Oryx and Crake: From Perfection to Divnity
Marisa Ng
Ms Schwartz
ENG3U1-04
March 5, 2014
From perfection to divinity
Ancient Greeks believed in two worlds, a terrestrial and a celestial world. Ultimately, they strived to make Earth perfect and a reflection of the heavens in order to please the gods that gave them life (Kasak). However, as the desire for perfection increased over time, humans grew to be selfish, corrupt. Likewise, Crake strives to correct and perfect the corrupted world by creating the innocent Crakers. In the novel Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood asserts that humans desire the ability to play a divine role by constantly striving for perfection and control over the natural world.
Jimmy and Crake both experiments what it feels like to be God through the virtual world. They play the game Blood and Roses, where the players are given the opportunity to trade achievements for atrocities and vice versa (Atwood 95). The players are taking on the role of God by rewriting history and deciding on what the “greater good” is. Jimmy wonders why Crake would “want to inherit a wasteland,” and Crake replies that “it is the point of the game.” (Atwood 97) This later comes into play again when Crake creates the BlyssPluss Pill. The pill allows him to reform and re-construct a new and more ideal world. Crake is trading an atrocity for a utopia for what he believes will be for “the greater good.” By doing so, Crake goes from playing the role of a higher power in the virtual world to the natural and real world.
Throughout Oryx and Crake, humans tamper and attempt to control the natural world. The ability to control and create new life-forms is one of the many attributes of a divine being. By creating new hybrids and genetically modifying organisms, the scientists are playing with nature. Such organisms include the pigoons; they were altered to grow organs that would be accepted for transplants, to benefit humans (Atwood 27). After a turn of events, the pigoons now hunt and harvest humans; the roles of
Ms Schwartz
ENG3U1-04
March 5, 2014
From perfection to divinity
Ancient Greeks believed in two worlds, a terrestrial and a celestial world. Ultimately, they strived to make Earth perfect and a reflection of the heavens in order to please the gods that gave them life (Kasak). However, as the desire for perfection increased over time, humans grew to be selfish, corrupt. Likewise, Crake strives to correct and perfect the corrupted world by creating the innocent Crakers. In the novel Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood asserts that humans desire the ability to play a divine role by constantly striving for perfection and control over the natural world.
Jimmy and Crake both experiments what it feels like to be God through the virtual world. They play the game Blood and Roses, where the players are given the opportunity to trade achievements for atrocities and vice versa (Atwood 95). The players are taking on the role of God by rewriting history and deciding on what the “greater good” is. Jimmy wonders why Crake would “want to inherit a wasteland,” and Crake replies that “it is the point of the game.” (Atwood 97) This later comes into play again when Crake creates the BlyssPluss Pill. The pill allows him to reform and re-construct a new and more ideal world. Crake is trading an atrocity for a utopia for what he believes will be for “the greater good.” By doing so, Crake goes from playing the role of a higher power in the virtual world to the natural and real world.
Throughout Oryx and Crake, humans tamper and attempt to control the natural world. The ability to control and create new life-forms is one of the many attributes of a divine being. By creating new hybrids and genetically modifying organisms, the scientists are playing with nature. Such organisms include the pigoons; they were altered to grow organs that would be accepted for transplants, to benefit humans (Atwood 27). After a turn of events, the pigoons now hunt and harvest humans; the roles of