The End of a Journey ... Or the Beginning?

From page 280 onwards to the end of the book, WOW there is a lot of crazy stuff happening. The plot is so juicy and contains so much vital information. It is also extremely rich in literary devices and criticisms!



From a Feminist Point of View
GET YOUR FEMINIST GLASSES ON RIGHT NOW AND DON'T YOU DARE TAKE THEM OFF. I could not even get 3 pages into this section without SOMETHING going on involving feminist criticism... Why does Jimmy just decide to like married women now?? Who is this woman, what is her name, how about we give her a name and a backstory instead of saying "She was a fine woman with real tits and problems of her own" (p 285) and not treat her like an object?? I spy with my little eye MALE GAZE.

He doesn't even remotely care about this woman, but asks her to leave her husband only for him. Why is he so demanding of someone that he doesn't care about? Why did Atwood do this? I think she did this to really develop the character that Jimmy was becoming. To show us that, no Jimmy isn't perfect and he can really be disrespectful. This adds so much depth to Jimmy's character and who he's become, because I recall very early in the novel he cared greatly about his mother (chapter 2 subsection "Lunch") and Wakulla Price (p 55), but as he becomes older he doesn't care about women as much as he previously did.

Where Have I Seen This Before?
On page 290, The Great Gatsby just popped up in my head, "It figured, Jimmy thought: in the olden days, bootleggers had seldom been drunks" (p 290). This allowed me to compare and contrast not only these two very different novels, but also very different points in time. Jay Gatsby was similar to a bootlegger in the late 1910s and early 1920s, which is how he earned his money. The fact that something that was happening 100 years ago in present-day time is being referenced in a novel set in the future is really surprising. Could it be that Atwood was trying to allow readers to contrast the huge differences between the past and what could be the future?

A Little Alliteration Association

"Unlike the latter species, the bonobo had not been partially monogamous with polygamous and polyandrous tendencies. Instead it had been indiscriminately promiscuous, had not pair bonded" (p 293). Why did she write this? The bonobo species weren't monogamous.. instead they were polygamous and polyandrous... they had more than one lover and they didn't form any close relationships with their sexual partners. This directly correlates to Jimmy on page 285 when he has multiple relationships with married women and doesn't end up having any long-term relationships with any of them. Alliteration, but also compare and contrast between the bonobo species and the "new" Jimmy.... well done Atwood. 

Foreshadowing Hidden in the Shadows

At multiple points in the novel Crake was very suspicious, especially when he says, " "It's an airlock," said Crake "As in spaceships. [...] In case this place ever has to be sealed off," said Crake. "Hostile bioforms, toxin attacks, fanatics. The usual." " (p 298). All of the description words Crake used, the reader could then use later to describe what HE was doing. I got a very eerie feeling when I read this... and later I found out why. Those words were deliberately used to be exact descriptions of what Crake was planning.. "hostile bioforms" "toxin attacks". The way Atwood exploits foreshadowing in ways that are difficult to notice really add depth to the story, because it seems as though every word a character has said can be very significant later on in the novel. 

Simile for the Camera!

When Alex the parrot comes to Snowman in a dream, it was green then began turning red "as if it's a parrot-shaped light bulb filling up with blood" (p 336) and then suddenly vanished. What did this mean? Why was this significant? Why did Atwood include this in the story? Was it because Snowman was in the presence of the dead bodies of both Crake and Oryx, which was messing with his brain? Was this some guilt about killing Crake that was shown through a bad dream? Was Snowman associated the blood on his hands from killing his best friend, with something from his childhood? Does this relate back to his mother and how she died ON TV without him saying anything about it?

When Snowman first had to take care of the Craker Children he thought that "these people were like blank pages" (p 349), meaning that to him, they were some sort of fresh start. Snowman was able to change his name, and completely alter the outlook on life that the Craker Children would have. But it seems like he isn't necessarily only comparing the Craker Children to a blank page... he's comparing his life to a blank page. No more humans (that he knows about) to deal with, no more working for Crake, no more Crake, no more Oryx, no more old life. This double comparison adds a lot of complexity to the plot since Jimmy saw this as a new opportunity for himself rather than for the Children.

Hardcore Metaphor
When the JUVE virus broke out in Fiji, Jimmy was reminded of the time when Crake said "Change can be accommodated by any system depending on its rate. [...] Touch your head to a wall, nothing happens, but if the same head hits the same wall at ninety miles an hour, it's red paint." (p 341). The metaphor of blood being red paint really shows how little Crake cares about death. He doesn't seem to have much compassion at all and that is especially shown through the use of this metaphor. Atwood used this specific metaphor to demonstrate the type of character Crake really is, and this dark side to him foreshadows what will happen in the future.

This novel was really well-written, however I wish that the ending was not so abrupt and actually gave more information. Other than that, this was a fantastic book with many deep aspects that go beyond the plot. 

One Story Shown in Every Possible Way

This section of Oryx and Crake involved the events of the past beginning to unravel while Snowman explains the story excruciatingly slowly, but with allure. There is so much suspense and foreshadowing used in this novel that I feel as if I am forever angry with this novel, while also being in love with it.


When Crake starts telling Jimmy about how his dad had died on page 182 I had a very strange feeling. Talking about how his dad "fell off" the overpass, but Crake wouldn't flat out say if he accidentally fell or was pushed. Afterwards...

"How could I have missed it? Snowman thinks. What he was telling me. How could I have been so stupid?"(pg. 184)

What did Crake tell Jimmy that he felt was so obvious and how could he not have noticed sooner? Following this, page 211 is completely filled with suspense since Crake will not give Jimmy a straight answer to any questions he has. At the end of this page and onto the next, the events that occurred at the end of Crake's father's life are revealed. 

Atwood utilizes suspense and foreshadowing as devices to maintain the interest of the reader, and to really make the truth being exposed seem like a weight off not only the character's chests, but the reader's chest as well. If Atwood allowed Crake to simply explain what really happened on page 182, there wouldn't have been any suspense involved. 

On page 205, Crake is giving Jimmy a tour of the Watson-Crick institute and shows him the "peculiar bioforms" such as the ChickieNobs and the wolvogs. In Jimmy's mind...

"Why is it he feels some line has been crossed, some boundary transgressed? How much is too much, how far is too far?"(pg. 206)

This seems like the foreshadowing to an event when "too much" and "too far" are reached, resulting in perhaps the downfall of the human race. Atwood includes this element of foreshadowing to allow the reader to link the past of when Jimmy first saw wolvogs at the institute to the present where wolvogs are a rapidly-spreading danger in Snowman's environment. It adds a layer of suspense since the reader is now wondering... how did the wolvogs get out?

Earlier on in the novel, Snowman is thinking about his past relationship with a girl named Morgana, he thinks:

"My love is like a blue, blue rose. Moon on, harvest shine."(pg. 168)

This simile is utilized to express the difficulties with maintaining relationships in Snowman's past life. Jimmy had many girlfriends over the course of his post-secondary career, but didn't end up sticking with just one girl. His mind was set on Oryx. Jimmy also lost his mother, which shows how much difficulty Jimmy had with sustaining relationships. 

Not only was this a simile, "Moon on, harvest shine" is also an allusion to a popular early 1900s song called "Shine On, Harvest Moon", which refers to the lack of love in someone's life. I've included a recording of the song so you can get a feel for what Snowman was referencing. 

Atwood also employs references to pop culture throughout her work such as "Where's my Bride of Frankenstein?"(pg. 169) shortly after the Shine On, Harvest Moon reference. "The Taj Mahal, the Louvre, the Pyramids, the Empire State Building"(pg. 222) are places Snowman knows will end up crumbling down in the near future. The use of these references to pop culture allows the readers to stay connected with the novel due to the familiarity of these people or places. Since this novel is obviously set in the future, the inclusion of these references keeps the novel feeling more current, while also having a futuristic plot. 

There were not as many elements of this section that could be analyzed with a feminist lens as there were in the last section. However, when Jimmy was describing Amanda in the first chapter of her presence, there were notable components of his descriptions that could be analyzed with a feminist lens.  

"She had a very fine ass too, and the tits were real, but - and he'd noticed this early - she was a little flinty around the eyes."(pg. 244)

Amanda seems like an object solely for the male gaze. The fact that her eyes are stern in Jimmy's opinion is a negative factor of Amanda, simply because she doesn't look the way he desires. On top of this, before Jimmy gets into any details about Amanda's past, he feels the need to mention certain physical components of her body that are considered sexual. No wonder she broke up with him 3 pages after he made this description. 

The idea of men treating women as objects

The whole concept of Crake being some powerful supernatural individual in present day, while being untouchable and unreachable by his followers (his children) is a representation of allegory. In this novel the surface of the story, being the plot and characters, is only one way of interpreting the text. Below the surface of the text, there is a symbolic interpretation of the text involving the idea of religion. 

Crake is the God of this new world, and his followers want to see him and speak with him, but they never can. This reminded me of many religions we have in present day, since there is a worshipping aspect to both concepts, where adoration is also heavily involved. There is one quotation that really stood out to me that expressed this religious allegory. 

"It's one of their favourite ideas, going to see Crake."(pg. 160)

Atwood is portraying Crake as the God that individuals are excited to see, even though they can't actually see him. 

The Craker Children, old and young, come together to worship Crake as their God

I was definitely passionate about this section of the novel, and I hope that the final section is just as thrilling, suspenseful, and overwhelming as this one was.