Manipulation In Oryx And Crake

Who is the predator? Who is the prey? In a psychopath’s eyes, everyone is a victim. This dangerous group of people make up 1% of the general population. In Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, several types of psychopaths are depicted. The novel demonstrates how trauma, parental figures, and an unstable environment are the fundamental causes of psychopathy. No matter who you are, traumatic events change your way of thinking. In the novel, Oryx is a visually attractive woman; she has the ability to easily persuade men through her charismatic and sexual nature. She never loved any of the men she’s been with, but tells them she does. These actions display key characteristics of manipulation and control that psychopaths have. In the documentary,

When Jimmy asks about Oryx’s past, Oryx no longer feels any attachment to that part of herself; she focuses on eating her pizza more than the conversation. Her trauma from the past changed her mindset completely. She believes her past was not traumatic at all; “everything has a price” in Oryx’s mind. Similarly, in The Psychopath Next Door, “The Con” is a kind of psychopath that invokes a powerful voice through their fluidity and articulation to manipulate individuals; they intertwine false and true statements, so others can’t tell when one stops and another begins. Oryx’s traumatic past continues to reflect on the person she is as an adult; the initial push through the trauma she lived through transformed her into the psychopath she became.

Since Oryx left her parents' side when she was young, her so-called parental figure was Uncle En. In Oryx's eyes, Uncle En is a hero, he provides her jobs and food. However, Uncle En is far from that status. He is willing to let underaged children engage in sex work and saves Oryx from dangerous men but only for his own benefit as he threatens those men for money. Parental figures are an important factor in the mental development of a psychopath. In the documentary, the loaded gun example

Crake came from a good home, but his unsteady life made him develop traits of a psychopath. He is a very cold, heartless person who lacks remorse, guilt and empathy, he didn’t have much reaction to his mother’s death and released the catastrophic plague that ravaged the entire population. In addition to his attitude towards losing his close ones, he kills Oryx out of jealousy about Jimmy and Oryx’s affair. Him murdering Oryx is intended because he knows Jimmy would react badly. Dr Stephen Porter mentioned how “Psychopaths can easily detect fear from others at a very young age” (27:43-27:50). This relates to Crake as he is able to manipulate people