Greed In Oryx And Crake

Human beings’ potent balance of rational thinking and emotional prowess have catapulted us to the top of the animal kingdom. Yet, despite all our marvellous feats, are we merely bracing ourselves for our impeding demise? As greedy corporations continue to gain an unlawful amount of power, profit becomes exceedingly more valuable than humanity itself. What would happen to our society if life lost its intrinsic value? Renowned author Margaret Atwood’s explores this concept in her harrowing thriller, Oryx and Crake, by extracting elements of the corporate greed prevalent in our society and propelling it to its absolute extreme. The price increases of the EpiPen demonstrates the commercialization of health care and lack of empathy because of corporate greed in our society. Atwood draws striking parallels to these concepts in her fictitious AnooYoo and HealthWyzer Corporations. Similarly, corporate greed continues to effect innocent employees who are dehumanized, viewed as expenses and eventually fired from their jobs as well as the nation as a whole. Again, Atwood artfully explores the implications of appraising human life and the impact of corporate greed has on our society through her opposing Pleebland and Compound worlds, …show more content…
As the article mentions, since 1994, over 5 million Americans have been fired from their jobs. This sickening statistic shows how greedy corporations would rather leave a significant portion of the population jobless if it ensures them a higher profit. According to the article, corporate greed is also increasing the income gap by reducing the number middle-class jobs. This means that the small percentage of the population that is rich will continue to succeed while the rest of America struggles with increasing levels of poverty. Atwood explores these consequences of corporate greed through the two very different worlds she portrays in the