Joseph Bernard

5 July 2015

Part 1: The “U” in Utopia

          Atwood’s Oryx and Crake provides a bleak vision of humanity's future, which is an enjoyable superficial read. I mention that is enjoyable at a “superficial” level due to the engaging plot of Snowman/Jimmy and the elaborate history between him, Crake and Oryx. It is a good story without any question. However, when analyzing the novel, especially in the context of utopia, the enjoyable nature of the text might disappear and be replaced with rampant frustration. The novel appears to be completely different from the utopian texts covered in the seminar and has little to no redemption for Snowman nor his surroundings. It leaves one wondering where the “utopia” is, unlike Callenbach or Gilman who make their utopias clearly defined. Yet, utopian elements manifest themselves through different forms that one may overlook in the course of the text. By analyzing the character of Snowman and comparing him to Rand’s Prometheus and Callenbach’s Will, the concept of utopia shifts from being exclusively a physical location to that of a mental framework of memories and changes in thought that enables survival in even the harshest of conditions.

          Snowman occupies a bleak and harrowing wasteland, yet he manages to carve out his own personal utopia by hanging onto pleasurable memories that allow him to feel a sense of peace and belonging (although it can be short lived at times). These memories mainly revolve around Crake and Oryx, both of whom gave Jimmy the ability to feel like he mattered, that he was someone worthwhile. Take for instance Crake’s revelation to Jimmy about the conspiratorial nature of the Compounds. Upon the revealing of Crake’s knowledge, Jimmy has this to say: “He gave Jimmy his green-eyed sideways look-a look. . .that meant trust. Crake trusted him. Otherwise he wouldn’t have shown him the hidden playroom.” (Atwood 263) Before Crake, Jimmy lived a rather solitary life, keeping away from his distant parents and throwing himself into studying obscurities(64). Through Crake, Jimmy had someone he could have a meaningful relationship with, that wouldn’t dismiss him like his father did earlier on his life: “Jimmy’s father spent more and more time at work…[He] made him feel invisible. Not that he wanted to feel anything else.”(64-78) Crake’s trust made Jimmy feel visible, which was something he had never experienced before.

          Quite similar to Jimmy’s experience is that of Will in Callenbach’s Ecotopia. Will is a wandering journalist with no fixed anchor in his life. Divorced and without custody of his children, his current intimate relationship unstable and the nature of his job as a journalist naturally forced Will to not invest trust or emotion in any of his relationships. Enter Ecotopia and more specifically Marissa, who challenges Will to see her and Ecotopia through the lens of a community that desires the best for each other rather than a distant land that he was covering for his job. As the novel concludes, Will transitions from being a floating reporter to someone that has found a community that is willing to take him in. He concludes that his story “led him home”, which informs the reader that a transition has taken place (Callenbach 181). A community “bought into” Will, gave him trust and respect(the Cove along with Marissa), which grants Will the ability to shed his former life and stay in his now discovered utopian home.

          Jimmy and Will both distanced themselves from their environment, desiring more than anything to be “invisible”. Yet, when given the utopian quality of trust from an individual(Crake) or a community(Ecotopia), they are able to not only grow closer to the respective givers of trust, but they too can give trust to others. It is interesting to note here that Snowman could have easily misled the humans designed by Crake, telling them that they are genetically enhanced freaks of nature whose creator went haywire. Instead, he chooses to immortalize Crake as a deity: “’Crake took the chaos, and he poured it away’. . .’And this is how Crake did the Great Rearrangement and made the Great Emptiness. He cleared away the dirt, he cleared room. . .’ ‘For his children! For the Children of Crake!’”(125) Those of Crake’s creation are able to see Crake as a trustworthy deity that made the world specifically for them. In a sense, Jimmy/Snowman passes on the trust he received from Crake to those the latter created. The mythology of Crake(and Oryx) binds the community of genetically altered humans together, giving them a sense of community and belonging, which is exactly what Crake gave Jimmy and what Ecotopia gave Will.

          Oryx’s relationship with Jimmy illustrates the utopian characteristic of meaningful love in spite of tribulation or physical surrounding. Despite the losses Jimmy experienced and the sexual conquests he made, he manages to find room in his heart for Oryx, who he cherishes and wants to protect with his very being: “He’d want to track down and personally injure anyone who had ever done harm to her or made her unhappy…he loved her.”(165) Before the downfall of society and Oryx’s death, he desired to protect and love her, going so far as to yield death threats to anyone who presented a threat to her, especially those who harmed her in the past. This fervent desire to love and protect is present in Rand’s Anthem, in which Prometheus rejects society with the Golden One, who he comes to love in spite of their rejecting from the mainstream society they inhabited.

An interesting occurrence happens in the last chapter of the book that directly impacts the analysis of both Rand’s work and Atwood’s: “’I have read of a goddess…who was the mother of the earth and all the gods. Her name was Gaea. Let this be your name…Gaea is pregnant with my child.” (Rand 12.8-13) Prometheus elevates The Golden One to the status of divinity by naming her after a goddess and then impregnating her, giving the child she carries a kind of supernatural glow. To Jimmy, Oryx has the same divine presence, going so far as to propagate her mythology to the altered humans as well: “’Tonight we will apologize to Oryx. . .’ This communion with Oryx. . .they refer to it frequently.”(192) Jimmy has given Oryx a new life in the bleak land he now inhabits, possibly to redeem her from the harsh upbringing she experienced. She is relabeled, just as Prometheus relabels his own lover. Both characters experienced such a strong love for their respective partners that they wished to immortalize them. Their sense of belonging individually creates a community that bonds together, which is rather utopian in nature.

Snowman marches on through the wasteland of his former home, yet Atwood does not allow her character to be tied down by his surroundings. Just as Callenbach allows for Will to find trust and friendship in a community, so does Jimmy discover trust in a relationship with Crake, going so far as to paint him as a divine savior rather than a scientist that went horrible wrong in his endeavors. Love drives Jimmy and Prometheus to exalt their respective lovers to the status of goddesses, which in turn produces a community focused on respect and mutual trust. Despite physical surrounding, utopia thrives as a personal experience that can translate into a community that trusts each other rather than a location.