Similarities Between Oryx And Crake

What does the word perfect mean? Well, according to the Webster Dictionary, it means “being entirely without fault or defect” and/or “corresponding to an ideal standard or abstract concept.” Many people strive to be perfect. Whether it is the perfect hair, the perfect group of friends, or the perfect body; people aim for the perfect life. But is the perfect life an achievable thing? Is anyone truly without fault or defect? Everyone has a different idea of perfection, therefore; it is impossible to find one that we can all agree on. But the media sure does give everyone an idea of what perfection really looks like. Women must be skinny with smooth skin and men have to be muscular with great hair. “These cultural messages feed the deepest
“Pills to make you fatter, thinner, hairier, balder, whiter, browner, blacker, yellower, sexier, and happier”(Atwood 248). Society’s need to be perfect, of course, drove people to buy products like these. Advertisement of such products influenced people to buy them based on their need to conform to the standards of society. In the novel, Crake creates a “super pill”, called the BlyssPluss Pill, that would protect against all STDs, boost sexual energy, and prolong youth, which he sold all over the world. He created a pill that included traits most people desired, craved, and aimed for. Knowing something like this existed, everyone lined up to buy them. But what was not advertised to the public, is that the pill “would also act as a sure-fire one-time-does-it-all birth-control pill, for male and female alike, thus automatically lowering the population level” (Atwood 294). Therefore, instead of having their own children, Crake had a plan that enabled people to genetically engineer their own perfect child. “They’d be able to create totally chosen babies that would incorporate any feature, physical or mental or spiritual, that the buyer might wish to select” (Atwood 304). Therefore, instead of having their own children, Crake had a plan that enabled people to genetically engineer their own perfect child. Another aspect about the pill that Crake did not want the public to know is that
In this society, they “conditioned” their children to be a certain way. The genetically modified the embryo so the child would behave a certain way or do a certain job (Huxley 16). The Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning (D.H.C) can literally control the citizens. They conditioned the children to hate art, nature, and literature and made them focus only on working to further benefit society. “It isn't only art that's incompatible with happiness; it's also science. Science is dangerous; we have to keep it most carefully chained and muzzled” (Huxley 231). These people took many interests and values away from the children that make them human. The only things to give them physical pleasure are a drug called soma and recreational sex. The D.H.C can also create ninety-six identical twins, therefore; losing any sense of individuality. Their goal, of course, was to create a perfect society, but did they? Yes, society was progressing well because everyone worked all the time, but by taking away interests in art and nature, these people were being dehumanized. Similar to the Crakers, where many human traits were taken away in order to be perfect humans, ironically. Huxley writes, “The more stitches, the less riches…” (Huxley 51). They believed that one is worthless if they are not