These bullet points are a compilation of all the ideas raised within the provocations and the discussion in class. Hope this helps everyone to look back at Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake main concepts.

• Divinity : Why have religion in all societies?
  • Elements of creation story – virgin birth and creation out of nothing
  • Prophet figure is Jimmy – related to literature
  • Adam and Eve – how Jimmy retells it to the Crakers
  • Part of Oryx role is to spend life naked (natural) among the Crakers because she emotionally unattached
• Why no emotion in sex? Infatuation? Why die around 30?
  • Purity kind of like Jesus who died around 30 too
  • Fear of decaying – perpetual state of going towards death and don’t like adults in his past – don’t need artificial organs for immortality if never get old
  • Prevent people having egos and competition
• Why Jimmy?
• Role of pigoons – what is Atwood saying? Why pigs? Connection between pigoons and foreshadow of Crakers. Why create something that ultimately can defeat humans?
  • Fatal flaw – control something so powerful and make humans feel better about themselves
  • Rely on technology to have control over pigoons but can obviously go wrong – don’t have total control over technology – codes automated reproduce
  • Not affected by environment but we affect the environment – is more technology better? – Thoreau and Whitman
• Why did Jimmy killed Crake? Did they both have to die?
  • Jimmy had to live because Crake has planned for Jimmy to lead the Crakers
  • Even if expected for no one to find out, Crake probably knew Jimmy would know he wouldn’t be able to live with himself
  • Anti-hero/villain – crake thinks he is doing the right thing even though morally wrong – racial cleansing throughout history
  • Crake is trying to get at a fresh start – take away sex, race, material possession
    • Although have ability to learn and will develop desire to read and write and paint because Jimmy will introduce it to them
• Oryx – taking revenge on humanity and she is in the plan the whole time
• Why do we need this humanity?
  • Sustainable farming, global climate change, extinction of animals
  • alternative energy (not mentioned) – no solutions provided because it is a dystopia – somewhat incongruous
• What design fiction (near future) can be seen?
  • Clothing – self- washing and protects from climate change
  • Pill – male contraceptive: purposely not developing health care innovation in order to be dependent on treatments
  • Communication technologies – a little more advanced than what we have
  • STEM education
• Sex and love and whether sexlessness is a criticism of today’s understanding that sex is essential for personhood = Crake doesn’t believe it is necessary while Snowman enjoyed it but didn’t want an emotional attachment to it – Merely for reproduction?

• Conscious villain, anti-hero or unconscious villain – giving people this pill to diminish reproduction – contraceptive for both men and women – in order for less people to use resources – protecting the Earth by killing off humans

• Ridded sexual longing and desire
• Done away with old age
• Reduced Humanity’s ecological destruction
• Vegetarianism and eating living things that are similar to us is an important aspect of Jimmy’s moral goodness
• Atwood draws attention to the logic behind Crake’s destruction of human race – kill his father through by making people perpetually ill
  • Should all living creatures be valued?
• Extinction of animals reflected upon as Crake wants to kill entire human species
• What is the relationship and respect dynamic between Crake and Jimmy? Why is Crake fascinated by Jimmy and vice versa? Why can’t Crake let go of Jimmy?
• Focus on technology and give importance to it – more important than entertainment business and given a lot of hype and funding
• Biotechnology and food engineering common and organic food is rare and luxurious
• Crake is emotionless and practical more so than Snowman even though they are both intellectuals
• Socio-economic differences renders not identifying with lower classes problems
  • Oryx doesn’t want revenge to those who inflicted pain upon her but want to make world better place
  • Oryx wants to get rid of sex as she was sexually assaulted
• Freedom of speech on the Internet renders scary consequences for what can watch online – child porn and executions on popular media
• Advertising and morality
  • desensitized future society = Jimmy is the most human compared to the other people around him
  • Snowman is a romantic but he his humanity remains intact  in relation to entertainment and biotechnology
• Why does Jimmy love Oryx?
  • Feels like he can fix her is confused by her traumatic experiences and how she overcame it
  • Oryx has a positive outlook because she is not in the situation anymore
• Children of Crake engineered to remove flaws inherent in human behavior – removed abuse of children, sex slaves and rape (things related to sex)
  • Crakers are built to have more logic but does this take away humanity, creativity and passion?
  • Disagreement in humanity of Crakers – just in a primitive state – still have spirituality
  • Human society without violence is difficult to fathom?- humans are not perfect
• Genetic engineering is immoral to Jimmy

• Only for people with money – relates to wealthy healthy idea
• Profit seeking strays from achieving common good

Environmental destruction – no beaches due to rise of sea level