The first five sections of Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake feel like watching someone fill a canvas from two sides. At first there is nothing but white space, just someone called Snowman and the woods around him, later a young boy named Jimmy with dysfunctional parents. As the novel progresses, however, the reader is exposed to more and more of the art, the gap between the two ends lessening, almost warranting a re-reading of the initial chapters. This play with time is likewise reflected in the plot itself as it takes place in the future in a world removed from our own, but with vestiges of what humanity once was.
Snowman’s character serves as the link between the current state of the world and what it was before “Crakers” and “the children of Oryx” began to roam the Earth. As a child, the accounts of Snowman’s youth describe what humanity had become before it seemingly disappeared. Divided into two domains, the compounds, towns sealed off from the outside world, isolated and self sufficient, and the “pleeblands” where there are comparatively few laws, and which are often referred to as a place were lesser, more savage people dwell. The compounds all revolve around corporations, one grows specialized pigs to harvest organs, another grants newer, younger skin to the aging. All of them revolve around money, and though it’s easy to say that our current society is no different in its money-lust, there are no artists in these high security domains. Jimmy is one of the few who “isn’t a numbers person”. Through discussions between Jimmy’s parents it seems that at first such developments were for the betterment of man, for “making life better for people – not just people with money”(57). But as with art, it seems, so went morals.
Later in the section Jimmy befriends Crake, and Atwood goes into a detailed account of their online antics, describing a number of games and websites the two would frequent. Named are sites for everything imaginable and all are, for the most part, quite elicit. Among the most disturbing are Shortcircuit.com, Brainfrizz.com and Deathrowlive.com, three websites that feature executions, be they via electric chair or lethal injection. In this depiction of our future such activities are fun-to-watch events for the masses, no censors, lots of production. It reminds me of France during its revolutions, with crowds and crowds coming to watch the guillotine in action, or the United States during the early battles of the Civil War as happy citizens would lunch on a hill overlooking the battle and cheer as men blasted away at one another. In the novel, men on the verge of being executed would “ham it up” adding extra drama to the experience. Why not? Why not let one’s death be memorable?
Indeed for others on “nitee-nite.com”, death was an achievement. The website, one Crake is particularly drawn to, features assisted suicide videos with even more glitz and glamour to extoll the greatness of whoever is being euthanized. The site fosters a culture that would not be too surprising in the not so distant future.
These sites may sound barbaric and distasteful, but when compared with society’s current means of such operations I find it hard to call it much worse. Yes, a culture of assisted-suicide would be dangerous and unhealthy, but making executions more tangible to the general public is neither dangerous nor unhealthy. Is it better to simply carry executions out unknown to the general public? How much privacy does the individual being executed warrant? Is the death penalty just? Though these may be questions in our time, in Atwood’s feature they become non-issues, and violence reigns.
I agree with your thoughts on the dangers publicizing executions and making violent and somewhat private events public. There are two things about this that strike me.
Firstly, I am almost concerned that it won’t be long until networks like TLC will broadcast shows like this as I feel like we already take pleasure in watching others misfortune or differences. This is the reason, I believe, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo is so popular, people like to watch it because, although it is entertaining to some, the way they live their lives is absurd! Similar to 19 Kids and Counting or even Extreme Makeover Home Edition where, although we celebrate in the family’s happiness at the end, a good portion of the show is dedicated to their misfortune at the beginning.
Secondly, while I believe the death penalty to be invalid it could be argued that the publicizing of these events, aside from entertainment purposes, could be to deter others from committing crimes if they can visualize their gruesome fait. Perhaps that is the reason Atwood describes such a culture of live executions because, so far in the book, we don’t really see much rebellion aside from Jimmy’s mother who runs away. This could apply to our society now, if the death penalty was more widely understood and visualized, although discomforting, would it deter criminals from committing crimes that resulted in this penalty?
I completely agree that publicizing violent events is disturbing (France also came to mind) and I also think that although this seems extreme, it is not too far off from some of the television, movies, and games that exist today.
Our society as a whole shows interest in others suffering, real or fake. Although it seems like there is a big difference between Game of Thrones and Jon and Kate Plus 8, they are both television shows that get great ratings because people enjoy watching other people suffer pain. For the latter show, the ratings climbed when the family was going through a divorce. Game of Thrones is plotted upon people dying and is one of today’s highest rated television programs.
As far as your question, I would usually say that I think it is better that these executions are carried out without alerting the public. People should know that executions occur, but it is unnecessary for the public to know about each individual execution, as that does limit the individuals privacy. However, Carly proves a good point above that if the public knows exactly what is going on, it could stop them from committing crimes that could result in the death penalty. If the public understands exactly what causes the death penalty, it might result in it being used less.
I do not believe the death penalty should be available for viewing to the public, but I do believe the public should have access to information about when, where, and why death penalties are enacted. Viewing an execution is unnecessary, other than for some sort of sick entertainment value it does not benefit anyone. To promote execution as an event to be viewed by the public is to lump it in with forms of entertainment we gather around right now, such as television or movies. However, the public should know just as much about the death penalty as they do about other forms of punishment in their society, like incarceration or even just fines. The death penalty, I believe, is a very slippery slope as far as whether it is just or not. In some extreme cases, it can be justified. However, more often than not the death penalty is not even close to being considered an appropriate form of punishment.
Hey Jimi!
I really enjoyed reading your provocation of the text. Personally, I feel that the death penalty should not be in place due to my ethical standards and values. Unfortunately, we live in a world where executions do take place and until the time comes when the practice becomes prohibited, we have to find a way to go about it in as ethical of a way as we possibly can with said practice.
I think executions should not be known to the public because it is a gruesome and overall terrible practice. That is why I support that executions take place in private, secluded settings where the only observers are victims of the person on death row and the people carrying out the execution. If other people were allowed to view executions I feel that it would have a adverse psychological effect on human society. There is already so much violence and portrayed death in television, film, video games, and other formats of media. The last thing we need as a society is allow for public executions, it may push os over the edge just like the society in ‘Oryx and Crake’. Some things are better off not being known. At the end of the day, ignorance is bliss, even though that bliss may not coincide with the overall state of being of the world.
Hey Jimi,
Wonderfully written! I love your metaphor about the beginning of the story being like art. For me, it’s easy to draw parallels between this unorthodox, un-chronological way of presenting the plot in Oryx & Crake and the alternative book ideas in the research paper we looked at. We talked in class about the frustrations of a mystery novel that doesn’t give the reader enough information, but I feel that in Atwood’s novel there’s the right amount of balance between us guessing and her telling. If I ever had the chance to talk to Atwood I’d want to ask her about how she envisioned that world becoming had Crake not murdered everyone. It’s a bit cynical but I do feel like we’re headed in that direction, given how greedy and materialistic we’ve become.