Research Paper On Oryx And Crake By Margaret Atwood

Flores 1
Demi Flores
Professor Perin
English 121
October 20, 2014
English 121 Midterm Essay “The novel is not the author’s confession; it is an investigation of human life in the trap the world has become” (Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being). On many occasions, authors and artists use their work to put forth a message and stimulate awareness and discussion about a particular subject, usually (but not limited to) a political issue. Many children’s novels are used to teach younglings about equality or societal norms and manners. Margaret Atwood is an author that is no amateur to stimulating awareness about her concerns. In Margaret Atwood’s dystopian and speculative fiction novel Oryx and Crake, several instances can be intertwined
This brings up the concern of ethics regarding animal treatment in which organizations such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) fight and bring awareness for. The main and first instance of unethical animal treatment was that of the pigoon project:
“The goal of the pigoon project was to grow an assortment of foolproof human-tissue organs in a transgenic knockout pig host- organs that would transplant smoothly and avoid rejection, but would also be able to fend off attacks by opportunistic microbes and viruses…” (22).
What Atwood describes is not too far off from where genetics is today. Science and genetics have developed so far as to be able to use real pigs as “organ-growers” and many surgeons also use their skin for reconstructive surgeries. The question the rises about whether a good cause such as human health and saving human lives overrides the rights of an animal. A majority of society would be appalled to read such a sight of animal misconduct however, little of society recognizes that this issue exists today and is an ongoing issue. Flores
In Chapter Four, Subchapter “Brainfrizz”, Atwood uses satire to unearth the negativity impact and glorification society places on horrific events. “They had to play Barbarian Stomp…One side had the cities and the riches and the other side had the hordes and…the most viciousness… You could customize the game as long as you used real societies and tribes” (77). Many of today’s game are heavily influenced by real life events. The Call of Duty game series is completely influenced by World War II even with a reference to “Nazi Zombies”. The Modern Warfare branch of Call of Duty is influenced by the war currently taking place in the Middle East. By doing this, it is teaching children, especially men, to glorify war and violence. My own brother has fallen victim to this and even gained knowledge about weapons that surpassed my own marine uncle’s knowledge. Rather than focusing on the accomplishments in history, the focus seems to be on the more “exciting” tragedies much like the game “Blood and Roses” in which “the Blood side played with human atrocities…on a large scale…Massacres, genocides, that sort of thing…The Roses side played with human achievements” (78). The purpose of the game was to trade atrocities for accomplishments and the event would vanish from history. “It was a wicked game” (79). Creating significant events into such games belittles the hardships and the