Oryx And Crake Essay

Three Contributors to Oryx and Crake You May Not Have Thought Of

In Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, and the critical reading essay by Joshua Brady Cole share some common themes and topics that are shared amongst the two through each of their writings. At other times they have some different thoughts and ideas they share differently about Oryx and Crake and the apocalypse. The main ideas discussed in my argumentative essay will be about the critic Joshua Coles argumentative essay and what he thinks about Oryx and Crake. Lastly I will also discuss why I agree or disagree with his paper/ argument. Even though the critic has his arguments and his points explained, I still feel that his argument may not be entirely correct. I feel that he- Cole focuses on some ideas that may be more irelivant than important, like how he feels Oryx and Crake is parallel to the Bible. Although there are some points and ideas discussed in his essay that I disagree with there are some I agree with like Coles opinion of creativity and the recreation of language.

The essay critic, Joshua Cole feels strongly that the main themes of Oryx and Crake includes language and religion. Cole feels that when the end of the world happens, we will lose language. He mentions that when

the apocalypse happens language will be lost and the people of the post apocalypse will have to use their creativity and may have to use their imagination to recreate words and language. In another part of Cole's essay, he cites from another writer named Frank Kermode and how he agrees with he agrees with him about the book Oryx and Crake being parallel to a book in the Bible since “it begins with the beginning of the….
Frank Kermode, in his essential The Sense of an Ending, writes that because of the Bible’s widespread influence, members of Western cultures are programmed to see the world in terms of endings: “The Bible is a familiar model of history. It begins at the beginning (‘In the beginning . . .’) and ends with a vision of the end (‘Even so, come, Lord Jesus’); the first book is Genesis, the last Apocalypse”
I feel that the critic is wrong considering I feel like the book focus’ more on the concrete facts of science and the abstract artsy lifestyle in people's lifestyle or way of living. In Oryx and Crake the main characters Jimmy, Crake and Oryx, all have different personalities, which can lead them to live a different lifestyle. For example Jimmy is a words kind of person, he tends to be more emotional and will have stronger feelings towards situations. Jimmy though may have more a connection to his feelings due to his past and his mother leaving him; which may be why he behaves as a weaker, sensitive person. Crake on the other hand is tougher, science based person. Oryx on the other hand is the kind of person who is in the middle of the two she is seen as the object of desire, a way people around her wish they were. She has feelings which can represent femininity which shows that she may be a cross of a Jimmy and to the side of Crake since she kind of gives off as being someone who is considered cold hearted since she does not dwell on her feelings and her past and does not let it all identify her. All three of them connect with either science or a form of creativity
A way in which I agree with the critic is when Cole said how “Oryx and Crake affirm language as a redemptive and inextricable part of human existence. They also suggest, however, that if language is to exist after an apocalyptic event, it must be radically re-imagined.” As a result of everyone dying or without anyone to carry on the language, there is going to have to be a re-creation of language and it may not be how we know it. Considering to the fact that if all human beings die how can what comes after be able to carry on language as we know it? I mean at some point if there is another kind of human being that comes after the apocalypse, there is going to have to be some form or some kind of language. On our planet today there are numerous different languages or dialects spoken in our world.
In conclusion, I feel that my argument is more correct since it focuses more on the larger themes in the book rather than the ones that are not widely talked about in the essay that Joshua Cole wrote.

Cole believes that Margaret Atwood’s, Oryx and Crake focus’ more on language, feminism and religion and how Oryx and Crake parallels to the bible. Whereas Margaret Atwood focus’ more on the main ideas of science and creativity through her book, she shows on the impact that science and creativity have on our everyday lives and how people react to the coming of the apocalypse. Margaret Atwood shows through Oryx and Crake how something such as creativity and science which both seem so harmless can lead to the

apocalypse!