Margaret Atwood's Oryx And Crake

Margaret Atwood has a prevalent and reoccurring subject throughout her novel, Oryx and Crake. She includes this topic to further exemplify how humanity and art are intertwined; therefore, one cannot exist without the other. In this instance, the dystopian society has rejected self-expression and creativity as an acceptable form of pleasure. The result is that citizens have turned to gene splicing, public executions, and child pornography as a means for entertainment (Atwood …). Throughout this essay, the novel will be broken down into examples of how the absence of self-expression and art in a society can lead to a dystopian culture. To begin with, the main character, Jimmy, is often seen as inferior to other children due to his poor academic performance. For his birthday, his father would often send him an e-card containing a gift to enhance intelligence (Atwood Ch.4). This was an incentive to improve himself in the areas of intelligence that he lacked. Also, he was once told that “we are not here to play, to dream, to drift. We have hard work to do, and loads to lift.” (Atwood Ch3). This quote helps the reader to understand the lack of tolerance that is expressed towards free-thinking and creativity.
Another excellent example is during the post-apocalyptic era when Jimmy wished to write in
The depreciation of it can lead to elimination of symbolic thinking, government, and the value of human life. With little appreciation for the simple beauties of life, mankind has replaced Van Gogh with gene splicing, theatres with public executions, and romance movies with child pornography (Atwood ...). Margret Atwood uses the novel of Oryx and Crake to depict the loss of these, replacing it with corporations and their destructive prowess. The people of this dystopian society learn that if they do not respect life and its wondrous offerings, then they will eventually lose their