Similarities Between Oryx And Crake

In the novel Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood explores the notion of an exaggerated world where technological achievements out way artistic accomplishments. People are labeled by either a “word person”, who is artistic or a “numbers person” (74) someone who values science. One of the people in the novel is Jimmy/Snowman the protagonist character who as a “word person” in a scientific world, finds himself alone and at a disadvantage. Jimmy/Snowman’s character develops as a result of Jimmy/Snowman abandonment as a child by his mother Sharon, which leads Jimmy/Snowman to search for companionship and acceptance throughout his life.

Atwood introduces the reader to a young Jimmy through Snowman’s psyche which makes the reader sympathetic towards

Jimmy. Through Snowman’s mind, we see a younger Jimmy starving for his mother’s attention. Sharon who is Jimmy’s mother fails to validate her love for Jimmy which leads to him acting out. Jimmy responds by deliberately acting stupid when his mother tries to teach him something. Jimmy saw acting out as a way to test his mother’s love for him. He would pester his mother even and “when he couldn’t grab any approval, he could at least get a reaction” (32).
Jimmy would ask his mother “Can I have a baby sister?”
“No!” his mother would reply and she would hit him until she started to cry. Even though Jimmy felt bad about making his other cry, a larger part of him “was also gloating, congratulating himself, because he’d managed to create such an effect”(33). We see here the desperate measures Jimmy was willing to go through for his mother’s affection.
When Sharon abandoned Jimmy, in search for a more conscious lifestyle, we see a manifestation of his loss and grief continue until adulthood.

After Jimmy’s mother left and took his pet rakunk Killer with her, Jimmy was enraged! “Jimmy had mourned for weeks. No months. Which one of them was he mourning the most? His mother, or an altered skunk” (61)? This shows how incredible close on a scale Jimmy valued his pet rakunk and his mother. Jimmy did not know which to be more devastated about leaving him. His pet rakunk had been a source of love for Jimmy as a consequence of his mother’s neglect and with it gone, Jimmy felt as if he had no one. As Jimmy got older, we perceive him gradually turning into a cynic as he is suspicious of the actions of people around him. The older Jimmy got, the more pessimistic he became.

Through Snowman’s psyche, we see a development in Jimmy/Snowman character when he meets Crake. “When Jimmy got around to focusing on Crake, he wasn’t too cheered. Crake was taller than Jimmy, about two inches; thinner too. Straight brown hair, tanned skin, green eyes a half smile, a cool gaze” (72). Although Jimmy saw Crake as an “asshole” (72), jimmy found himself wishing to make a dent in Crake, get a reaction (73) as Jimmy often sought to get reactions out of his

mother.
At first, Jimmy did not know what to make of Crake as he felt dislike toward him then they started to form a bond. Jimmy saw Crake as someone with whom he could focus his attention on without worrying about Crake deserting him. They played games like “Blood and Roses” (82), watched porn together, went to the mall, spoke about girls. Because Sharon was not the ideal mother, Jimmy saw Crake not as a replacement for his mother but as a replacement for companionship that he lost when his mother abandoned him.
Although Jimmy had Crake for companionship, what he wanted was the kind of acceptance a mother would give her son and he found that in Oryx.

Snowman portrays Oryx as this naive girl who thought she could help better this world of science. Jimmy’s love for Oryx mirrors that of his mother as he is constantly looking for validation of Oryx feelings towards him. Jimmy sees Oryx as a substitution for his mother’s love and she seems to reciprocate the feelings “when she’d get back from one of her trips, she’d materialize in Jimmy’s room in the middle of the night” (314).

Jimmy had two important people in his life, after his mother; Crake a trusted friend and Oryx his companion, a woman he may have imagined eternity with. With Crakes last words “I’m counting on you,” (329)-Crakes way of telling Jimmy to take care of the Crakers - and as Crake slit Oryx throat, Jimmy was raped of his life long search for a companionship and acceptance which transformed him into “the Abominable Snowman” (7). As Snowman’s mother abandoned him, Snowman felt so did Oryx and Crake in a world where he could not find meaning except in

words.
Snowman is more alone that ever and has nothing but his thoughts and mind to keep him company. Snowman’s thoughts are nostalgic and he keeps himself from going insane by remembering his love for words. As Jimmy, he turned to words because he felt “as if they were children abandoned in the woods and saw it as his duty to rescue them” (195). Snowman’s love for words and nostalgia showed what a romantic he was. These words acted as a safety net for Snowman since he was not afraid of losing them, but afraid of not remembering them since his mind seemed foggy.
Like the occupants of the Bahia de Darwin, in Kurt Vonnegut’s Galapagos, Snowman’s character would evolve as a response environment. He is racing for survival against everything he does not stand. Snowman pictures himself “slowly starving to death and soon he’ll start dissolving his own fat, what’s left of it. He pictures his heart shriveling up until it’s no bigger than a walnut” (149). We get a glimpse at the psyche of Snowman as he seems to face reality. Although his mother abandoned him, Snowman would never abandon the Crakers for he understand abandonment. Ultimately, he got a lifetime of companionship just not his valued idea of companionship.