Oryx And Crake: Chapter Analysis

554 Words2 Pages

While reading Oryx and Crake, I found myself confused as I read through the first few chapters. The chapter that brought it all together for me was chapter five. After reading this chapter I feel like it brought the whole plot together. In the chapter titled “Fish” and “Bottle” it is explained that Crake has genetically engineered the Crakers and Snowman is here to contribute to building their moral and philosophical universe. Prior to this chapter I was confused as to what role snowman was playing in this story. Now that I had a better understanding as to the childhood of the characters and their roles in society now, it made me wonder, what if this was real life? What if in today’s world we were all genetically modified to look how we desired? …show more content…

In this weeks TED Talk, Paul Root Wolpe spoke on the stages of evolution and where we stand today. We now have the ability to clone animals so we can prevent extinction, we genetically modify animals for human benefit, we have the technology to wire cameras into animal’s brains and control their every move. With all this being said, if we can do this to animals, it’s only a matter of time before we can do it with humans. I don’t know where I stand on bio-engineering and the idea of genetically modifying our offspring to guarantee them a better healthier life. I am completely against the idea snowman presented in chapter five where everyone looked the same, no wrinkles, or any sort of flaw. I’m against it because I believe that’s what makes us humans, humans. I find beauty in the flaws, beauty in the imperfections, why would anyone ever want to make us all look “perfect”. I put perfect in quotes because who is to even say what perfect really is? Your version of perfect can be insanely different from my version of perfect. The idea of using bio-engineering to expand one’s life expectancy and better the lives of everyone around the world is something I don’t mind paying interest

Show More
Related

  • At The Dark End Of The Street Chapter Summaries

    511 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first chapter in the book At The Dark End of the Street is titled “They’d Kill Me If I Told.” Rosa Park’s dad James McCauley was a expert stonemason and barrel-chested builder. Louisa McCauley was Rosa Park’s grandmother, she was homestead and her husband and oldest son built homes throughout Alabama’s Black Belt. In 1912 James McCauley went to go hear his brother-in-law preach. While there, he noticed a beautiful light named Leona Edwards. She was the daughter of Rose Percival and Sylvester Edwards. Sylvester was a mistreated slave who learned to hate white people. Leona and James McCauley got married a couple months after meeting and Rosa was conceived about nine months after the wedding. In 1915, James decided to move North with all

    Read More

  • Unbroken By Laura Hillenbrand: Chapter Analysis

    524 Words  | 2 Pages

    In numerous way a character in an book can be affected or influenced by their culture in the novel Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand a young man by the name of Louie Zamperini is affected at an early age by his culture. While reading the novel an individual would find out that Louie is the son of two Italian immigrants, few years after Louie was born he moves to this small surber city called Torrance with his family. While living in this town Louie family has to fight against prejudices of the citizen not wanting this Italian family living in the neighborhood. In the first few chapter someone would learn that in the 1920s Torrance ,California was very prejudices to the Zamperini family by trying to get the city council members from letting them move into the city.Meanwhile, Louie Italian heritage did have a small effect on him as he was becoming an adult.

    Read More

  • Anne Orthwood's Bastard Sparknotes

    1337 Words  | 3 Pages

    Anne Orthwood’s Bastard by John Ruston Pagan tells the story of what Anne’s life was like living in early colonial America. The book depicts a very accurate description of what life would be like for any settler in the Americas. Settlers were enticed to move over the colonies by the Virginia company with the idea that they could achieve a life full of opportunities. There they would work as Indentured servants and serve out their term. Throughout the book there are many cases involving the sale of Indentured Servants and also the in Anne’s case of her pregnancy through her illicit relationship. These legal cases favored those with higher social status and higher economical statuses. Early American society was built with economic interests

    Read More

  • Ethan Frome: a Chapter Analysis

    538 Words  | 2 Pages

    Edith Wharton's tale of Ethan Frome is a classic story of hopeful romance ending in tragedy. We are introduced to Ethan as he's walking to pick up his wife's cousin Mattie, at a church social. On the way, we witness some of Ethan's thoughts about his life and the people in it. By the end of Chapter One, the readers begin to understand the way Ethan views himself, Mattie, and Zeena, and the way these characters might influence the events in the novel.

    Read More

  • Book Analysis: The Eleventh Hour

    810 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this mysterious story “The Eleventh Hour” the story was about a fantastic party the animals go to but while they are playing someone and steals the grand feast. My initial pre-reading prediction for “the Eleventh Hour” was that there were lots of animals who went to a fancy dress party and a big mystery unfolds during the story. My pre- reading prediction was kind of right. When Horace turns 11he celebrates in a grand style by inviting his friends over for a spectacular party. As they were playing someone from the party secretly sneaks into the banquet hall and gobbles down all the food.

    Read More

  • Comparing Atwood's Oryx And Crake

    1375 Words  | 3 Pages

    In a world that has a foreseeable future of climate change, genetically modified humans and animals raise the uncertainty of the future. The unforeseeable future is a reality in Margaret Atwood’s novel Oryx and Crake. These fears of the future strike an existence in the novel where the main characters Snowman/Jimmy and Crake take on daily challenges. Crake dreams of the world where his version of humanity differs from the others, where there is a world of science rather than art. This affects his version of humanity…….specifically through the world of science. The Protagonist is Snowman who as a child was named Jimmy and was Crake’s friend who is responsible for the state their world is in. Humanity is defined as “the quality or state of

    Read More

  • Corruption In Margaret Atwood's Oryx And Crake

    783 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake, Atwood seems to be offering a forewarning of the troubles that are to arise if our rapacious, self-obsessed society continues at the current rate. Current rate refers to the lack of regard for nature and animal preservation, the increasing intrusiveness of the NSA, the absolute power that large corporations are accumulating, and the severe income disparity. All of which threatens to bring an end to our society. The social issues listed above are a result of a single entity having absolute control over the people; in this case it is the corrupt biotech companies. Corruption is the driving force behind the evils that arise in Oryx and Crake. Mechanisms of control used in Oryx and Crake are similar to those described in Michel Foucault’s “Panopticism”. Panopticism describes that control is effective when enforced through the principles of surveillance, ability to recognize the presence of authority, and isolation. Pharmaceutical companies utilize technology

    Read More

  • Book Analysis: 'King Of The Damned'

    572 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Winchester brothers dealt with angels and demons in “Supernatural” Season 9, Episode 21 titled “King of the Damned.” However, the main focus of the episode is the issue of control over Hell between demons Crowley (Mark Sheppard) and Abaddon (Alaina Huffman).

    Read More

  • Oryx And Crake By Margaret Atwood: Chapter Analysis

    518 Words  | 2 Pages

    Social class/privilege is very visible in Oryx and Crake this novel is written by Margaret Atwood. There are multiple examples in this novel that proves so, I believe Margaret Atwood purposely showed examples of social class/privilege so the reader can get a better understanding of Snowman’s life in the past and how things led up to where they are in his present. Chapter 4 (Rakunk) page 53-54, Jimmy’s father had transferred to a company called NooSkins, the company was owned by HelthWyzer. The security was much more advanced and secured than his past job, named OrganIc Farms. Jimmy and his family moved to a compound owned by HelthWyzer. The compound was much bigger and better than OrganIc Farms. There were golf courses, two shopping malls,

    Read More

  • The Crucible Literary Analysis

    672 Words  | 2 Pages

    Humans can only take so much until they reach a certain breaking point. People will crumble filled with rage and commit many immoral acts. Once they execute these evil motives they must be punished. “You will give me your honest confession in my hand, or I cannot keep you from the rope.” (Miller,1272). A great example of this is the Salem witch trials. A few individuals may know it because of The Crucible. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, he conveys the corrupted decisions and processing in the justice system. Miller clarifies this through the irony of the characters involved in the court, who are presented adequate evidence, and are blinded by their reputation and self worth.

    Read More

  • Unfolding the Mysterious Character of Oryx

    1633 Words  | 4 Pages

    Why does an author opt for a mysterious character in the novel? The answer to this ultimate question is that he wants the reader to consider himself in the place of the character who is solving the conundrum, or who is narrating the story. In this case, the main character, Snowman, is recalling the tale of a girl whose nature and psyche is difficult to explain. It is difficult, but not impossible to explain due to the reason that the narrator gives some description of her physical attributes and her personality traits. We can have the blurred imagery, which can be clarified into a clear visualization by giving close attention. The recollection of memories by Jimmy is in the form of a puzzle, and sometimes there seems no certainty in the clues he gives. In other words, he might have added these false clues, because he has nothing else to do on the planet with the “I am the only human being” tag on it. There's a possibility that Oryx story is made up by Jimmy in the silences of loneliness just as he makes up other stories to while answering weird questions of Crakers. There's a greater possibility that Oryx knew Crake's plan since the beginning, and she was a partner of Crake in crime, because she is an expert in choosing morally bad pathways to achieve the target she is given.

    Read More

  • Insanity In Oryx And Crake By Margaret Atwood

    1188 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The ones who are insane enough to think that they can rule the world are always the ones who do.”- Stefan Molyneux. Insanity is an inherently foreign but ancient concept, it can be defined as when the mental processes of a person functions out of the social norm. An example of a person with such a mental state is Crake from Margaret Atwood’s book, “Oryx and Crake”. Crake is a mature and brilliant but unhinged person, who is responsible for the destruction of mankind, who believes that the root of all problems in the world is man himself. This could define Crake as a psychopath, with an askewed moral compass, as he knows what his actions are wrong but he continues with them. In the tale, the main character, Jimmy/Snowman, recounts his past

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Oryx And Crake

    1324 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the novel Oryx and Crake by the author Margaret Atwood, the author should have focused more on the two characters Oryx and Crake as the title depicts. Instead, the whole novel is centered on one character Jimmy or rather Snowman. The story is seen as being told through the vantage point of one character as memories of events that happened in his life, this story is centered on human nature in the phase of scientific developments (Tolan 294). The story should have been written in a first-hand experience of events as they happen. The characters Oryx and Crake have not been focused upon compared to Crake and Jimmy (Atwood 22). These are sought out first as close childhood friends that grew up together then got separated later in life when

    Read More

  • Genetic Modification In Brave New World

    1779 Words  | 4 Pages

    Genetically modifying human beings has the possibility of greatly reducing/completely eradicating disease and could allow for longer lifespans within the near future. However, there are many issues associated with genetic engineering including being misused for ulterior motives and ethical problems. While there is good that can come from genetic engineering, the many detriments associated with it far outweigh the few positive outcomes. In his novel Brave New World, Aldous Huxley’s idea of genetic modification is far more extreme and unethical than any current real world technologies, but if the technology continues to rapidly grow, Huxley’s future may not be that far off from the truth.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Human Genetic Engineering

    1309 Words  | 3 Pages

    With all factors put into place the potential benefits of perfecting human genetic engineering far outweigh the negatives. A world with genetic engineering is a world that would be advantageous to all who undergo the procedure to positively modify their DNA. A genetically engineered human race will be able to have defeated all genetic mutations and diseases, rid humans of possible illnesses in young and unborn children, create drastically longer lifespans, and provide generations with a high quality of life. Human genetic engineering has progressed more rapidly than projected; according to Stephen Hawking, when human genetic engineering is consummated he hypothesizes, “With genetic engineering, we will be able to increase the complexity of our DNA, and improve the human race. But it will be a slow process, because one will have to wait about 18 years to see the effect of changes to the genetic code.”(Hawking). The advancements that genetic engineering will provide for the human race is incredible and we will soon benefit from science and technology more than ever

    Read More

More about Oryx And Crake: Chapter Analysis

Open Document