Oryx and Crake
Margret Atwood’s: Dominance of Reality Through Consumption in Oryx and Crake
The human species has defined itself as one driven towards consumption and exploitation of natural resources. Our rapid evolutionary success and our seemingly relentless appetite for advancement, and utilization, have developed many associated problems, one such problem being the issue of reality. For the purpose of this essay, reality will be defined as “The state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them” and consumption shall be defined as “the action of using up a resource” (Oxford University Press). Population growth rates are remaining stagnant globally, and in the United States there’s has been a decline of a mere three hundredth percent, as released by the World Bank in two thousand eleven. (World Bank Statistics Center) Adding to our success, since the industrial revolution life expectancy rates have increased exponentially. (Silvers, Desnoyers, and Stow 802) As a result we are consuming resources at a rate that is not renewable, or feasible for the future. It is plausible that we will have to rely on scientific advancement to sustain our species. The novel, Oryx and Crake, written by Margaret Atwood, displays the aftermath of these events as an overpopulated earth advances to meet our needs. In this essay I will examine how human consumption could create a world of false reality, as developed in the main theme of the novel, Oryx and Crake. Through the juxtaposition of the main characters in the novel, Jimmy and Crake, we see a conflict ensue between the use of science to satisfy human needs, represented by Crake, and the associated problem of reality, represented by Jimmy. Through Jimmy, Atwood indirectly argues that scientific advancement has created a world of false reality, and could eventually lead to society’s failure by its own hand. Jimmy’s underlying focus on the arts led him to believe that the society in which he
The human species has defined itself as one driven towards consumption and exploitation of natural resources. Our rapid evolutionary success and our seemingly relentless appetite for advancement, and utilization, have developed many associated problems, one such problem being the issue of reality. For the purpose of this essay, reality will be defined as “The state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them” and consumption shall be defined as “the action of using up a resource” (Oxford University Press). Population growth rates are remaining stagnant globally, and in the United States there’s has been a decline of a mere three hundredth percent, as released by the World Bank in two thousand eleven. (World Bank Statistics Center) Adding to our success, since the industrial revolution life expectancy rates have increased exponentially. (Silvers, Desnoyers, and Stow 802) As a result we are consuming resources at a rate that is not renewable, or feasible for the future. It is plausible that we will have to rely on scientific advancement to sustain our species. The novel, Oryx and Crake, written by Margaret Atwood, displays the aftermath of these events as an overpopulated earth advances to meet our needs. In this essay I will examine how human consumption could create a world of false reality, as developed in the main theme of the novel, Oryx and Crake. Through the juxtaposition of the main characters in the novel, Jimmy and Crake, we see a conflict ensue between the use of science to satisfy human needs, represented by Crake, and the associated problem of reality, represented by Jimmy. Through Jimmy, Atwood indirectly argues that scientific advancement has created a world of false reality, and could eventually lead to society’s failure by its own hand. Jimmy’s underlying focus on the arts led him to believe that the society in which he