Oryx and Crake

I think I stand in fairly good company when I say that I have a strange fascination with dystopian novels. 1984, Brave New World, The Handmaid's Tale... nothing could've prepared me for this one. Oryx and Crake is by Margaret Atwood, the same person who wrote The Handmaid's Tale, so it's interesting to see such a completely different view of what life could be like in the future. Although I guess this isn't really a dystopian novel. It's more of an anihilism of mankind followed immediately by an attempt to return to Eden and start over.

I was completely caught up in the story from page 1. Margaret Atwood is a very good story teller and loves to start out in the middle of the story and then give you just enough details about the past so that you understand then present. Unlike The Handmaid's Tale which tells about what society would be like if religious fanatics took over, Oryx and Crake tells the story of what would happen if science took over. What if we suddenly started achieving everything we were working for?

The scariest realization for me was when Crake tells Snowman (who's real name is Jimmy) that the drug companies are making the viruses that are killing so many people... and then when people are starting to get scared of an epedimic they release the vaccine which they created at the same time as the virus. What would happen if we suddenly did cure HIV/AIDS and cancer? What if we did cure the common cold and the flu? What if we had vaccines for everything that is currently plaguing the world? I don't think the drug companies would be okay with that. Unlike The Handmaid's Tale which I can think of as much more of a fantasy, Oryx and Crake hits home in a scary way. The world is a lot more likely to turn into one big science fair competition than a religious battle.

I think one of my favorite quotes from the book talks about how all war and violence and social disturbance is actually just caused by sexual frustration. No one can ever be happy sexually either because they're deprived, they're over indulging, or they're worried about their partner leaving them. Everyone wants to be younger not because they're afraid of dying, but because they're looking for that edge that will get them more sex.

So what is the solution? In this novel the solution is to create a new species which is based on homo sapiens but that is wired differently. They don't understand jealousy or hate, the women have a time when they're "in heat" (they're bottoms and abdomens turn blue to signal to men that they can mate) so that there is no sexual frustration. There are no families because no one knows who the father is (4 men have sex with one woman until her body signals that she's pregnant) so there is no inheritance. They don't need to farm or hunt because they just live off of grass and leaves and a berry or two. Basically, is a human mind with animal instincts. They are back in the Garden of Eden before Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. These people walk around naked and are not ashamed of their nakedness because they don't know what clothing is or to be ashamed of their body.

I definitely don't agree with how the novel progresses, but Atwood brings up some points that are very well made. 1) If it sounds too good to be true it probably is. A world without disease cannot exist economically. 2) Don't put all your trust in the arm of the flesh. Don't worry about aging so much. 3) MONOGOMY! Don't lust after everyone in sight. Develop relationships with other people that are based on more than sex and that don't involve sex at all. I know it seems hard, but reach out to that cute guy/girl that you meet and only develop frienship with them... don't even think about dating them, kissing them, or having sex with them. Maybe we can avoid what she sees as the future.