Butler’s novel Erewhon has been controversial since its publication. The controversy mainly focuses on whether the novel is utopian or dystopian. Few scholars pay attention to his challenge of the dualistic thinking mode in traditional Western philosophy. Based on Derrida’s Deconstruction Theory, this paper analyzes Butler’s dissolution of the traditional dualistic concepts like rationality and absurdity, civilization and backwardness, life and death, etc. This interpretation not only helps readers dig out the author’s worries about the future of British Empire hidden in the novel Erewhon, but also helps to break away from the bondage of deep-rooted Western dualistic thinking mode and lets them see the complexity and variability of the nature of the world, which serves to open their minds to understand the essence of life from a broader and deeper perspective.

Keywords: binary oppositions; dissolution; worry; Erewhon