Humanity and Crakers

Humanity and Crakers

Repeatedly, it is stated in Oryx and Crake that the Crakers lack much of what makes us human. They cannot make art, they cannot have a religion, they do not have leaders. By the end of the book however, there is signs that all three of these things are present, to some extent, in their culture, showing that they are more human than it may seem. Thought the book hints point to the Crakers not following the ideas of Crake, who designed them to lack these traits.

“These new women are neither lopsided or sad: they’re placid, like animated statues. They leave him chilled.” (101) So thought Snowman of the Children of Crake, almost soulless, robotic, without culture, or fear. On the very next page after this thought, religion can be discerned from the veneration of Crake, a person who they never knew, who they praise for ending “chaos,” like the god of the bible. Snowman by his own admission, is Crakes prophet. (104)

At the end of the novel, the Crakers erect a totem, a statue of Crake, chanting Snow-man, they attempt to summon Snowman, after their encounter with other humans This is very different from the rather simplistic religion of the Crakers before Snowman left them. They made a symbolic art, they have a set ritual to summon snowman from the sky. This shows that Crake is  not only wrong about the capabilities of the Crakers, but very wrong, in this sense they are little different from humans of before.

This change is a turning point in the novel, before, despite hints that it may be otherwise, the Crakers are seen as an “other.” They are alien, reminiscent of the people of Winter, in The Left Hand of Darkness, in their egalitarianism, but very alien. Now they have religion, they have culture, Crake is proven wrong, and Snowman must make a decision.

Odds and Ends, The meaning of Oryx and Crake, and its place in literature final book writeuop

The Meaning of Oryx and Crake, and why Oryx and Crake is AP Material

After reading the entire book, looking back has allowed me to draw conclusions on Oryx and Crake, namingly, trying to figure out what meaning did she want people to get from it, and is the book, with its underlying symbolic meanings worthy of being used in AP classes.

Is Oryx and Crake AP Material?

Oryx and Crake is definitely AP material. The novel. despite having a rather cliche background,and setting (discussed in previous posts), has deeper meaning, and is not written at the third grade level. This combination of deeper meaning, and decent writing makes it worthy of being considered as material worth reading in an AP class. Snowman’s struggle through life, for instance, is not a simple one, accomplished by simple means. Snowman is a flawed human being, though somewhat relatable, a reasonable person is disgusted with what he did. When he was younger, he watched child pornography,  he created the advertising campaign for the BlyssPlus drug, which was used by Crake to wipe out humanity to pave the way for his Crakers. At the same time, Snowman is relatable, he is the last man, or he believes himself to be, he is lonely, alone, there seems to be some sort of remorse in him.

There is a purpose to Atwood's writing. The novel tries to show the dangers of genetic engineering, the failings of an Anarcho-Capitalist society, where there is next to no government, and corporations rule all. The novel also builds off of the “last man” theme common in many novels, starting with Mary Shelley's the last man, isolation, and loneliness, coming to grips with being the last person alive being the main themes of “last man” novels. Oryx and Crake builds off of these by introducing the Crakers, nearly human but not enough for Snowman to feel not alone, alien in some ways not in others.

The writing in Oryx and Crake is quite good. Though I must admit quite good can mean anything to me from Shakespeare all of the way down to the point where the writing is not so bad that it distracts me from the overall story. That being said, I found the prose of Oryx and Crake to be adequate in showing the complex themes that are in the novel, and it worked well with the setting.

The novel is also useful in an AP setting, though that is also true of any novel of literary merit. It there are overarching meanings, so questions can be answered. Snowman works as a prompt character for questions about insanity, complex characters, changing views, characterization, etc. that being said, I think that there are plenty of other AP worthy novels out there, and as I did not love it, would not want it to be on the curricula next year.

What meanings can be acquired from Oryx and Crake?

There is several greater meanings that can be made from the novel. The first is the arguments against consumerism, against genetic engineering, against a corporate culture. The world of Snowman’s youth is nasty and rather rotten, with a thin outer veneer of peace, it is violent, and corrupt, with no signs of an organized government, with companies releasing diseases of their own invention to make money, and most people living in squalor with a small elite. In the “present” Snowman is isolated, living with the semi-human Crakers, the novel touches upon what it means to be human, with the Crakers taking on more and more human traits, by the end of the novel they seem to have an obvious religion and leaders, two things that Crake said they could never have, due to their genetics. Snowman, being isolated, is also almost inhuman in his lack of active work towards his own survival, his living in the past. At the end of the novel, Snowman must react to the arrival of other humans, in one way or another, and he must make a human decision, driving home the theme of humanity.