magnus Macintyre's own stance in relation to environmental problems.

Thus, in Whirligig there is practically all that John Davis defines as the 'territory of ecopsychology': 'nature-oriented awareness practices', that is, contacts with natural environment, with flora and fauna objects and meditations upon them; 'earth work' which means environmental education and action; 'nature based psychological practices' implying spiritual unity of man and nature, comprehension of the natural beginnings of human existence; 'ecotherapy', or 'conscious use of the mental health benefits of nature experiences; 'ritual and art as ecopsychology practices'(Davis). (The last of these practices can be seen, though in a somewhat distorted form, in the hippies festival organized by Lachlan, and, paradoxically, in the grouse hunt). All the personages of the novel "inhabit" this territory, though displaying differing degrees of involvement in nature and of ecological consciousness.

In spite of the seeming straightforwardness of the author' message the novel leaves unresolved at least one question - that of grouse hunt on Peregrhine MacGilp's estate which is rather minutely and vividly pictured in the book. Gordon Claypole is shocked by Coky's and Harry's participation in the event and their manifest enjoyment of it. So, undoubtedly, is the reader who might ask whether it is the irresistible conservatism of even the staunchest 'eco warriors' or their conviction that this sort of 'animal-human communication' (Davis) helps to preserve the natural balance. Or is it Macintyre's intention to contribute to the current controversy about the ethical legitimacy of hunting and he deliberately leaves the readers in the dark?

Though Whirligig will hardly be ever considered a literary masterpiece there is no doubt that with its entertaining dynamic plot and vivid, masterly drawn characters Macintyre has made an artistic contribution to humanity's concern about one of the acutest issues of today.