Oryx & Crake
Find my own questions and conversation starters under the cut. Feel free to respond to them or come up with your own.
1) Who the hell was Oryx? She's the most enigmatic figure in the entire book (according to me).
a. Jimmy firmly believes she is the little girl he saw in the video when he was young, however, Crake found her by bringing a picture and asking specifically for a girl who looked like that, so of course she looked like her.
Many times, Oryx denied being that girl. She only said she was when Jimmy refused to believe she wasn't.
So, was she the same girl, but reluctant to admit it? Or was she someone else who was simply going along with Jimmy's stubborn fantasy?
b. In that same line, how biased do we believe Jimmy's view of Oryx is? Whether she is the girl from the video or not, this is someone Jimmy has fantasized about his entire adult life. Can we believe his description of her? Did Jimmy truly love Oryx?
2) Was Crake Omniscient?
a. Of the end result, the plague and the aftermath, how much do you think Crake really had planned out? Did everything happen exactly as he dictated?
b. Did Crake know about Oryx and Jimmy? Was he aware the whole time? Was Oryx acting on his instructions? Or was this affair really behind his back? Did Crake truly love Oryx?
3) Do we get any sense of the author's gender? Gender and sexuality are major themes here. Also, it's Atwood. So we have to discuss gender, right? So, what do you think? Was the author's gender apparent at any point? Did it serve her? Or is it entirely irrelevant?
4) Is this a dystopia? Is the world any worse than ours? What about Jimmy and Crake's video games? Are they morally corrupt, or just enjoying a bit of entertainment?
1) Who the hell was Oryx? She's the most enigmatic figure in the entire book (according to me).
a. Jimmy firmly believes she is the little girl he saw in the video when he was young, however, Crake found her by bringing a picture and asking specifically for a girl who looked like that, so of course she looked like her.
Many times, Oryx denied being that girl. She only said she was when Jimmy refused to believe she wasn't.
So, was she the same girl, but reluctant to admit it? Or was she someone else who was simply going along with Jimmy's stubborn fantasy?
b. In that same line, how biased do we believe Jimmy's view of Oryx is? Whether she is the girl from the video or not, this is someone Jimmy has fantasized about his entire adult life. Can we believe his description of her? Did Jimmy truly love Oryx?
2) Was Crake Omniscient?
a. Of the end result, the plague and the aftermath, how much do you think Crake really had planned out? Did everything happen exactly as he dictated?
b. Did Crake know about Oryx and Jimmy? Was he aware the whole time? Was Oryx acting on his instructions? Or was this affair really behind his back? Did Crake truly love Oryx?
3) Do we get any sense of the author's gender? Gender and sexuality are major themes here. Also, it's Atwood. So we have to discuss gender, right? So, what do you think? Was the author's gender apparent at any point? Did it serve her? Or is it entirely irrelevant?
4) Is this a dystopia? Is the world any worse than ours? What about Jimmy and Crake's video games? Are they morally corrupt, or just enjoying a bit of entertainment?