Pages 10 to 44 Thoughts

            “He feels the need to hear a human voice – a fully human voice, like his own. Sometimes he laughs like a hyena or roars like a lion” (pg 10). This quote enforces the idea that he may very well be losing his mind, but it mainly interests me because he feels the need to emphasize that he needs to hear “a fully human voice”. This would seem to refer to the Children of Crake, but it isn’t expanded upon. If that is what he is talking about, then it could be concluded that despite the fact that he really wants social interaction, he is not able to really connect with the Children. This could be because they are a lot less educated, or maybe from a difference is cultural views. Either way it is clear that there is a definite disconnect between them.

            The first half of this book seems to focus a lot on his mother and the relationship he had with her. She seems to have become very unhappy, and possibly even depressed, during an early point in the Snowman’s life. This had a profound effect on him as he didn’t understand why this was happening and was lead to the assumption that it was his fault. During this time all he wanted was “to make her laugh – to make her happy, as he seemed to remember her being once. He would tell her funny things that had happened at school, or things he tried to make funny, or things he simply invented” (pg 31). This is a sad case of emotional neglect where the victim, Snowman, thinks that they are what is causing their parent to do this. Without seeing a sociologist this could defiantly be something that affects Snowman for the rest of his life.

            While reading this book, I am often trying to figure out how long ago the unspecified disaster had occurred. So far the book has not given a date or amount of time, but the occasional quote about it I find seem to suggest that I will not be told, because no one knows. “At that time he’d had a knife, but he lost it a week later, or was it two weeks? He must keep better track of such things as weeks” (pg 37).

Theme

Perry 1

Isaac Perry

Mrs. Vallier

ENG 4U

Saturday, Oct 23rd/’10

A Brewing Theme
           

            After reading 103 pages from Oryx and Crake, I am starting to see two themes. The first is friendship and the relationships Snowman has with his two closest friends (Oryx and Crake). The second is the exact opposite, which is being alone. The two are told during different time periods but through the same character. This makes an interesting contrast between the two time periods because you see both how Snowman is with his friends, and how he acts without them.

            In addition to the interesting contrast these two themes present, it is also interesting when they are both present at the same time. This can be a seen in a scene when Snowman is lying on his bed in the forest by himself. While laying there he starts to imagine that Oryx is there with him. This dream seems to become a hallucination where she starts to talk to him and says things like “Let’s pretend I’m here with you, big butt and all, getting ready to suck your brains right out your dick” (pg 40). Just reading that quote would make one think that he is simply having a dirty dream, but after seeing multiple ones that aren’t even of a sexual nature and then reading that “He can’t turn them off, he can’t change the subject” (pg 68), it is clear that they are much more than daydreams.

            It’s not clear if these hallucinations will drive him completely crazy or not, but they definitely show that he is having a hard time being alone without anyone to talk to.

Info on pages 1 to 100

Perry 1

Isaac Perry

Mrs. Vallier

ENG 4U

Monday, Oct 18^th/’10

What I understand so far

I have gone through about 100 pages of the book without blogging, so before I reread those pages and talk about some of the things that interest me from them I will talk about what I understanding so far.

1) There has been an apocalyptic event: it seems that the terminator movies inspired Margaret as the future (according to the book) is very bleak. There are no more cars or ipods it seems, just remains of what once was. There are still rusty parts and decaying buildings around, but they are not inhabited as there may be a lot more radiation in them, pointing to a possible nuclear war.

2) Everyone is dead: other then Snowman that is. All the humans have been wiped out by the events that occurred before the begging of the story, but have not yet been detailed or talked about much if at all. Margaret seems to be trying to get the reader to figure out what has happened on their own, which I feel is a good literary device as I am fairly carious to see if my take on what has happened is correct or close to the actual event. Thinking about it now I like the word event, so I think I will continue to use that as the name for what had happened.

3) Oryx: was Snowman’s girlfriend and from how she is talked about, there is a good chance that she had survived the event for a while with him. Snowman clearly misses her a lot, so his thoughts of her after the event with him could very well be hallucinations, but I will have to keep reading to find out.

4) Crake: was Snowman’s best friend when they were kids, and possibly into adulthood including during the aftermath of the event. The way the story is being told, it is implied that crake created the Children of Crake. They are a human like species which are a lot more primitive and worship crake as a god.

5) The Children of Crake: may or may not have been created by crake. There are two expiations to their existence I can think of. The first is that crake continued his research in genetic mutation and creation into his adulthood and then used the labs at HelthWyzer (the corporation compound the both Snowman and Crake lived at with their parents) to develop these human like animals. The second is that they could be some sort of radiation mutation that has adapted to the new radioactive environment. The first expiation seems to be the most likely, as (according to Snowman) they have perfect bodies, which would seem like something that was produced.

6) Snowman: is having a tough time surviving in the harsh environment, and the lack of other human beings to talk to makes it even worse. There is very little eatable food for him left and the fact that he is clearly suffering from malnutrition makes it a lot more difficult to hunt or gather more food. In addition hallucinations are also a big factor in his life, as they seem very real to him and basically become dreams while he is still awake. Snowman, who’s original name was Jimmy, had some bad experiences with his parents when he was a kid. His mother started to lose her mind as the years went on and eventually ran away and took his pet, who was his most dear friend, with her leaving only a smashed computer behind. These problems and lack of connection with his father pushed him to have a much stronger bond with one of his only good friends, Crake.

7) The story: is told through flashbacks, while the present day Snowman goes about his day as he regularly would. It is an interesting concept, as it really gets you thinking about what it must be like to be living all alone in such a dreadful situation. It also has the effect me that constantly has me asking myself “Is anything interesting, exciting, or terrible going to happen to Snowman in present day, or is the main story told through his memories”. This is a really effective question to have the reader asking themselves as it becomes a much more interesting read when you truly have no idea what is going to happen.

This is some of the key information I have gleaned from the book so far. I will be rereading the pages I have not blogged about and will post my thoughts on them every 20 pages or so.

Submission 2

Perry 1

Isaac Perry

Mrs. Vallier

ENG 4U

Monday, Sept 27/’10

Survey of Margaret Atwood and Secondary Sources

1) The author of Oryx and Crake is Margaret Atwood.

2) I became interested in the author after reading what her book was about. For someone to come up with a concept such as this and to be able to successfully explore the mindset of a character in such a setting takes a unique type of person. Different perspectives are something that interests me so this seemed like a perfect read.

3) Born in Ottawa on November 18^th, 1939, where she lived for eleven years, Margaret became interested in writing at a young age. Starting to write at age six, she continued the practice to the point of committing herself to becoming a writer at age sixteen. She went on to study at Victoria College, the University of Toronto, Radcliffe College, and Harvard. Her most well known work is 1985’s The Handmaid’s Tale, which is winner of the Governor General’s Award and one of many of her novels that have a “satirical commentary on society, oftentimes in the guise of speculative fiction” (about.com). In addition to her novels and short stories, Atwood is also known for her poetry.

4) Genres; Children, Fiction, Literary criticism, Non-fiction, Poetry, Radio drama, Screenplay, Short stories

Bibliography

Double Persephone, 1961

The Circle Game, 1964

Kaleidoscopes Baroque: A Poem, 1965

Talismans for Children, 1965

Speeches for Doctor Frankenstein, 1966

The Animals in That Country, 1968

The Edible Woman, 1969

Blewointmentpress Occupation Issew, 1970

Lobsticks: Poems, 1970

Procedures for Underground, 1970

Power Politics, 1971

Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature, 1972

Surfacing, 1973

You Are Happy, 1974

Selected Poems 1965-1975, 1976

Days of the Rebels: 1815-1840, 1977

Lady Oracle, 1977

Marsh Hawk, 1977

The Canadian Imagination: Dimensions of a Literary Culture, 1977

Two-Headed Poems, 1978

Up in the Tree, 1978

Anna's Pet, 1980

Life Before Man, 1980

Notes Towards a Poem That Can Never Be Written, 1981

Bodily Harm, 1982

Dancing Girls and Other Stories, 1982

Encounters with the Element Man, 1982

Second Words: Selected Critical Prose, 1982

True Stories, 1982

Murder in the Dark, 1983

Snake Poems, 1983

The New Oxford Book of Canadian Verse in English, 1983

Unearthing Suite, 1983

The Handmaid's Tale, 1986

The Oxford Book of Canadian Short Stories in English, 1986

Bluebeard's Egg and Other Stories, 1987

Hurricane Hazel and Other Stories, 1987

Second Words, 1987

The Canlit Foodbook: From Pen to Palate - A Collection of Tasty Literary Fare, 1987

Interlunar, 1988

Cat's Eye, 1989

The Best American Short Stories, 1989: Selected from U. S. and Canadian Magazines, 1989

Barbed Lyres: Canadian Venomous Verse, 1990

For the Birds, 1990

Selected Poems: 1966-1984, 1990

Poems 1965-1975, 1991

Wilderness Tips, 1991

Good Bones, 1992

Poems 1976-1986, 1992

The Poetry of Gwendolyn MacEwen: Volume One, The Early Years, 1993

The Robber Bride, 1993

Beyond the Map: Poems by Diane Ackerman, Margaret Atwood, et al, 1994

The Poetry of Gwendolyn MacEwen: Volume Two, The Later Years, 1994

Morning in the Burned House, 1995

Princess Prunella and the Purple Peanut, 1995

Strange Things: The Malevolent North in Candadian Literature, 1995

The New Oxford Book of Canadian Short Stories in English, 1995

The Labrador Fiasco, 1996

Alias Grace, 1996

The Selected Poetry of Gwendolyn MacEwen, 1996

A Quiet Game: And Other Early Works, 1997

The Journals of Susanna Moodie, 1997

Eating Fire: Selected Poetry, 1965-1995, 1998

The Blind Assassin, 2000

Negotiating With the Dead: A Writer on Writing, 2002

Oryx and Crake, 2003

Rude Ramsay and the Roaring Radishes, 2004

Curious Pursuits, 2005

The Penelopiad; the myth of Penelope and Odysseus, 2005

Writing with Intent: Essays, Reviews, Personal Prose 1983-2005, 2005

Waltzing Again: New and Selected Conversations with Margaret Atwood, 2006

Moral Disorder, 2006

Bashful Bob & Doleful Dorinda, 2006

The Tent, 2006

The Door, 2007

Payback: Debt as Metaphor and the Shadow Side of Wealth, 2008

Crimespotting, 2009

The Year of the Flood, 2009

5) “From infancy into her late adolescence, she spent at least half the year living in the wilderness of northern Ontario and Quebec” (Galegroup.com) with her father while he studied the insects there, giving her a much different childhood experience than most. In ’46 her family then moved to Toronto where her father taught at a university. The Toronto of her childhood was then used as the setting for her book, Cat’s eye, and her father was written as a scientist. While studying under well-known critic Northrop Frye at the University of Toronto, Atwood was introduced to the mythical verse of William Blake, which turned out to be “one of her strongest poetic influences” (Galegroup.com).

6) Margaret Atwood seems to favor dystopian themed stories which help to emphasize the opinions she is trying to get across about current day society. It is completely fictional writing, yet because the technology and events that occur would seem to be realistic in comparison to how technology and society are advancing today it hits a lot closer to home for the reader as they can relate more to what she is talking about.

7) Margaret Atwood’s writing styles and themes can be compared to; Ann Beattie, A.S. Byatt, Gail Godwin, Mary Gordon, Doris Grumbach, Barbara Kingsolver, Toni Morrison, Joyce Carol Oates, Marge Piercy, Annie Proulx, Carol Shields, Jane Smiley, Alice Walker, and Fay Weldon.

8) Top 3 sources:

http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/GLD/hits?r=d&origSearch=true&o=DataType&n=10&l=d&c=1&locID=stc23378&secondary=false&u=CLC&t=KW&s=3&NA=Margaret+Atwood

http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth03C18N390512635243

http://contemporarylit.about.com/cs/authors/p/atwood.htm

1 - first ten pages

Just got to page ten of Oryx and the Crake. So far it is an interesting story and it creates a setting that really feels apocalyptic. The way Margaret describes the "distant ocean grinding against the ersatz reefs of rusted car parts and jumbled bricks" as sounding like traffic (pg 3) really gives you a sense of what the world has become. The description of the children of Crake (which is what i will be calling them until a proper name for their species is established) is another thing that is creating an interesting plot. From what she has been saying it seems that Crake has some how managed to control how his communities offspring and possibly everyone one else in the community(including himself) look. It is not yet certain if this is through some sort of genetic alteration or some other method, but it has done things such as giving all the children green eyes.

The book seems to be focusing on Oryx's mental state and routines right now, but i have a feeling that after a few more pages of reading, some more protagonists may be introduced.