Innovation In Oryx And Crake

The dystopian world of Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake, in which the arts are considered obsolete and scientific progress has resulted in man’s desire to play God, is terrifying and all too real. From the pigoons to the ChickieNobs and wolvogs, the push for innovation without consideration of the consequences is a concept which is already becoming familiar today. In fact, this society is a frighteningly realistic prediction of what our world could soon become: the bioluminescent rabbits that run rampant in the story, for example, have already been created in our world, and the technology needed for some of the other innovations mentioned is not too far from our reach. Because this world is so similar to our own, the looming message of the

story, in which humanity’s insatiable thirst for improvement results in its downfall, is all the more threatening. We are able to watch this collapse through the eyes of Jimmy, now dubbed Snowman, the convincing “every-man” character who feels lost in this culture of science and innovation. Meanwhile, his best friend Crake is one of the geniuses at the forefront of this new wave of technology. When contrasted with Snowman, Crake’s logic-driven world and desire for progress with a disregard for ethics is meant to illustrate the dangers of forgetting what it is to be human in pursuit of a “perfect world,” while the similarities they share demonstrate that we can never really be stripped of our humanity.
Although in the beginning of their relationship Crake seems to be the one who is most well-adapted to their society, throughout the story Jimmy acts as his foil, emphasizing Crake’s weaknesses and the weaknesses of their society which will eventually lead to its failure.

With all his flaws and romantic notions, Jimmy is meant to represent our humanity in this twisted world which seems to be fueled only by a thirst for innovation. He feels a need to defend this humanity against Crake: when Crake challenges the significance of art, Jimmy argues, “‘When any civilization is dust and ashes, […] art is all that’s left over. Images, words, music. Imaginative structures. Meaning—human meaning, that is—is defined by them’” (167). Although at the time Jimmy feels as if he is desperately trying to defend a piece of society which is no longer relevant, Crake’s dismissal of this romantic aspect of the human race—art, beauty, and, most importantly, the innate flaws which make us human— eventually turns him into a monster in his quest to create the perfect species. This difference between Jimmy and Crake in regards to ethics can be seen early on, before Jimmy learns of Crake’s plan to eradicate the human race: while Crake enthusiastically explains the experiments occurring at Watson-Crick, Jimmy begins to feel unnerved, wondering, “Why is it he feels some line has been crossed, some boundary transgressed? How much is too much, how far is too far?” (206). As Jimmy begins to question

whether this progress comes at a hidden price, we gain insight into the failures of Crake’s way of reasoning as well as the failures of this innovation-driven society: that, in the quest for progress, it is dangerous to push aside the beliefs that make us human.
While the traits which differentiate Jimmy from Crake warn of the dangers involved in forgetting our humanity, their similarities remind us that, no matter how hard we try, we cannot rid ourselves of the qualities which make us human.

Despite their differences, Jimmy and Crake have many similarities: they share the same sense of humor, the same morbid online fascinations, and not even Crake can resist falling in love with the beautiful, mysterious Oryx. However, the piece of Crake which attests most to his humanity lies in his legacy: the Crakers. Crake’s dream, the one which he sacrificed the human race for, was to create a new race of humans superior to our own: one without all the faults he saw in mankind. However, the Crakers soon begin to show signs of becoming more human than Crake ever expected: they start forming ideas of deities, developing leadership, and even creating art—which Crake warned against, claiming, “Next they’d be inventing idols, and funerals, and grave goods, and the afterlife, and sin, and Linear B, and kings, and then slavery and war” (361). As the Crakers begin to develop the very qualities Crake tried so hard to prevent, the ones which Jimmy defends as being essential to the survival of humanity, we begin to realize that Crake’s dream of a perfect species does not exist. No matter how much this society tries to modify itself, there is no getting rid of mankind’s flaws, because without them, we are not

human.