Various miscalculated results of crucial scientific experiments seem to have brought the world down to its knees in “Oryx and Crake” by Margert Atwood. Atwood clearly expresses her concern for evolving scientific experiments, especially those regarding cloning, synthetic reproduction, and the altering of genes. “Oryx and Crake” can be interpreted as a warning the readers about the dangers and consequences of the scientific modifications. Jimmy and Crake are living in a world where little is left for the imagination. Being constantly surrounded by science and mutations of animals at such a young age may have influenced their views of their future society and cultural norm. However, the scientific calculations resulted in consequences such as synthetic evolution, immortality, and disease. Throughout this novel, Atwood provokes her readers to think about the consequences of current trends in scientific research and how experimentation could ultimately lead to a dystopian apocalyptic future.
The pharmaceutical companies in “Oryx and Crake” began experimenting with synthetic evolution and genetic splicing. Jimmy’s father was a geneticist at a company in the compounds know as OrganInc who began to experiment on pigs that were going to be used for human organ harvesting. Eventually, the pigs were renamed pigoons. Atwood clearly explains the intentions of the experiments going on with the pigs:
The goal of the pigoon project was to grow an assortment of foolproof human-tissue organs
The goal of this process is strictly to harvest stem cells, resulting in the creation of “cloned organs”, which can be used to treat heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and cancer.
Tissue engineering is an emerging interdisciplinary field that uses principles from engineering, biology and chemistry in an effort towards tissue regeneration. The main draw of tissue engineering is the regeneration of a patient’s own tissues and organs free from low biofunctionality and poor biocompatibility and serious immune rejection. As medical care continues to improve and life expectancy continues to grow, organ shortages become more problematic.(Manufacturing living things) According to organdonor.gov, a patient is added to the waiting list every 10 minutes and an average of 18 people die everyday waiting for an organ donation. The “nirvana” of tissue engineering is to replace the need for organ donation altogether. This could be achieved using scaffolding from
Different environments that people come from cause people to have varying perspectives of that environment around them. The perspective that people have is a product of the experiences and the impact that those experiences have on a person’s approach to the trials and tribulations of life. Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood, is a novel about a post-apocalyptic world in which the scientific approach to the world clashes with a more naturalistic approach. Crake represents an idealistic view of the world shown by the way he strives for perfections. He believed that in their current form, humans were far from perfect because of the undesirable traits they possessed and devoted his life to fix this inherent problem in humanity by creating the Crakers. Oryx displays an optimistic view of the world on the surface but can be taken as pessimism at times because she never attempts to improve her situation at all. In many ways, she embodies many of the aspects that Crake sees as flaws in human being such as emotional attachments she has with people and how she always seems to find a positive way to view the situation she is in. As the story progresses, it is clear that Jimmy is influenced by Oryx and Crake in how he views the world and in what direction he should guide the Crakers. He values the human element that is present in humanity but also sees the importance of scientific advancements. Through the portrayal of the characters, Atwood is showing how the values of each character
In the Drama “The Crucibles” by Arthur Miller, creates an intensifying and motivating situation that keeps readers on their toes eager to find out what happens next. Miller gives a dramatical attitude and emotion in the situation that is scattering in Salem. Miller emphasizes the plot/situation in the text through a few specific characters, their conflicts, and transition of the plot in every act. Miller describes the plot through 3 main characters; John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor, and Abigail Williams. I liked how throughout the play miller focused on the conflict in between the 3 characters which impacted the overall plot of the play,
The concept of change within character is accepted by society to be an indisputable truth; however, when faced with a case where this notion proves false, it is overlooked. Throughout Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake, Crake’s character seemingly has two shifts; his transition from Glenn to Crake and his shift in personality after meeting Oryx. However, when analyzing the actions of Crake and the descriptions provided through Snowman’s recollection of the past, the audience is able to see otherwise. In Atwood’s Oryx and Crake, contrary to the conventional perspective, the antagonist, Crake, shows no development as a character throughout the entirety of the novel to disprove the notion of change.
Arthur Miller’s diction and allusions in The Crucible displays the character’s opposition to Puritan ideology. Although Puritanism is a strict religion, many of the characters in the play do not follow its ideology to the full extent. Within 10 pages of the play, the audience is introduced to an offense that has occurred. Parris, the greedy reverend in Salem, says he discovered his niece, Abigail and daughter, Betty “dancing like heathen in the forest” (Miller 10). For Puritans, any fun activities, such as dancing, are wrong because it serves the Devil. Miller’s use of “heathen” further connects dancing as an immoral act because of heathen’s definition. Since heathen means a person who does not serve the Christian god, using heathen as a comparison
In Atwood’s novel Oryx and Crake we see the cause and effect of how our childhood and how we are raised has a large correlation to what type of adult we become. Through the character of Jimmy and later his new persona Snowman, the reader is shown the detrimental effects of an abandoned childhood. Not only do Jimmy’s poor choices in his adult life have a clear link to his neglected and unguided childhood they also create an adult that is emotionally damaged and unable to see the right path in his life even when he wants to.
1. In works for adults and teens, fiction writers often explore [people] relationship to nature and the environment. People’s
Book Two is trying to emphasize three important points that God wants us to understand. First, Book two wants individuals to know that God wants all men to be saved and for all men to believe in him and now and understand that God is real. Secound, important point that is made in this passage is individuals need to not have doubt in God only knowledge and belief in God and in the choices that he makes. Also, individuals need to not be selfish and only look out for themselves but these individusasl need to follow Gods wants and needs that he has for us. Third, important aspect of this passage is individuals need to not judge God and the choices he makes for us. Individuals need to trust in God’s decisions and most importantly have faith in God because God makes choices for a reason. We may not understand why he makes the choices he makes for us but sometimes God makes certain things happen in order to lead us down a different path that we ourselves did not think of but God knows it is a good choice for us.
As I first started to read ‘Oryx and Crake’, I was somewhat skeptical of whether or not I would enjoy reading it. The first chapter confused me with unusual words that I have never heard or seen before. Whenever I read something it is usually a book or magazine that I plan on reading or that is based on actual facts on a certain subject such as history or sports related. This book came as a surprise as I started to read it because it was not as hard to understand as I thought it would be and was actually quite enjoyable. The symbols in this book can mean many different things based on what the reader believes since religion plays a big part in it.
Often times, authors of many sorts search for ways to connect their personal writing to ideas that the modern reader can comprehend; they wish to provide a speck of familiarity. Thomas C. Foster explains in How to Read Literature Like a Professor, “We want a new novel to be not quite like anything we’ve read before. At the same time, we look for it to be sufficiently like other things we’ve read so that we can use those to make sense of it” (58). However, sometimes that sense of familiarity is not a good one, as displayed in Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake. Many of her themes have been dramatized to receive the desired reaction out of her readers. However, when these themes are thought upon by one who has dutifully read How to Read Literature Like a Professor, the fictional lines begin to blur into reality. Set in the near future, Oryx and Crake is an expertly created dystopian fiction that contains a plethora of political messages with the ability to be applied to the
Deeply entrenched within society is the idea that we are continually advancing and developing in all sorts of ways, but mainly for the benefit of human vitality. In Oryx and Crake, one of the experiments the scientists and researchers focuses on is their pigoon project, where they can “grow an assortment of foolproof human-tissue organs in transgenic knockout pig hosts” (22). The pigs are genetically modified by inserting human cells into them so they can internally reproduce the same organs as humans do, and are also inserted with spliced genes to “fend off attacks by
In the novel Oryx and Crake, each of the main protagonists has a distinct attitude towards their society and everything that has happened. Given that each character has a very different personality and background, it would make sense that they all have different attitudes towards their changing society. Throughout the novel it is evident that society is going in the direction that Crake wants it to, while Oryx is unaware of the changes occurring around her, and everything in Jimmy’s life appears to be going the opposite of how he planned.
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Reverend Parris is a character in the play that is very static. His character does not evolve in many ways during the course of the play. By the end of the play, Reverend Parris is still selfish, stubborn, and greedy. However, one of his most prominent flaws at the begging of the play is his selfishness.
Other phrases throughout the first four pages use words like "nightmare", "destroy", "haunt", and "anguish" to attract readers to how seriously society takes awareness of science. These phrases get readers to feel the urgency of the views against science in society. The dark phrasing successfully shows that society has taken a responsible view against incorrect scientific application.