Essay On Autonomy In Oryx And Crake

Although Rufus is the white son of a slaveholder in the 1800’s, Dana’s initial plan for autonomy was to change and improve Rufus’s perception. Coming from 1976, she believes she can make headway towards racial equality because she lives in a time which it has become a reality. She figures if she is saving his life on multiple occasions, he might be willing to listen to her. Mitchell agrees with this theory as she points out “Rufus lives only because Dana saves his life again and again” (54). Dana attempts to first educate “Rufus to treat slaves with more respect” (Rushdy 145). This attempt of autonomy does not work, as Dana must save Rufus from a beating that might have killed him when attempts to rape his slave Alice Greenwood. In another attempt for autonomy, Dana tries to prove that in her time different races are considered equal showing Rufus a modern history book (Rushdy 145). This attempt at autonomy does not work either, because Dana fears the book might be put in wrong hands, which might alter history. For the safety of the …show more content…
As an unexpected by-product in both novels, control is balanced by altruistic behavior of the protagonists. Jimmy is manipulated by the outside force of his best friend Crake to support Crake’s vision of a new reality, but Jimmy takes on the responsibility he is tricked into as his own. Dana takes control of her situation by using her fear of death, which allows her to protect her own life. Where Jimmy reacts, Dana manipulates her own emotions which gives her control of her future, by her altruistic actions. Both Kindred and Oryx and Crake use the pull of unforeseen events to move the plot of these Sci-Fi classics toward altruistic futures, but the novels differ in their protagonist’s ability adapt or push back with a force of their own making where the end justifies the