As a feminist disability studies scholar, reading Oryx and Crake triggered a tiny bit of outrage about the treatment of disability within the novel. The character of Crake is one of the most interesting in regard to disability studies scholarship. Towards the mid to later part of the novel, when Crake gains admission to the most scientifically elite university in the United States, Watson-Crick, and Jimmy visits him there, we see several troubling things. There is a direct reference to that university as Aspergers U. The university is widely acknowledged as a place where students as a whole lack virtually any social skills. The students who are introduced, are, through Jimmy’s eyes, so robotic in their intensity, that they ultimately become less human, losing the trappings of civilization. In the dining hall, Jimmy observes that “Crake’s fellow students tended to forget about cutlery and eat with their hands, and wipe their mouths on their sleeves. Jimmy wasn’t picky, but this verged on gross” (208-9). This is a moment where we watch Jimmy observe people with incredible intelligence, and yet reduce them to sub/non human because of their table manners. The white colonial gaze is not absent from the world of Oryx and Crake, even if it is arguably functioning as a defense mechanism in this novel.

Ultimately, because of the students’ lack of an ability to join in what might be recognized as socially normative conversation, the reputation of the university is bolstered by the students’ drive and passion for scientific advancement. The university explicitly discourages intimate relationships amongst their students, directly fostering this kind of social dis-engagement. So thinking about the university’s role in the development of Crake as a character is interesting. Thinking about what it means that a dystopian novel includes character/s with intellectual disabilities is interesting. On one hand the representation of folks who have an intellectual/social disability – like Asperger’s Syndrome – could potentially be positive. The students at Watson-Crick are brilliant people expecting to be on the cutting edge of technology designed to create a better world. However, the progression of Crake’s character and actions make this potential outcome impossible.

(SPOILER!)

Crake’s vision of a better world ultimately becomes one in which humans as we know them are eliminated in favor of the genetically perfected Crakers. Crake is a character whose lack of ability to really empathize and make genuine social connections with people (at least according to Jimmy/Snowman), those characteristics which often determine the behavior of individuals with Asperger’s, leads to the end of humanity. In this novel, we see a separation of people from a socially receptive personality as problematic, when arguably this is not the case. People with Asperger’s who are incredibly intelligent (which is a small few and not the majority), live lives where they do encounter some social difficulties, and we as a society may be asked to facilitate their experiences in various ways, but ultimately have lived experiences that are great. People with Asperger’s are not the ethical downfall of society. I think that Margaret Atwood’s broader intentions with Oryx and Crake are to direct attention to the role of consumer capitalism, however Crake’s characterization detracts from the potential of the novel.