Thursday, 24 November 2016

Two Sides

In the novel, Oryx and Crake, it describes a futuristic world where a disaster occurs that wipes out the human race, except for one individual. This individual is the main character, named Snowman.  In the beginning of the novel, Snowman wakes up and sees that the ocean near him is overflowing with rusted car parts, which gives me the impression that a once high-technology world has now collapsed into nature. This seems ironic to me, because thats how the world used to be before it became humanized by our species, it was just nature.




In the Flotsam subchapter of chapter 1, children that seem better adapted to life than Snowman are introduced as present characters. I thought Snowman was the only remaining human, but then I realized that these children AREN'T human.

“[H]ugging his shins and sucking on his mango, in under the shade of the trees because of the punishing sun. For the children – thick-skinned, resistant to ultraviolet – he’s a creature of dimness, of the dusk.” (page 6)

This quotation includes a lot of information about the present characters, since it clearly hints at how the children are of a new kind, and I find it paradoxical how Snowman is considered as the "creature"



As the novel progresses, the individual Snowman used to be, Jimmy, is introduced. The novel is then told in two ways, from two sides of the same person. The before side, and the after side. Jimmy tells the story of what was happening before the disaster arose that overwhelmed mankind. Snowman tells the story of how he is surviving as, what he believes to be, the only human left on the planet. I can relate to this since sometimes I view my past self as a different person, and feel as if it was a completely different being who performed my actions in the past.
Snowman doesn't let his past self define his future, especially since it seems as though he identifies as a completely different person.



In this novel I notice a considerable amount of material that falls under the categories of psychoanalytic and feminist lenses.

In terms of Snowman, he has a very apparent id shown throughout the novel. Snowman's id is the idea of Oryx. Oryx brings out the anger in Snowman whilst also calming him down, and repressing his anger. Oryx represents Snowman's sexual desires ranging from when he was a teenager up to present time in the novel. The oediupus complex is also manifested in this novel, since Jimmy has a huge focus of gaining his mother's attention opposed to his father's attention. When his mother leaves, Jimmy becomes very upset and "mourned for weeks. No, for months" (page 61) about his loss.

Looking through a feminist lens, I noticed that Jimmy's dad seems to believe that Jimmy's mother, Sharon, is suffering from hysteria. He thinks that only women suffer from this kind of derangement, and these emotions are never, and should never be displayed by men.

“Women and what went on under their collars. Hotness and coldness, coming and going in the strange musky flowery variable-weather country inside their clothes – mysterious, important, uncontrollable. That was his father’s take on things." (page 17)
I disagree with his father's point of view, since in my opinion just because a woman has issues with mental health, and doesn't want any form of treatment, that doesn't make her crazy or dumb. When Ramona finds out Sharon refused treatment, she responds by saying "It's such a shame, a waste. I mean she was so smart!" (page 25) instead of considering that the decision belongs to Jimmy's mother. 

In conclusion, I think that Oryx and Crake is so far a great novel, and I am ready to be thrilled once again by the chapters to come. 

2 comments:

  1. Hey Amanda, I agree what you said about that maybe Snowman really is the only 'human' alive. As he does have flashbacks to himself instead of telling out loud to an audience or any listeners. But I've thought about it of maybe he doesn't consider the things he sees as humans; as in adults, but maybe they're just children and he doesn't consider them as someone who he can communicate with.

    I also had 'flashbacks' in the past contrasting between my past self and present. I often judge myself similar to Snowman judging his past. I also agree that Oryx could be the Id to Snowman as majority of his flashback memories are about Oryx's past of slavery and rape, etc. There's definitely some connection between Snowman and Oryx as he excessively tells about Oryx.

    I'm going to stay updated with your blog posts, looking forward to it.

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  2. Hi Amanda, your perspective on the novel through a feminist lens is quite intriguing. Jimmy's mother is certainly portrayed as a "crazy" character with very hidden motifs, and the way she is portrayed is quite unlikable. What I am most curious about though is your thoughts on Jimmy's id, and Oryx's representation of it. Jimmy very consistently is able to objectify female bodies throughout the novel, for example only remembering his old teacher Sally by her butt and having to resist staring at Ramona's breasts while she sits next to him. I believe that Jimmy's id could possibly be more than just Oryx based off these sexual descriptions of other characters, possibly representing some repressed desire for attention, as his mother refused to supply. I'm excited for your following posts and comments and hope to gain a new perspective on the novel through your insight.

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