The Crakers in Oryx and Crake are made by Crake, a brilliant scientist. He specifically genetically modified these specimens to be above humans in intelligence and essentially created them to be above human emotion. Crake believed that human emotion and love were the root of a lot of humanity's problems. He also sees religion as one of the main problems with society. To Crake, religion offers a systematic reason for people to be held above one another.
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Crake created creatures who were diverse and unable to see race. They eat their own excrement and are self-fulfilling. The "Crakers" as they've been dubbed by Oryx and Jimmy (eventually Snowman) are not sexually driven creatures, they only mate during certain seasons and when the females begin to swell similarly to baboons. These differences from humans mean that they are not prone to leadership roles or to having the desire for love. Crake's creations are completely removed from human emotions or reactions.
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Snowman rescued the Crakers from a continuous trapped existence within the confines of the facility they were created after the virus Crake unleashed a virus that decimated the human population. Crake viciously murdered Oryx after unleashing this virus and in retaliation Snowman has developed stories about Crake. He has placed Crake and Oryx on a pedestal in the eyes of the Crakers. Causing them to see them as gods who have created them for greatness and out of love. Snowman tells them that Crake is trying to get rid of the chaos of overpopulation for the Crakers and that it is for their betterment.
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Snowman creates these creation stories of how they came to be and how Crake came to be that are completely fictional and obviously exaggerated. However, Snowman recognizes that they are a blank slate and that anything he tells them will not be questioned. He is intentionally turning the Crakers into everything Crake despised about humanity. They begin to pray and worship Oryx and Crake and describe hearing them talk to them and acknowledge that they are seeking their advice. Snowman is taken aback at first, but he quickly realizes that his words have had even power than he intended.
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In speaking of Crake and Oryx in such high regard through his storytelling he has counteracted a lot of the properties that have been ingrained into them through creation. They begin to take on leadership roles, build idols, worship, pray, and ask higher order thinking questions. They also develop a desire to see the outside world past what Snowman has told them is their home. Snowman has given them more power than he intended. His intentions were to get back at Crake, but he has essentially created human beings who don't look like human beings.
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Religion has given the Crakers freedom from the confines of their limited creation. They were intended to only be functional for what Crake considered to be perfect, but this perfection limits them and doesn't allow them to have any purpose outside of their usual jobs of peeing and procreating. Religion has given them confidence to become individuals and function in a group outside of their original creation purpose.
What are your thoughts on religion in Oryx and Crake?
See you soon,
Sarah Johnson
https://studybreaks.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/aaaoryxsnowman.jpg
Crake created creatures who were diverse and unable to see race. They eat their own excrement and are self-fulfilling. The "Crakers" as they've been dubbed by Oryx and Jimmy (eventually Snowman) are not sexually driven creatures, they only mate during certain seasons and when the females begin to swell similarly to baboons. These differences from humans mean that they are not prone to leadership roles or to having the desire for love. Crake's creations are completely removed from human emotions or reactions.
https://archandphil.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/wyattpost_illus.jpg
Snowman rescued the Crakers from a continuous trapped existence within the confines of the facility they were created after the virus Crake unleashed a virus that decimated the human population. Crake viciously murdered Oryx after unleashing this virus and in retaliation Snowman has developed stories about Crake. He has placed Crake and Oryx on a pedestal in the eyes of the Crakers. Causing them to see them as gods who have created them for greatness and out of love. Snowman tells them that Crake is trying to get rid of the chaos of overpopulation for the Crakers and that it is for their betterment.
https://img00.deviantart.net/df3b/i/2014/103/c/a/oryx_and_crake__snowman_by_grantyo-d79l3i3.jpg
Snowman creates these creation stories of how they came to be and how Crake came to be that are completely fictional and obviously exaggerated. However, Snowman recognizes that they are a blank slate and that anything he tells them will not be questioned. He is intentionally turning the Crakers into everything Crake despised about humanity. They begin to pray and worship Oryx and Crake and describe hearing them talk to them and acknowledge that they are seeking their advice. Snowman is taken aback at first, but he quickly realizes that his words have had even power than he intended.
https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--_-rS6dlS--/c_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/194px2hsuwt1ajpg.jpg
In speaking of Crake and Oryx in such high regard through his storytelling he has counteracted a lot of the properties that have been ingrained into them through creation. They begin to take on leadership roles, build idols, worship, pray, and ask higher order thinking questions. They also develop a desire to see the outside world past what Snowman has told them is their home. Snowman has given them more power than he intended. His intentions were to get back at Crake, but he has essentially created human beings who don't look like human beings.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/68/50/aa/6850aae63fe7be66a1abca933edfdf81.jpg
Religion has given the Crakers freedom from the confines of their limited creation. They were intended to only be functional for what Crake considered to be perfect, but this perfection limits them and doesn't allow them to have any purpose outside of their usual jobs of peeing and procreating. Religion has given them confidence to become individuals and function in a group outside of their original creation purpose.
What are your thoughts on religion in Oryx and Crake?
See you soon,
Sarah Johnson
I think the whole idea of religion is very interesting in Oryx and Crake. The main thing that I found interesting about the theme of religion is that there are many examples of God-like complexes. The main example is Crake. Snowman finds it humorous when he tells the Crakers that Crake is basically their God. Religion is almost treated as a joke to him. Whenever the Crakers ask about their creator, Snowman tells them all about Crake and how much power he has, essentially making Crake a god in their eyes. Religion isn't really expressed in the novel, science is more so the focus. Religion is mainly expressed as a joke to them. It's not taken very seriously and I feel like that's the main idea that Atwood was going for. Religion is basically completely neglected in the novel and basically forgotten about and I feel like that was the whole idea Atwood was going for.
ReplyDeleteIan Ransonet