ABSTRACT
At Play in the Fields of the Lord is set in the biologically riotous Amazon rainforest of Peru, and the novel's language and complex plot reflect the abundance of the forest in which the novel is set. Peter Matthiessen's novel, published in 1965, anticipates ecofeminist conceptual tropes that would only first be articulated by cultural critics more than a decade later. His aim for the novel is a deconstructive one—both essentialist and hyperreal constructs are shown to be false, and Moon is the instrumental character in accomplishing the novel's deconstructive purpose. At Play in the Fields of the Lord makes extensive use of the connections between nature and the female, linking these as well with sexuality, and with innocence, all of which are victimized together at the hands of Leslie Huben's and Guzmàn's versions of patriarchal cultural aggression. Huben's attitude towards the Indians makes of them a kind of spiritual commodity, another product of the forest, like lumber and gold.
