Title: Oryx and Crake
Author: Margaret Atwood
Date of First Publication: 2003
Place of Publication: McClelland and Stewart
Type: Novel
Characters: No Character
Themes: POSTHUMAN; ANDROID; MAD SCIENTIST/MONSTER; WOMEN WRITING MONSTERS
Critical Summary: Oryx and Crake is the story of a man named Jimmy who witnesses his childhood friend named Crake wipe out the human population and is left in the wake of its aftermath. Jimmy has always known that Crake is a genius, but he never anticipated how far he would go with his experimentations. Crake spends years developing a pill that would infect mankind with a deadly plague. He sells it to the general public and advertises it as a product with several positive benefits, while simultaneously toiling over another scheme. He finds a way to biologically engineer a new species he calls the Crakers. These creatures possess a human-like form, and can communicate verbally, but behave almost like animals with very little emotion. They don’t exhibit jealousy, hatred, racism, or territorial tendencies. Because they have preselected characteristics, they can exist in harmony without making the same mistakes that humans have made. Jimmy realizes too late that the pills are a hoax and watches as the world breaks out in a horrible sickness. Crake has planned everything out. The plague spreads and kills everyone, but Crake has arranged for Jimmy and the Crakers to stay safely hidden in a sealed-off building and he himself commits assisted suicide. Once the chaos settles, Jimmy finds himself left alone to be the caretaker of this new species. He is the only human on earth to his knowledge. Crake has repopulated the world with the Crakers who are now at the mercy of Jimmy’s influence. Jimmy soon discovers that the Crakers possess free will, watching as they create an image that resembles him and begin to worship it. Jimmy is startled as he realizes that these Crakers are not much different than human beings. Perhaps they are capable of much more than Crake ever imagined. Maybe the new world will not be much different than the old one.
Oryx and Crake possesses specific elements that are parallel to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Both novels portray the concept of creating life and the power that the creator experiences in the process. When Victor Frankenstein works tirelessly on his Creature, he feels an exhilarating thrill as he nears his end goal. To fashion his very own creation, to be able to bring a being into existence, is all that consumes him. Crake portrays a similar attitude. All his life’s work is devoted to creating a new species that will repopulate the earth. Everything he does contributes to this plan, and the power that comes with making life motivates him to go through with his scheme. However, both novels also show the consequences of taking on the role of creator. Both characters seem to have good intentions, but their desire for control ultimately leads to no control at all. Frankenstein abandons his Creature in terror after he comes to life, and the Creature is left on his own, eventually resorting to rampant violence and destruction. Crake believes that his Crakers will behave exactly as he wants them to, since they each have preselected traits, and he kills himself, leaving them in the hands of his best friend. However, Jimmy sees that the Crakers are not completely subject to their own natures, but have the ability to create and think for themselves. When the Crakers worship an image of him, it is clear that Jimmy has an influence on the Crakers and is capable of shaping them and steering them toward human tendencies. This goes against Crake’s plan, and reveals that all his life work and the risks he has taken have resulted in failure.
Administrative Notes: Julia Zwayne, CSUF, Joshua Newman, CSUF (editing)