Journal 2

"Oryx and Crake" by Margaret Atwood, pp. 1-201

I've been thinking about Crake's views on humanity. At first, I thought he was wise for considering the long term future of the species; a lot of error and destruction comes from humans ranking themselves above their environment. The problem lies in mechanizing humans ("'we're hormone robots anyway, only we're faulty ones'", p 166). I felt Jimmy was right to suggest the significance of humanity through art ("'All that mismatching you talk about. It's been an inspiration, or that's what they say. Think of all the poetry -- think Petrarch, think John Donne, think the Vita Nuova, think...'", p 166), and that human error (and success) are part of us, not merely glitches. It seems Crake takes the supposition that the world is a machine (a common "science-person" view) too far; he reaches the logical conclusion that our emotions are merely chemical impulses with no inherent meaning, but he ignores the evidence that he's a human himself. It seems like he arbitrarily chose to believe that everything in the world is designed to work with survival or efficiency in mind according to completely determined equations, then assumed that everything he observed reflected that; therefore, when humans use energy on tasks other than feeding and breeding, they are making a mistake. Crake has as much right to appeal to logic as Jimmy does to appeal to emotions in making conclusions, but I think he has to admit that his central assumption (as I've perceived it), that efficiency is most important, is not based in logic; he can't justify that it is true, he just feels that it is. And if he's going to allow a feeling to define his core beliefs, he should allow feelings to affect the results.

It is interesting to note that, while Jimmy holds the more "humanistic" opinion in the discussion, he seems less knowledgeable and comfortable with human behaviour patterns compared to Crake. For example, when Crake tells the story of his father dying, Snowman reflects, "How could I have missed it... What he was telling me. How could I have been so stupid?" (p 184). Jimmy asks, in reference to his relations with "the semi-artistic, wise-wound kind" of women he has relationships with, "why would he be stupid enough to give up his grey rainy-day allure -- the crepuscular essence, the foggy aureole, that had attracted them in the first place?" (p 190). He later reflects on Oryx, "She refused to feel what he wanted her to feel. Was that the hook -- that he could never get from her what the others had given him so freely?" (p 191). Snowman's explanation for this behaviour is that he "just had a short attention span" (p 191). I wonder if Jimmy's investment in emotions is what causes him to be so awkward and confused in social situations (as he anticipates more than he observes), whereas Crake's willingness to dismiss emotions (instead seeing only results of decisions) allows him to be decisive. It would seem reasonable, since "the more you know, the less you know you know", so conversely the more you "know" (that is to say, believe) you know, the "more" you know, or at least your knowledge seems more effective. This is just the sort of dichotomy that would make a great theme for the novel.

I can't say for sure what the theme of the novel is at this point, because Jimmy is so insecure. He's unsure of his own feelings ("Why can't he control himself?", p 162) and he does not believe he deeply understands other people, so he has trouble reading their intentions. Because he's the only narrator, the reader only knows as much as he does.

Lately I've toyed with the idea that Snowman is actually psychotic and Oryx is purely imagined, as he does experience hallucinations ("he can feel Oryx floating towards him through the air", p 113) and I don't understand how they could have met; it hasn't been explained yet, and the only connection seems to be from a pornographic video Jimmy saw when he was fourteen. I hope Oryx's appearance gets explained.

I'm glad that the scenes with Snowman in the "present" have begun to take on a plot. During his trip to RejuvenEssence and Crake's bubble-dome, he is sure to explain more of the cataclysm that affected the world. Perhaps he will meet another human in the bubble-dome? I'm still curious as to how Crake managed to create his own species of humans, but the conversations he has about his Transgenics work are getting more philosophical; perhaps he'll have a breakthrough.

The disconnect between the life that Snowman leads and the life that Jimmy leads means there is still suspense, and, clearly, many questions have yet to be answered. Atwood is doing a good job of illustrating Snowman/Jimmy's experiences, and despite the cold, hopeless tone (this is what I was referring to when I accused Atwood of being a cold hard bitch) he often takes, I feel hopeful and invested in his future.