In the book Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood, tells a story of a man who went through an apocalypse. The story discusses the similarities and differences of the world Jimmy once knew and of a world Snowman now knows. It also gives insight into how Jimmy as well as the Snowman’s relationship is with the environment around him. The story tells of Jimmy as a happy little boy but as it evolves, it slowly tells of the transformation of Jimmy to Snowman and the effects of the pre- and post-apocalyptic has on him.
The apocalypse effects Snowman in many ways, most noticeably it affects him as a person. He tells stories that demonstrate how the innocents of his past self, a young boy named Jimmy was slowly taken away as he went through the …show more content…
In the first chapter, Snowman is now in post-apocalyptic stage of earth. He meets with children that only further remind him just how alone he is on earth. “Oh Snowman, please tell us – what is that moss growing out of your face?” The others chime in. “Please tell us, please tell us!” No nudging, no giggling: the question is serious. “Feathers,” he says,” (9). This is an example of how alien he feels after the apocalypse. The children’s curiosity about him only increases his feeling of isolation. The majority of the population is looking at him as if he is a strange being from an outside world. In return, this isolation causes Snowman to begin losing touch with reality. “He feels the need to hear a human voice – a fully human voice, like his own. Sometimes he laughs like a hyena or roars like a lion – his idea of a hyena, his idea of a lion” (11). Because of his isolation, he makes up past dialogs with girlfriends, talks to his friends and teachers from a long ago time. “Say anything,” ”he implores her. She can hear him, he needs to believe that, but she’s giving him the silent treatment.” “ What can I do?” he asks her. “You know I…” (11, 12). The apocalypse transforms Jimmy into Snowman not just by ruining the physical environment around him, but also by wiping out the other humans that …show more content…
Snowman’s world was a direct result of his father, and the company he worked, lack of morals and use of technology to alter nature. However, well meaning their intentions, the modification of those animals nearly wiped out the human race. One needs to take a stance on experiments like this and truly consider the consciences of such actions. For Jimmy, there were rules about the animals that had been modified. Humans were not supposed to eat the modified animals. “To set the queasy at ease, it was claimed that none of the defunct pigoons ended up as bacon and sausages: no one would want to eat an animal whose cells might be identical to their own” (260). When facing starvation because of his post-apocalyptic environment, he begins to question this rule and the technology that caused his current environment. The modified split genetics in animals affect Snowman’s relationship with technology and his environment because of this he questions why animals were modified in the first place, as well as, why the rule not to eat them was implanted when there were people starving in the
The apocalypse effects Snowman in many ways, most noticeably it affects him as a person. He tells stories that demonstrate how the innocents of his past self, a young boy named Jimmy was slowly taken away as he went through the …show more content…
In the first chapter, Snowman is now in post-apocalyptic stage of earth. He meets with children that only further remind him just how alone he is on earth. “Oh Snowman, please tell us – what is that moss growing out of your face?” The others chime in. “Please tell us, please tell us!” No nudging, no giggling: the question is serious. “Feathers,” he says,” (9). This is an example of how alien he feels after the apocalypse. The children’s curiosity about him only increases his feeling of isolation. The majority of the population is looking at him as if he is a strange being from an outside world. In return, this isolation causes Snowman to begin losing touch with reality. “He feels the need to hear a human voice – a fully human voice, like his own. Sometimes he laughs like a hyena or roars like a lion – his idea of a hyena, his idea of a lion” (11). Because of his isolation, he makes up past dialogs with girlfriends, talks to his friends and teachers from a long ago time. “Say anything,” ”he implores her. She can hear him, he needs to believe that, but she’s giving him the silent treatment.” “ What can I do?” he asks her. “You know I…” (11, 12). The apocalypse transforms Jimmy into Snowman not just by ruining the physical environment around him, but also by wiping out the other humans that …show more content…
Snowman’s world was a direct result of his father, and the company he worked, lack of morals and use of technology to alter nature. However, well meaning their intentions, the modification of those animals nearly wiped out the human race. One needs to take a stance on experiments like this and truly consider the consciences of such actions. For Jimmy, there were rules about the animals that had been modified. Humans were not supposed to eat the modified animals. “To set the queasy at ease, it was claimed that none of the defunct pigoons ended up as bacon and sausages: no one would want to eat an animal whose cells might be identical to their own” (260). When facing starvation because of his post-apocalyptic environment, he begins to question this rule and the technology that caused his current environment. The modified split genetics in animals affect Snowman’s relationship with technology and his environment because of this he questions why animals were modified in the first place, as well as, why the rule not to eat them was implanted when there were people starving in the