Comparing Margaret Atwood's Oryx And The Year Of The Flood

In Hannes Bergthaller’s article, “Housebreaking the Human Animal: Humanism and the Problem of Sustainability in Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood”, he addresses the issue of a rising ecological crisis while evaluating Margaret Atwood’s approach to the issue in her novels, Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood. In the article, Bergthaller explains the evolved and corrupt meaning of sustainability and admits that Atwood essentially portrays that “housebreaking the human animal” is the answer to solving the crisis (732). Also, Hannes Bergthaller argues that humans perceive nature as a romantic environment and continue to void the fact that technological advances can and will harm the nature they understand to be untouchable. Lastly, the analyst continues to describe each role of Atwood’s main characters and relates them to the reoccurring topic of self-domestication. Bergthaller wrongfully portrays that Atwood’s two protagonists are failed attempts at solving the ecological crisis. On the contrary, Atwood …show more content…
The problematic effects behind society romanticizing nature and avoiding the effects of technological advances are evident in both Margaret Atwood’s and Berghtaller’s pieces if work. On the other hand, Bergthaller incorrectly interprets the purpose behind Atwood’s two main characters. Rather than solving the problem, the author provided the readers with the absolute incorrect ways to “tam[e] the human animal” (Bergthaller 737), presenting the difficulty. In conclusion, both Hannes Bergthaller and Margaret Atwood’s ultimate intention is to warn the reader of an emerging world where untamed humans have full capability of enhancing technology, without being restrained by what is considered morally and ethically