In Oryx and Crake, Atwood describes a post apocalyptic world in which most readers see no signs of salvation for humanity. There is mention of many genetically modified individuals (the Children of Crake or Crakers) and genetically modified animals, particularly those used for food and medical supplies (such as the pigeons that produce human organs for transplants). It is a world that many modern day people would describe as having gone “way too far.” Although, others wonder, if we already have passed the point of no return, especially considering these concepts used by Atwood’s are not of her own creation. The novel seems to shed light on the society we currently live in and foreshadow what could be our future. Yet, is Oryx and Crake a simple dystopia that is a warning to our society, or is it a symbol of hope when all seems wrong? In the article, Liminal Ecologies in Margaret Atwood’s “Oryx and Crake” by Lee Rozelle, it becomes apparent that the novel actually may be implying that despite the dystopian appearance of Snowman’s world, there are still many positive elements and signs of hope. Rozelle states that, “From an ecocritical perspective…one finds that despite the obvious apocalypse, Atwood’s, novel offers new hope for humanity as well as other life forms. The ecological context of this novel reveals new growth in Atwood’s stressed arboretum” (Rozelle, p. 12). The article goes on to point out that the lands in the book are places that are adapting and growing, which represents life, and in turn, hope to undo the problems of the past: “In its representation of liminal life from a biocentric perspective, Oryx and Crake reminds us that place is always being born. Life emerges to confuse the dividing edge, adapting and multiplying to reconnect pieces that have been broken. It is that “unconscionable” connection, the gene splice that enables Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake to be read against the grain of critical responses that reduce the novel to a dystopian tale” (Rozelle, p. 12). I found this article made me rethink the entire novel. I read Oryx and Crake as a story about a troubled boy who grows up left to deal with the remnants and pressures of his former world, while simply trying to survive. It seemed that despite how horrible Snowman’s former world appears to the readers, it was worth something to him now that it is gone. Both the worlds of Jimmy and Snowman show dystopian tendencies, yet this article made me realize that Atwood was likely using these settings as a tool. She may have simply been trying to demonstrate that no matter how bad a society seems, one must keep their perspective in mind, and know that there is always a chance to undo mistakes as long as there is life.
Secondary Article: Rozelle, Lee. “Liminal Ecologies in Margaret Atwood’s “Oryx and Crake.”” Canadian Literature 206 (2010): 62-72. Academic Seach Complete. Web. 2 Feb. 2-13. <http://ehis.ebscohost.com.nuncio.cofc.edu/ehost/detail?sid=503ab826-f217-4f90-9742-a9b3dd0def85%40sessionmgr13&vid=26&hid=16&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=60134578>.
Today talking about hope made me realize that in this novel there is a lot of hopeful circumstances. I think as a reader there is hope maybe that Jimmy’s mom will come back. There is hope that Oryx and Jimmy possess this undying love. There is hope in evolution of humanity. There is hope in Jimmy and Crake’s friendhsip. The only hope that lingers is if Jimmy ends up keeping his promise. The hope that Jimmy will protect the Crakers and allow them to evolve over time. Atwood presents a lot of hope within the novel. Your post was a way to see hope in a new light.
Atwood seems to rely on this particular way of thinking a lot (or at least on one other occasion). In her book Handmaid’s Tale her main character refers to the fact that anyone can get used to their situation and even be brought some sort of happiness regardless of how horrible that situation is. “Context is all” says her main character. I think that it would be interesting to compare the thoughts of Jimmy about his highly innovative and destructive modern world to the thoughts of Offred in her equally disturbed world.
As I’ve thought more about O&C, I find myself increasingly taking the middle ground with the hope/hopeless argument with regards to where Atwood leaves her readers. On the one hand, we see a world seemingly pushed to the breaking point (ie, Jimmy’s), which seemed to me to be a constant hopeless spiral towards an inevitably bad ending. The foreboding sense that permeated Snowman’s recounting of Jimmy’s life, coupled with the snapshots of Snowman’s rather awful world, both give the reader few glimmers of hope. However, once the entire story is unfolded and we’re able to understand its three key components (Jimmy’s world, the “Event,” and Snowman’s world), a certain kind of hope necessarily becomes apparent. Provided the reader viewed Jimmy’s world as “dystopian,” the fact that many of the factors that made that world dystopian are destroyed, while both (some) humans and Crakers are left alive, should inevitably leave the reader with a sense of optimism that humanity, nature, and even Earth itself have been given a chance to start over with the knowledge of what the “breaking point” looks like, some ideas about what brought it about, and how to potentially live more harmoniously in our environment. The fact that billions of people had to be melted to reach that point is still rather dreadful, though.