Chapter 15 & Conclusion
Chapter 15 is the ending chapter of Oryx and Crake and it actually reveals a question i posed in one of the earlier posts, when his mother was being executed she said the words, "dont let me down" to her rakunk, Killer, however when Snowman walks down to where three surviving humans are he can hear in his head the same words repeated, "Dont let me down." Could his mom have possibly not been referring to the pet when she used the name "Killer", could she possibly be referring to Snowman as a killer. The book ends with the words, "time to go," so its only speculation on whether he spares these humans or not however in my opinion i think he does. I dont think he accepts the people there as one of his if they were able to survive the disease and be able to eat the wildlife, which Snowman feels guilty for. I think he is keeping his promise to everyone that has been in and out of his family to be able to raise this new race of people and having humans around would just impede his progress. The humans had already run away from the Crakers in disgust so it would probably make sense to Snowman that he shouldnt trust such close minded people. He also knows the children cant fathom any humanly concepts such as murder, rape, molestation or anything of those sorts so if they had to be introduced to people capable of doing such things it would only cause confusion. In conclusion i think Atwood did a great job in juxtaposing the disgusting parts of humanity with what humans idea of perfection is, the Crakers. Although someone as horrendous as Crake could wipe out an entire human race, he could also build up another, more thoughtful race. The flashbacks coinciding with present day to finally catch up towards the ending chapters was also creative, it leaves the reader wanting more to find out how certain things work out. It is also an unpredictable story. Guessing the events of the book based on the first pages would be impossible because youre basically seeing from the eyes of the Crakers themselves, naive to what was to come.
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Chapters 13&14
It is clear that Atwood likes to use humor within this novel to kind of poke fun at the world Snowman lives in, the virus is named, Jetspeed Ultra Virus Extraordinary and as said before the compounds are all wordplay on mutation. It is weird to have this sort of humorous text put into a story of traitors and deceit but it is possibly what Atwood wanted, humor among a dark setting. In fact in todays time during our own virus outbreak there are memes and funny videos people post mimicking the virus and things relate to it. So possibly Atwood wanted to replicate human sand their ability to find humor in even the deadliest of situations. Snowman is also acting as a saviour to the Crakers, taking care of them and creating religion and hope for them even though after all the events that transpired it doesnt seem like he owes Crake anything, he couldve killed the Crakers but he hasnt, Is it possibly due to his loneliness especially because he thinks he the last human alive? Or does he feel like hes doing this for Oryx and spreading the love he had for her to what basically would be her "children." In fact Snowman still uses Crake as the main deity for the children so is it possible he doesnt feel any resentment towards his former friend. Its not clear what Snowman's motive for taking care of the Crakers is but there is many possibilities to think about. Chapters 11&12
Chapter 11, in my opinion didnt contain any thought provoking substance, Snowman escapes from pigoons and finds supplies for himself. However an interesting thing i saw was that when he goes to call on the radio someone is speaking russian, meaning that Atwood has meant for this story to take place in the same Earth as we now know instead of an entirely different modified universe. This is also confirmed with the mention of them going through "New New York" and eating Japanese food. From this point we can tell that the setting is made to be almost like the Hunger Games where everything is normal except for events out of the ordinary happen which makes the setting now seem dystopian, A country where mutant experiments take place legally is also a dystopian fantasy that turns the US into some form on a nightmare. In chapter 12 it gets wild to say the least, Crake basically manufactured a pill with the virus/disease that was shipped to every city in America, Jimmy knows that as Crake's partner he is somewhat responsible for these events. When Crake enters the room with him he proceeds to kill Oryx which in turn causes Jimmy to shoot Crake. Crake has been revealed with the most sinister back stabbing plan for Jimmy because now he must raise the Crakers, especially because the human race will be wiped out by the disease. Crake's motive for betraying Jimmy like this is not clear because it couldnt have been jealousy from Oryx, the plan was thought out well before Jimmy had started sleeping with her. This leaves Chapter 12 with an atmosphere of mystery and questions for Atwood. Chapters 7&8 Crake is sort of a mad scientist, he has bred the Crakers with animal characteristics that make them less humane and more of his own followers, there is also hypocrisy seen within his character, before his experiments he had a negative attitude toward the Happicuppa bean company for their unethical planting strategies. There is also somewhat of a class division between Jimmy and Crake as they both went to different colleges, Crake getting the better education. Crake shows his first sign of insanity when Jimmy questions the mutant butterfly and Crake says, "After it happens thats what they look like in real time. The process is no longer important." (p.235) Crake loses his humanity once he enters this college, he doesnt think altering the genetic makeup of nature is unnatural. Atwood has created this antagonist to taunt Snowman and what hes been through with his father's inhuman studies. Crake can even be seen as a reincarnation of Jimmy's father, and Oryx representing his mom that left him. Therefore the gods being worshipped in the present, Oryx and Crake are Snowman's worst enemies that have followed him and reinvented themselves throughout his childhood. Crake even has a picture of Oryx in the game he is playing, showing that they have a connection that doesnt involve Jimmy. Again, it is showing how the flashbacks Jimmy is getting are basic replicas of whatever is currently happening with his life, genetic scientist dad to genetic scientist friend with a woman that flees from his life. So basically i just had this entry all typed out and then my wifi cut off and it did not save it :) i will now be recreating what i remember writing,
Chapters 1&2 We are introduced to our main character Snowman who is seemingly living in a post apocalyptic world hinted to be caused by some form of virus. Snowman is an anomaly to the children made by a man named Crake, relation to Snowman not known however he seems to have a sort of aggressive relationship with him. Snowman also has a variety of mental health problems, overthinking caused by anxiety and his environment and possible borderline personality disorder caused by childhood trauma. This trauma is hinted at during a flashback where it is revealed he lives in the OrganInc compund (also cool wordplay on the word organic even though its the complete opposite) where his father works. In this compound pigs are genetically modified to produce multiple sets of organs for organ transfers. Snowman, who was once named Jimmy, developed a defensive and disruptive personality to cope with being ignored and mistreated during his adolescence. This however may work to his advantage in his new cruel reality. He even shows rebellion with the choice of his name, Crake, the man who is manufacturing human experiments does not allow fantasy related names however Jimmy has gotten away with naming himself after the Abominable Snowman. A sign of his alleged BPD is shown when he talks to the female voice in his head trying to make him succumb to what he sees as sin. |
AuthorMy name is Alexsis Caban and I am currently trapped in quarantine (hopefully) along with the rest of the world but the show must go on and Oryx and Crake must be read and analyzed so here I am :p |