Dragon Rider

As ecofiction, the novel focuses on how humans interact not just with each other, but also with the world around them. Dragon Rider’s fantastical setting represents a real-world context that informs the plot and character motivations. The novel does not explicitly comment on Earth’s environmental state as a result of human actions. Instead, the disappearing dragon habitat parallels the ways humans negatively impact their real-world environment. Within the context of the narrative, the silver dragons as well as many other fabulous creatures have disappeared or gone extinct due to humans, who hunt them or destroy their natural habitats.

This is the case of the dragon’s valley, where Firedrake and his community live in peace, as seen in the first two chapters. When humans arrive, they flood it, destroying the environment for their own ends. The context makes clear that the fate of the dragons and their home is representative of the fates of natural habitats in the wild, which have been destroyed or stolen by humans through hunting, deforestation, pollution, and other activities. By making the dragons sympathetic characters, the novel implicitly argues that the human impact on nature is wrong, even evil, and that humans have a moral obligation to rectify such damage and preserve these natural habitats in the future.

The novel even suggests that humans, though smaller and far weaker than dragons, are far more dangerous. Firedrake makes this comparison when he states that dragons cannot fight the humans but only hide from them. Despite Nettlebrand’s immense size, strength, and violent nature, he is the lesser of the two threats. Thus, though humans are not active antagonists in the novel, and despite the presence of human allies in the plot, the novel casts humanity overall in a negative light.

However, the narrative makes a careful distinction between destructive humans and humans who try to help. This includes not only Ben but also Professor Greenbloom and his family, Zubeida Ghalib, and the monks at the Monastery of the Moonstone. During the encounter at the archeological dig site, Professor Greenbloom, like Gravelbeard, comments on the arrogance and folly of humans who cruelly capture animals. He is also determined to protect Firedrake and other fabulous creatures from human encroachment, demonstrating a positive example of human interactions with nature.

Likewise, the novel juxtaposes the Western attitude with the Eastern attitude toward dragons, implying that one is morally superior to the other. In Europe, Firedrake and other fabulous creatures are in danger of being hunted down and either killed or put in zoos. In Pakistan and other parts of Asia, however, the dragons are treated as good omens, bringers of rain, luck, and protection, even representatives of nature itself. The villagers in the Pakistani village where Zubeida lives welcome Firedrake with a feast. This starkly contrasts the threat of violence that awaits the dragons in the Scottish Highlands. Through all these examples, the novel warns against human encroachment on natural habitats and argues that havens of wilderness should be protected.