Gripless Character Analysis

One of the driving forces in the character development of Jimmy is his relationship with his mother and father. Throughout the first half of the novel, Margaret Atwood spends considerable time describing Jimmy’s childhood. For the latter section of the book, however, it seems as if the parents are completely absent. Thus, two sections of Oryx and Crake that are worthy of investigation are Chapter 4, “Hammer”, and Chapter 10, “Gripless”. The juxtaposition of events provides commentary on Jimmy’s morals and values, signifies a change in direction and events, and elaborates on his sexual tendencies. The central plots to each chapter are completely opposite; in “Hammer”, Jimmy copes with his mother desertion, while in “Gripless”, he must endure …show more content…
Before her death, Jimmy’s mother tells him, “Don’t let me down” (258). There is no mention of this expectation in “Hammer”. As a result, not only do Jimmy’s values change, but they will need to coincide with a change in actions. Therefore, it is evident that “Hammer” and “Gripless” set Jimmy on the start of two distinct journeys. The former sent Jimmy to an unappealing college resulting in a tedious desk job. The latter made Jimmy’s actions relevant to the fate of the human race. Atwood accomplishes this by presenting two different tones in the chapters. In “Hammer”, the tone and story stresses the importance of returning to the supposed normal. Jimmy’s dad tells his son, “they must forge ahead” (65). This is followed by imagery of them pouring orange juice, cleaning dishes, and playing golf, just like they used to. Likewise, Ramona is reintroduced as a motherly figure, almost as a replacement to reestablish the norm of family life. In “Gripless”, however, there is a sense of rebirth in the conclusion of the chapter. Jimmy tells himself to, “Get a grip. Get a handle on it. Put it behind you. Move forward. Make a new you” (260). While this could be Atwood’s humorous attempt to show how Jimmy’s own thoughts have been influenced by his advertising job, it still does give a sense of optimism and hope. This move-forward mentality eventually leads to Jimmy working at Paradice as well as …show more content…
At first, this may seem like an outlandish proposal; however, Atwood provides several clues that support this theory. First, as mentioned previously, is the strictly defined period of Jimmy’s sexual activity. The lack of sympathy shown toward his mother in “Hammer” suggests Jimmy never felt his mother’s approval or support. Therefore, he would seek out sexual relations that might be able to recoup the absence of love. However, in “Gripless”, Jimmy seemingly comes to terms with his mother and acknowledges how much time he wasted when he was younger with her. It would then make sense that Jimmy no longer needed to seek out women in replacement for his mother’s approval. Second, there are many clues within Jimmy’s actual interactions with these women. In many ways, he exploited his unperfect childhood as a way to get girls to care about him. Atwood describes his methodology as highly effective, as, “these women would begin to see how fractured he was, they’d want to help him gain perspective on life and access the positive aspects of his own spirituality” (190). Many readers might see this as a sleazy tactic used to get women to sleep with him, and that Jimmy was facetious in his words. Yet it is entirely possible that Jimmy was sincere in his statements; in this case, he is using sex as a remedy for his lack of motherly love. In “Gripless”, he comes to terms with