The article “Reasonably Insane: Affects and Crake In Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake” by Ariel Koon, details how the characters of the novel are impacted the society that are a part of. The character of Crake is analyzed for his motives to wipeout the human race and how the society he is in pushed him to do it.
The first part of the article focuses on the characterization of Crake. To readers, he seems to be neither good nor evil. He does not fit the typical identity of a “mad-scientist” even though he might be considered one for destroying the human race with modern science and creating a species much like humans. The author claims that the society of the novel is one that is corrupt and enjoys human suffering. The author also defines “outlaw emotions” as negative feelings that are present in Crake. These negative emotions supposedly create the “madness” of a mad scientist
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The novel is a cautionary tale for how the world will become if there is no social change to common problems such as greed. The author comments on how the world has been made to believe that owning material things means happiness, to the point where everything, including human lives have become objects. Developing research in science has been driven by greed-fulfilling incentives, making it easy to seperate the need for knowledge with emotions and ethics.
I agree with all the assertions made in this article. Crake’s qualities are definitely desirable in his society, making it easy for him to get away with many things; his talents in genetic modification allows him to create a disease that kills almost all humans on Earth. I believe that Jimmy and Crake are obvious products of their society because of how desensitized they are to violence and suffering. They are aware of all the terrible things that happen around the world but they are not moved by it because of how common it has