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Essay on female authors
The analysis of female characters in literature
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Human Nature’s Influence On Our Ethics and Actions
The story of Oryx and Crake 's makes it very apparent that human nature has a large influence on Jimmy and Glenn 's ethics and actions. Nature 's evolution is presented throughout Margaret Atwood’s scientific novel during the creation of medicines in the factories and moving on to Glenn creating the perfect human, Crakers. Looking into Soraya Copley 's academic article and and stories from Reading the World: Ideas That Matter, we’ll notice the evaluation of science fiction from human intelligence, Ruth Benedict 's many ideas of how society affects the human evolution as well the overall influence on our ethics and actions because of human nature.
According to the Eco-feminist
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The pharmaceutical companies throughout the story have gone beyond creating medicines to battle disease and bodily dysfunction. The novel goes on to one factory genetically modifying animals, this raised questions about what exactly comprises nature. Glenn sees messing with animals or human genetics his modification of human beings as a part of nature. Through the eyes of Glenn, nothing lies outside of the realm of nature. Yet, the nature of genetics has influenced Glenn who is also known as Crake, to go as far as wanting to distinct humans during a deadly epidemic, and create his own kind of the perfect genetically made up being, Crakers. While he was creating this after life, he could have been working on a medicine to stop the disease from wiping out the humans. Glenn’s human nature is selfish and he’s concerned about things only scientifically relevant. In the real world an intelligent human with his skill could be helping millions of lives with the knowledge he …show more content…
“There were the things his mother rambled on about about [. . .] the Everglades had burned for three weeks straight.” (75). From the Environmental impact article, this passage provided insight into the topic because it gives specific examples that Atwood has constructed in Oryx and Crake of environmental issues that arise in Snowman’s fictional world. The overall argument about environmentalism in Oryx and Crake has to do with human manipulation of nature. Through her various examples (ie: genetic modification of animals), she demonstrates the human tendency to alter and change our environment so that it better suits our needs. In the world that is featured in Oryx and Crake, humans have stopped worrying about the ethical issues revolving around genetic engineering; they have began to only think about their own needs, instead of the needs of the
A similar message that appears in his book that appeared in the aforementioned speech was the impact of the media speculation. The book addresses this in two examples. One was presented with the news of a lawsuit that an island called Vantu would file against the EPA; yet the lawsuit would never move forward due to it only serving a purpose to launder money and raise awareness to global warming that was never proven to affect the island. The other was shown to be environmental scientist who received their funding from environmental organizations, such as NERF in the book. These scientists would often have to go against their findings and report what the organizations wanted them to, or possibly lose their funding. Additionally, the book profoundly took opposition to the claim of global warming. This is presented in the form of the main character, Peter Evans, who has been manipulated into believing everything that the media has told him about global warming. It isn’t until John Kenner is introduced, that Peter begins got learn the truth about global warming. The author uses specific evidence to back his claims, specifically he uses a wide array of resources to verify his claim that Antarctica is not in fact melting, but getting colder and thickening. Furthermore, another essential concept that that book introduces is environmental extremists, or bioterrorism. These characters in the book would stop at nothing to make sure that everyone believed in global warming, and tried to destroy parts of the world to succeed in their mission. Bioterrorists are best represented as a warning of what could happen if people continue to buy into the media’s lies without having conclusive evidence to back up their
The novel Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood provides a dystopic vision of the outcome of unregulated pursuit of knowledge and control over nature. It is unlikely that the scenario portrayed in the novel would ever occur beyond fiction. The reason being the United States and many other countries already have regulating agencies and oversight commissions that would prevent scientists such as Crake from ever developing his ideas into reality. Atwood incorporates realistic experimental methods into her novel, which eventually lead to pigs being able to grow human organs, and creating “pigoons” that appear to be more horrific than Frankenstein himself. Consumers are the ones to decide what is put to use and what is not. There is a fine line between benefiting society and damaging society. This novel illustrates what may happen when that line is crossed a thousand times over; a horrific image. Atwood takes many of today’s scientific ideas with the potential to benefit society and turns them into tomorrow’s nightmare and creates a false paranoia. However, without new scientific advancements or technology, there will be no hopes for those who are in critical health conditions; therefore, we should overlook the arbitrary ethical proclamations of certain groups of people, for genetic technological progression is the only key to the sustenance of the population in terms of being able to be cured from the infestation of nature.
What makes a person who they are is a difficult dilemma. Mark Twain's novel, "Pudd'nhead Wilson and Those Extraordinary Twins" is a critical analysis of how nature and nurture can cultivate emotions and free will, which in turn affects the life of individuals. "Twain's faltering sense of direction began about slavery, moral decay, and deceptive realities (Kaplan 314). The debate of `nature versus nurture' has been one of the most intriguing scientific and cultural issues for most of the twentieth century, in determining the behavioral aspects of human beings. The changes in environment, society, education, political influences, family values and morals and other external influences, combined with physical genes determines how mankind will evolve into adulthood. Both nature and nurture, in combination with emotions and free will, control the behavior of human beings and determines who we are.
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
Quammen’s main point is that the word “environmentalism” has a connotation that implies the sole importance of the survival of humanity. The destiny of mankind depends on his environment, but the environment is not a “background.” He suggests the replacement of the “environment” with “nature.” When one thinks of nature, one thinks of animals, plants, waterways and such. It is a broader term, but it better captures the whole picture. The word is dangerous because of what it might lead people to believe, much like the beginning paragraph of the
In the essay, “Global Warming is Eroding Glacial Ice,” Andrew C. Revkin argues that global warming is the primary cause for many of the world’s natural disasters; including flash floods, climate change, and the melting of the polar ice caps. He includes multiple accounts of expert testimony as well as a multitude amount of facts and statistics to support his theory that global warming is a threat to the world. However, in the essay “Cold Comfort for ‘Global Warming’,” Phillip Stott makes the complete opposite argument. He argues that global warming is nothing to be worried about and the melting of the polar icecaps is caused by the interglacial period we are currently in. After reading both of these essays and doing extensive research on both viewpoints, I completely agree with Revkin that global warming is an enormous threat to our world today. My research not only helped me to take a stand but it also showed me the invalidity in Stott’s essay.
In a world dominated by religion it was thought that the only place where perfection existed was within God. In some cases, for instance the ontological argument, it was the proof to his existence. But in a modern world the concept of perfection has been distorted and comes with an abundance of seemingly negative consequences, ultimately putting into question whether or not perfection is even possible. In Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake the concept of perfection is constantly challenged in a world run by corporations who are trying to package human perfection and profit from it. The desire and attempt towards attaining perfection brings moral instability and corruption. Even though perfection seems as if it is the ultimate and most excellent way to live, it is always accompanied with negative results making true perfection unattainable. As previously mentioned, the society that is most present in the novel is run by large corporations that attempt to provide a perfect life for the people within the Compounds. The corporations are riddled with immoral actions that are projected onto the lives of the people they are trying to provide for. Jimmy, on the other hand, lacks this desire for perfection and is pleased with his mediocrity; this level of being content with himself allows him to feel and exercise more valuable traits like empathy. Finally, through the novel Crake is slowly trying to grasp at, or create perfection and he is slowly losing his moral grounding. What seems to be a positive goal for man to have is actually the opposite, causing men to lose what makes them most different from animals, leaving them cruel and ruthless.
The environment has become a popular topic this year due to our on-going drought. It has always been a serious issue; something Saukko informs us in her sarcastic essay “How to Poison the Earth”. She uses sarcasm and irony in her essay hoping her readers will do the complete opposite of what she is saying because of the stress she puts on the harming chemicals we use every day. We do not appreciate our environment and take it for granted. This ideal is what Ehrlich's essay “Chronicles of Ice” focuses on by using analogies and scientific definitions to describe aspects of glaciers. The melting of the glaciers introduces us to the topic of global warming and how our society is doing nothing to stop it from getting worse. Gawande’s “The Cancer-Cluster
It is in these representations of Snowman that I believe Atwood is making a definitive statement as to whether God created man or whether man creates God. Undoubtedly Atwood is suggesting that man inevitably, despite of himself, creates God, with or without outside assistance.
In chapter 8 of the book, Wilding in America, we discussed in the classroom about the global warming changes in United States, wilding against humanity, and political campaign against our environment. These are the most fundamental points being discussed in the presentation of wilding against the environment. The problem about global warming is that we the people are the cause of global warming changing. For instance, United States burn more oil, coal, and other fossil fuels that pours out catastrophic level of greenhouse creating a perfect storm. We often say that big companies are the reason why are climate changes but we are also part of the effects on global warming because of the American Dream. James Hansen, Columbian professor
It is generally agreed that modern environmentalism begins with ‘A Fable for Tomorrow’, the first chapter in Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962). The fairytale-like opening to the book begins with the words, ‘There was once a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surroundings’, painting a classic pastoral picture where she describes civilization far from modern ills coexisting with nature yet away from the perceived danger of the wild. However pastoral peace swiftly gives way to destruction- 'Then a strange blight crept over the area and everything began to change. Some evil spell had settled on the community: mysterious maladies swept the flocks of chickens; the cattle and sheep
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.
One of the most controversial topics discussed in the world of medicine pertained to the topic of genetic engineering. Some doctors saw it as tool of world destruction, however many of them seeing it as a chance of potential cures and treatments. Charles Darwin first introduced this idea. In his first publication, The Origin of Species, he introduced the idea of survival of the fittest. He stated that evolutionary change was only possible due to the genetic variation between each generation, including the combination of different characteristics. In other words, he wrote that only those who had desirable characteristics, in terms of survival, would be able to pass down their genes. If two bred and possessed desirable characteristics, then the desirable characteristic would strengthen, modifying the genes. Darwin’s theories have been the base of many medical breakthroughs that contributed to genetic engineering. The idea soon influenced medicine, the idea of strengthening the healthy cells and isolating them from the unhealthy ones. The simple idea Darwin discovered had changed medicine as a whole. Today, doctors and scientists are able to manipulate genes in order to create new treatments and cures. Today, Darwin’s discovery changed and saved millions of lives around the world. Despite the fact that genetic engineering can have a negative impact on society, it was an important discovery due to the advancement in conventional medicine.
Human nature is the most debated topic to date. Many people think that mankind is programmed to be evil; on the other hand people argue that it is naturally good. Nathaniel Hawthorne gave his argument with the novel, The Scarlet Letter. The Scarlet Letter showed that mankind is innately good by Chillingworth’s measures, Hester’s capitulates and Dimmesdale’s noble qualities.
The understanding of human nature is the concept that there is a set of inherent distinguishing characteristics, including ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that all humans tend to possess (Winkler, 1996). My basic view of human nature correlates with Charles Darwin’s nature vs. nurture theory. Human nature is influenced by both nature and nurture. Nature is all that a man brings with himself into the world, and nurture is every influence that affects him after his birth. An individual’s morals, values, and beliefs are developed from the nurturing aspect of their life. The environment that an individual is raised in creates their human nature. Then they go through life developing more upon their own morals, values, and beliefs. The nature vs. nurture theory is an every changing concept, and I believe that human nature changes for each individual based on their life experiences.