This article from 2011 details the
development of a cow that can produce human breast milk. Genetic engineering in
China has allowed them to alter the proteins in the cow so that the milk it produces
more closely resembles human milk and can be used as a substitute for baby
formula. This is a step in the directions of pigoons, using animals and housing
for our biotic needs and splicing their genes to make them more useful to us,
and eventually rakunks, gene splicing purely for aesthetic and entertainment
reasons. Atwood’s dystopian novel warns of the eventual consequences of
unchecked scientific trespasses into the “realm of the Creator.” In nature, the
organism has to adapt itself in order to survive, however humanity has
abandoned that in favor of forcing the environment to adapt to us, effectively
ending our potential to grow and improve as a species. We like to think of
ourselves as more than just animals and play god for the sake of our own
betterment. However, eventually these advances could lead to a collapse: a
disease that we have no defense from because our altered immune systems are
slow to adapt to new threats after years of disuse; or unforeseen genetic
complications that lie dormant in synthetics and suddenly become a massive
problem with no one able to solve it in time. Atwood’s does not discourage the
advancement of science, but rather the devaluation of the mysteries of life,
and the consequences of going too far down the un-illuminated path of meddling
with life.
Snyder, Katherine V. ""Time to Go": The
Post-Apocalyptic and the Post-Traumatic in Margaret Atwoods Oryx and Crake."Studies
in the Novel 43.4 (2011):
470-89. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 9 Apr. 2012.
In this incredibly long essay, Snyder tries to enforce the
idea of dualism outside of the novel. By that, I mean she urges the reader to
see the text both as a fictional story, but also as an admonition against a
possible future that could be right around the corner. She explains that part
of the challenge in reading a dystopian text is “ [to] see the imagined future
in our actual present and also recognize the difference between now and the
future as- imagined. Thus, the reader of such fiction must sustain a kind of
double consciousness with respect both to the fictionality of the world
portrayed and to its potential as our own world's future.” This is a
very important idea to grasp, because the world Jimmy knew and the world we
know are only separated by a small technological chasm that will quickly be
bridged in the next few decades. The trick is to enjoy the story as fiction,
but to also see the seeds of reality planted throughout and acknowledge them as
warning to potential disaster.
Harker, Ben. "Tenses Of Imagination: Raymond Williams
On Science Fiction, Utopia And Dystopia." New Formations 73 (2011): 131-132.Academic Search
Complete. Web. 9 Apr. 2012.
This article is about the evolution of an author’s books.
Raymond William’s books all dealt with the subject of futuristic utopias, and
the author of the article, Harker, notes the changes he made between his books.
The point that I want to pull from the article, however, is a quote near the
end that raises an interesting idea: “So Williams comes to see the text's
greatest strength - its imagination of the route to utopia through a dark but
necessary history.” This idea that great evils and the fall of ethics are a
path to utopian life brings forth another question: what is a utopia? How is it
any different from a dystopia? The carefree lives leads by the children of Crake
do not seem to be awful at all from their stand point. Only snowman is aware of
what once was, and it haunted by the memories of days passed. Perhaps the evil
mentioned in the article that catalyzes the growth of a utopia actually destroys
the civilization that began the process, making utopia and dystopia two sides
of the same coin.
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