Oryx And Crake: Capitalism Analysis

Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake focuses on the negative impacts of Capitalism. Capitalism is the cause of all the struggle in this dystopian world. Capitalism is the cause of the destruction of the human race because, it gives all the power to the Compounds, it creates a toxic concoction of science and business, and it promotes its ideology through propaganda.
In Atwood’s dystopian world, capitalism is a method of control. The type of control used is biotechnological – in the form of diseases. The Compounds search for more innovative ways to make money as overpopulation becomes problematic. Crake, Jimmy’s best friend, claims that the greedy capitalist Compounds put diseases into their over-the-counter vitamin pills. Crake reasons that, “the
The Compounds house the elite while the Pleeblands house the poor. The Pleeblands are overcrowded, polluted, full of capitalist advertising; they are bustling cities similar to the cities of today. The Compounds possess power and freedom which inspires experimentation with biotechnology and leads to actions that rarely consider any long term consequences. With little to no government intervention, the Compounds perform activities that are banned by today’s governments, which include the illegal manufacturing and distribution of diseases. The Compounds place high security around their borders to protect from the diseased Pleebland people. The Compounds give a tremendous amount of power to their scientists. They thrive on making a profit through selling genetically-modified products and services that enhance human life. To test their products and services, the compounds use people from the Pleeblands. For instance, Crake states that the Pleeblands are a perfect place to test his BlyssPluss pills. Crake points out that all you have to do is, “pay them a few dollars, they don’t even know what they’re taking. Sex clinics, of course – they’re happy to help. Whorehouses. Prisons. And from the ranks of the desperate” (296). Crake recognizes that the pleebland people will have to do it out of desperation for money. This is what Capitalism thrives to achieve – power for the individual alone through the exploitation of other people. These Compounds (disguised as private corporations) would not thrive if they did not have a hierarchy of power. Capitalism works by letting a privileged minority enjoy the fruits of the labour of a marginalized minority of workers. To keep the minority in power, they must give wages to the workers. Money is important for survival in this world. This is why the Pleebland people will do anything for it. The problem