Analysis of Jimmy, Oryx, and Crake and their Relationships Similarities between the three main characters, Jimmy, Oryx, and Crake, unite them and help to provide motives for their actions. Per Margaret Atwood’s writing style of alternating from flashbacks to the current reality in her novel, Oryx and Crake, the three characters are introduced so that very little is known about their personality until they interact with each other. Before Crake arrived, Jimmy is fairly bland and his childhood doesn’t add much value to the story. Crake brings out the humanistic side of Jimmy by comparison to his scientific brilliance. Crake’s entrance into Jimmy’s life and each additional reunion mark a shift in events, for example, when Jimmy reconnects with Crake at AnooYoo, Crake invites him to work at RejoovenEsence. Likewise, Crake is very obscure at first until Jimmy watches the death videos with him and they play Blood and Roses and Extinctathon together. By feeding Crake’s odd passion with death, violence, and evolution, Jimmy unearths Crake and becomes a little wary of his future plans. While at this point she is not a new character, it is not until …show more content…
Growing up without the typical nurturing that most receive translates to them not having as strong of an emotional connection to others and the human race; this explains some of their decisions as their society nears its close. Jimmy is a loner with only two friends, his pet rakunk Killer and Crake, due to the strained dynamic between his distant father and radical bipolar mother. His hostility towards his parents and difficulty in meaningfully interacting with others explains his short, purely sexual relationships and desire to fix easy girls. Without attentive parents, Jimmy does not have consequences, and thus has no moral affliction to his sexual acts or ignoring those trying to seek refuge in the Paradice
Children who fail to form a secure and loving relationship with their caregivers are believed to experience a range of issues including emotional, behavioral and social problems, which contribute to the antisocial personality disorder (Levy at al, 2004). In addition, Ted’s cousin usually teased him and called him a bastard. His cousin even cruelly showed his birth certificate (Crime Feed Staff, 2015). Ted Bundy had said that: “ I didn’t know what made people want to be friends. I didn’t know what made people attractive to one another. I didn’t know what underlay social interactions (Biography,2017).” Even until he was a adult, he could still not have close relationship and he still failed to understand what interpersonal relationships were about (Michaud et al, 1999). The disability to form close relationships may resulted as the failure relationship between he and his mom. In one of the interview with Ted Bundy, he said: “ We didn’t talk about real personal matters. Certainly never about sex or any of those things. My mom has trouble talking on inmate, personal terms. There’s this logjam things in her that she doesn’t open up and explain (Crime Feed Staff, 2015).” It may not be the total reason for it but it can be the reason of causing unhealthy adult relationship.
To begin, the warden informs Jimmy about his father death, Jimmy is left in disbelieve. “Just as well, because your family doesn’t want you to attend the funeral service (Baca 233).” Then, when Jimmy is released from prison he uncovers that his uncle Julian, called the warden, requesting that Jimmy dose not attend the funeral of Damacio Baca. Julian’s action is due to Damacio leaving Jimmy a twenty thousand dollars insurance policy for Jimmy, so he could a hire a good lawyer and defend his case. However his uncles took the money and spent it on a liquor license (Baca 235). Jimmy realizes prison is killing his humanity, he could not cry to grieve over his father’s death even though is emotions were genuine. Finally Jimmy honors Damacio by vowing that prison system will not break his sprite or stain his
In the war, it often thought that soldiers, go to a country to keep peace in that part of the world. Unfortunately that is not always the case;during these tours ,soldiers die everyday from cultural violence,and misguided information by their superiors and in this story that has occurred. Jimmy Cross is characterized as a man who is filled with emotion and the loss of one of his men. “Cross carried a compass, maps,...He carried a strobe light and the responsibility for the lives of his men.” (Tim O’Brien pg. 4) Cross felt directly responsible for his men. Death lead Cross to the realization of who Cross truly is, and who he will become. Jimmy Cross has to find himself one way or another, when he is ready to face the truth is completely up to
From the tone of Mick’s voice, the alcohol acts a sedative to numb the pain from his past. This motive for drinking is also evident through Lisa’s brother, Jimmy, after he loses both his girlfriend, Adelaine, and his goal in becoming an Olympic swimmer. The legacy of residential school is also manifested in Trudy and Tab’s mother-daughter relationship. Tab becomes the victim of her mother’s psychological and emotional upheaval that is a result from her childhood. In the grip of alcohol, Trudy often mistreats Tab. Removed from a family environment and placed in a reformation school, individuals return not only emotionally and psychologically scarred, but also unable to reestablish their own functional family. Tab confesses to Lisa that she wishes she had a mother like hers, saying, “You’re lucky. You’re really lucky that your dad was too young to go to rez school. [...] Just Mick and my mum went and it fucked them up” (Robinson 254). Trudy’s sister Kate also notes that Trudy “thinks Mother’s dirt, while she goes out and parties and treats Tab worse than what she blames Mother for” (Robinson 285).
Trying to make ends meet, he turns to selling drugs. By the time Jimmy finds love ones more and decides to settle down tragedy occurs. Trying to escaping from a drug bust at a friend’s house his attempts end up with a conviction for murder. Due to his illiteracy, Jimmy couldn’t read the false accusations he never committed.
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
Jimmy Cross is the First Lieutenant who carries “the responsibility for the lives of his men” (O’Brien 429). Cross let his imagined love get in the way of his responsibilities and one of his men was killed. Cross carries the weight of Lavender’s death and adds that to the weight of his renewed responsibility to his men (427-437).
Sonny has a “rough” time where he finds himself in “jail” for “narcotics trafficking” (208). Skloot reveals how not having a guardian and guidance leads someone to turn to occupations they would have never committed to before. Also, she emphasizes how authority is needed in a child so they may stay in the right path of life. Also, Deborah becomes so upset she cries out for help: “‘...Just being sad and crying to myself..Why, Lord, did you take my mother when I needed her so much?’” (218). Deborah changed from a happy child to someone in desperate need of a parent when she lost her mother. Skloot reveals how the requisite fostering of a parent lifts the children up in awful
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.
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.
Jimmy had been troubled throughout his life especially during his childhood. His parents didn’t love him; his teachers didn’t think much of him, and the girl of his dreams was involved in child porn. At one part of the novel Jimmy asked his mother if he could get a cat and she replied, “No, Jimmy, you cannot have a cat. We’ve been over this before. Cats might carry diseases that would be bad for the pigoons.” Jimmy did not seem to get the love that he should from his parents but seemed to get through it. Atwood never really explained what the importance was to Oryx being in child pornography and wonder why that was even put in the novel. Problems continue for Jimmy even until the end of the story where he fights to survive when he believes that he is the only one left. It seemed that Jimmy wasn’t as good as Crake and couldn’t live up to Crake’s expectations as he went to a mediocre school and Crake went to a prestigious school.
Throughout the novel, we are given multiple hints as to why Crake is a the most predominant figure. The first, and most obvious clue, is the title of the book. Before we are introduced to him, we learn his name, indicating that he is an important figure. Another clue is that without Crake, Jimmy would have never become fixated on Oryx, who is discovered during one of their internet escapades (Atwood 91). Referring back to my first point, she
In order to expose the lack of inequality and nasty corporate interests, Atwood exposes the myths created by the corporations used to control the world’s population. Throughout her novel, Atwood creates “myth” about sex, beauty, birthing, sex, living and even dreaming. These myths then create a society built on lies. The purpose of these lies, from a capitalistic standpoint, was to increase the wealth of big corporations. Each of the myths created in the novel relates to a desired outcome that can be achieved only by people with the money and power to do so.
Crake’s main goal for his society from the start of the novel is to create a perfect version of humankind. He planned to do this through the creation of the Crakers. Crake wished to create an immortal
After receiving the news about the murder, Jimmy explodes with emotions. “I remember, I was more afraid of my little daughter than I ever was of being in prison” (Dennis 34). This quote shows the fatherly love Jimmy had for Katie. It compared the strength Jimmy had through the rough times in jail and how afraid he was of losing Katie. Ultimately, Jimmy follows the wrong path. Jimmy not only fails to find his daughter’s murderer, but he also kills Dave along too. By looking though a psychoanalytic lens, one can interpret Jimmy’s fatherly instincts which are to try to unearth his daughter’s murderer no matter the cost.