The Essence Of Reality In Oryx And Crake

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The Essence of Reality
We all know the old adage, if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? We take it as a fun riddle, or a topic to start conversation at a party, but in reality it is the tip of the iceberg of the complex theories on the perception of reality. It explores the idea of object permanence, and if there is no outside observer, how can we know at all if the tree exists without us. These questions cloud what we think about reality, and make us wonder how our own perspective can affect it. In the book Oryx and Crake this topic is hinted at repeatedly. Set in a post-apocalyptic world where humans have been wiped out by the ravages of disease the main character, Snowman, believes he is the last real human left. He struggles throughout …show more content…

A genetically enhanced version of humans with no knowledge of the world before. Snowman begins to lose his mind and his memories because of the conditions he is put through. That is why isolation, the passage of time and change can alter ones perception of reality, making them question what is real and what exists.
Snowman resides on a beach by himself, and struggles every day to stay alive through his loneliness. In the long hours he spends alone he thinks about things that have happened to him over the course of his life, in particular a beautiful girl he knew in the past, Oryx. His isolation causes him to begin to confuse his thoughts with reality and over time he begins to hallucinate. Multiple times he imagines Oryx with him, talking to him, pleasuring him but she isn’t there on account of the fact that she died long ago. On one occasion as he lies in bed he imagines “…Oryx floating towards him thought the air, as if on soft feathery wings… landing close to him, stretched out on her side just a skin’s distance away.” (p.137) He believes these hallucinations to be real, and because he is so alone he embraces their

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