A paragraph that really stood out to me is:
Of course (said Oryx), having a money value was no substitute for love. Every child should have love, every person should have it. She herself would rather have had her mother's love—the love she still continued to believe in, the love that had followed her through the jungle in the form of a bird so she would not be too frightened or lonely—but love was so undependable, it came and then it went, so it was good to have a money value, because then at least those who wanted to make a profit from you would make sure you were fed enough and not damaged too much. Also there were many who had neither love nor a money value, and having one of these things was better than having nothing. (Atwood 154)
Even though it is quite long, I think everything said is very important. Love is a very powerful thing and in this world, people are replacing the comfort and security of love with money values. These children who were sold have already given up on love. They know that their only purpose is money, and they also know that the more money they are worth, the more care they will be given.
It is a very sad outcome, to give up all hope and to just live for someone else's profit gain.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Ethnocentrism
Reading about how Oryx and Jimmy came to meet and how Oryx once lived in an impoverished village makes me think about ethnocentrism. The village where Oryx is from is obviously much different then what we, as Canadians, are accustom to, so we judge their culture based on how we live.
In Oryx's village it is accustom to sell children. A man of wealth comes in from the city and buys up to four children from their mothers. The mothers choose which children are going to have a chance at being bought. Once they are bought, they are never to be heard from again. The man promises that their children will have a good life, and that a portion of the money the children make will be sent back to the family. The mothers do not necessarily want to sell their children, but they do it for the money.
I find this whole concept very disturbing, as did Jimmy. Oryx insists that it was the norm of their society, and even though she was sold, it does not seem to effect her. Once Oryx was bought, she was again sold into the sex trade at a very young age, she does not find the village culture revolting. I think it is because she is trying to block out those memories, so showing no sign of suffering will help her forget.
I also find it kind of ironic how Jimmy had a lot of doubts about whether his mother loved him while she was around, now knowing Oryx's story. Jimmy's mother was not the typical motherly figure, and she did leave him, but it seemed like she did the best for someone in her state. She even tried to contact him just so Jimmy knew that she is still alive, even though she is on the run.
Yet, even though it was Oryx's mothers choice to sell her, she still believes she loved her.
"The mother of Oryx sold two of her children at the same time, not only because she was hard up. She thought the two might keep each other company, look out for each other. The other child was a boy, a year older then Oryx. Fewer boys were sold than girls, but they were not therefore more valued.
(Oryx took this double sale as evidence that her mother had loved her. She had no images of this love. She could offer no anecdotes. It was a belief rather than a memory.)" (Atwood 147)
Looking at Oryx's village, there are a lot of gender roles associated. It seems like all that the women are good for is baring children, which they already had an abundance of. But, to the child buyer, the girls are more popular. There are always a lot of girls to be sold, as well as girls to be bought.
I think that another theme of the novel could be how people will do anything for money. Like we see with Oryx, how her mother sold her for money. Also, in the compounds, how they genetically alter animals just for the consumer. Another is how violence in the media is to gain revenue. Everything is to make money.
In Oryx's village it is accustom to sell children. A man of wealth comes in from the city and buys up to four children from their mothers. The mothers choose which children are going to have a chance at being bought. Once they are bought, they are never to be heard from again. The man promises that their children will have a good life, and that a portion of the money the children make will be sent back to the family. The mothers do not necessarily want to sell their children, but they do it for the money.
I find this whole concept very disturbing, as did Jimmy. Oryx insists that it was the norm of their society, and even though she was sold, it does not seem to effect her. Once Oryx was bought, she was again sold into the sex trade at a very young age, she does not find the village culture revolting. I think it is because she is trying to block out those memories, so showing no sign of suffering will help her forget.
I also find it kind of ironic how Jimmy had a lot of doubts about whether his mother loved him while she was around, now knowing Oryx's story. Jimmy's mother was not the typical motherly figure, and she did leave him, but it seemed like she did the best for someone in her state. She even tried to contact him just so Jimmy knew that she is still alive, even though she is on the run.
Yet, even though it was Oryx's mothers choice to sell her, she still believes she loved her.
"The mother of Oryx sold two of her children at the same time, not only because she was hard up. She thought the two might keep each other company, look out for each other. The other child was a boy, a year older then Oryx. Fewer boys were sold than girls, but they were not therefore more valued.
(Oryx took this double sale as evidence that her mother had loved her. She had no images of this love. She could offer no anecdotes. It was a belief rather than a memory.)" (Atwood 147)
Looking at Oryx's village, there are a lot of gender roles associated. It seems like all that the women are good for is baring children, which they already had an abundance of. But, to the child buyer, the girls are more popular. There are always a lot of girls to be sold, as well as girls to be bought.
I think that another theme of the novel could be how people will do anything for money. Like we see with Oryx, how her mother sold her for money. Also, in the compounds, how they genetically alter animals just for the consumer. Another is how violence in the media is to gain revenue. Everything is to make money.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Innocence
To me, it seems like the innocents of the children in the compounds does not exist or it is lost at a very young age. It also does not seem like morals exist to the people of this time period/ reality. A world like this is actually very disturbing. It's a world where anyone can watch people dying over the internet. They can watch criminals die, violence in foreign countries, and people committing suicide. There are advertisements on these sorts of websites. That shows that they aren't for learning purposes, but for revenue because they know people enjoy to watch them.
Child pornography is another thing disturbing about the compounds. It seems wildly accepted and people seem to think that it is the norm to engage in this type of viewing. Even though it does happen in our society, it is not accepted. The police track these sorts of websites and shut them off as soon as possible, as well as arresting anyone involved. The people controlling and watching the websites are also considered sick and definitively not accepted after they have been found out.
In the compounds, children that have barley hit adolescence watch all these violent, disturbing, and sick websites without a thought about how very unpleasant everything is. In the early stages of adolescence, I would think that some part of your childhood innocents would still linger. That's why I think that maybe the children lose their innocents before hitting adolescence or maybe they never had innocents.
This brings me back to what I believe to be one of the themes of this novel; people are becoming desensitized to violence in the media. They watch these videos and it doesn't have an effect on everybody like it should. No one is complaining about the people subjected in the videos. All anyone cares about is making money.
Child pornography is another thing disturbing about the compounds. It seems wildly accepted and people seem to think that it is the norm to engage in this type of viewing. Even though it does happen in our society, it is not accepted. The police track these sorts of websites and shut them off as soon as possible, as well as arresting anyone involved. The people controlling and watching the websites are also considered sick and definitively not accepted after they have been found out.
In the compounds, children that have barley hit adolescence watch all these violent, disturbing, and sick websites without a thought about how very unpleasant everything is. In the early stages of adolescence, I would think that some part of your childhood innocents would still linger. That's why I think that maybe the children lose their innocents before hitting adolescence or maybe they never had innocents.
This brings me back to what I believe to be one of the themes of this novel; people are becoming desensitized to violence in the media. They watch these videos and it doesn't have an effect on everybody like it should. No one is complaining about the people subjected in the videos. All anyone cares about is making money.
Thursday, October 06, 2011
Reader Response Chart
Setting: In a deserted land with a body of water, strewn with objects of a past time. In the past, in the compounds, Jimmy's school, Jimmy's house, Crake's house
Unknown word & definition: Lean-to- A temporary shelter, either supported or freestanding
Unknown word & definition: Lean-to- A temporary shelter, either supported or freestanding
This story reminds me of... the movie Wall-E because the wasteland Snowman is living in now seems like the world that the humans left and the world that Wall-E is forced to inhabit. The planet is deserted and filled with garbage. Snowman is like Wall-E, they are both stuck in the same pattern unable to stop.
What happened in this chapter: Snowman is recalling his past life as Jimmy. He becomes good friends with Glenn/Crake. They start to spend more time together and he talks about video games that they would play. He also mentions shows they would watch, like people getting the lethal injection and committing suicide.
An inner conflict: Snowman and his differences with Crake's children, and how is getting old.
A thought from the protagonist: "Maybe she had loved Jimmy, thinks Snowman. In her own manner. Though he hadn't believed it at the time. Maybe, on the other hand, she hadn't love him. She must have had some positive emotion about him though. Wasn't there supposed to be a maternal bond?" (Atwood 72)
When did this take place: Time details are sketchy at this point in the book, but I think it is at a future time. It could also be present time but in an alternate reality.
Significant quotation: "It's very simple, the bad microbes and viruses want to get in through the cell doors and eat up the pigoons from the inside. Mummy's job was to make locks for the doors." (Atwood 35) - Jimmy's mother on her past job at OrganInc Farms.
Emotions in this piece: Confusion, sadness, fear, nostalgia
Most important word to describe this section: Neoteric
Question I have: So many... What happened to Jimmy that made him become present day Snowman? Why are Crake's children not human? What happened to Crake? Is/was Oryx a real person? What happened to the rest of the world? Where did Jimmy's mother escape to?
A lesson learned: Make the best out of any situation.
Prediction: Snowman will talk to Crake's children more and they will start their own little society.
Quotation from another character: "Can't you be positive just for once? All this negative stuff, this is no good, that's no good, nothing's ever good enough, according to you!" (Atwood 66) - Jimmy's father on his wife.
Unknown word & definition: Weltering- To toss, roll, or rise and fall in an uncontrolled way
Somebody: Jimmy's mother
Wanted: Freedom and to be away from genetic altering
But: Life inside the compounds is very strict
So: She devised a plan and escaped the compound, leaving her husband and son behind.
A possible social commentary: How we are becoming desensitized to violence in the media. Also, how violence is praised in the media.
My advice is... Jimmy should spend less time looking at very violent, graphic, and very real things with Crake.
A power conflict: Jimmy and Crake are always in constant competition with each other; Crake usually comes out on top.
Monday, October 03, 2011
Slaughterhouse-Five
Reading the plot of Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, the general idea of the novel is a boy who goes to war and becomes captured by the German soldiers. Seems normal enough, but upon further reading, it is also about the boy getting abducted by aliens and brought back to their planet. He becomes "unstuck in time" and is forced to visit and revisit his past and future events.
This can be related to Oryx and Crake because Snowman feels trapped in his past. He is constantly thinking back to his childhood and adolescence. He becomes consumed in the memories and the thoughts of regret. Many chapters are of Snowman revisiting his past, and I believe they will eventually add up into his present. As of now in the book, I have no idea what happened to Snowman, why he refers to himself as Snowman instead of Jimmy, and what happened to the world.
The major themes of Slaughterhouse-Five are fate, free will, and the illogical nature of human beings.
I think all these themes can be tied into Oryx and Crake. Fate because Snowman, it seems, has given up on any hope he once had. I think he knows his fate is simply death. This could also be foreshadowing though, maybe something drastic will happen to change his fate. In the compounds, it does not seem that young Jimmy had a lot of free will. No one did. They could not leave and had a lot of restrictions on what they could and couldn't do, such as curfews. In the present, Snowman has too much free will because there is no one to tell him what to do.
I think the illogical nature of human beings relates most to Oryx and Crake because it seems like the humans in the novel do not have their priorities straight. These people are living in these compounds where they alter animals to give them things they need, such as organs. The organs can help people immensely, but they also do other experiments such as create new species and create microbes to alter your skin to 'perfection'. In a world where you can't freely travel wherever you want, you would think that they would have bigger priorities. I think that has a lot to do about the novel, how humans easily lose their way and get too caught up in the material things in life. I think it is a message that we need to change our ways as to not end up with a world similar to the one in this novel.
The allusion in Oryx and Crake can definitively relate to the novel. I also predict there to be some sort of extraterrestrial involvement too.
This can be related to Oryx and Crake because Snowman feels trapped in his past. He is constantly thinking back to his childhood and adolescence. He becomes consumed in the memories and the thoughts of regret. Many chapters are of Snowman revisiting his past, and I believe they will eventually add up into his present. As of now in the book, I have no idea what happened to Snowman, why he refers to himself as Snowman instead of Jimmy, and what happened to the world.
The major themes of Slaughterhouse-Five are fate, free will, and the illogical nature of human beings.
I think all these themes can be tied into Oryx and Crake. Fate because Snowman, it seems, has given up on any hope he once had. I think he knows his fate is simply death. This could also be foreshadowing though, maybe something drastic will happen to change his fate. In the compounds, it does not seem that young Jimmy had a lot of free will. No one did. They could not leave and had a lot of restrictions on what they could and couldn't do, such as curfews. In the present, Snowman has too much free will because there is no one to tell him what to do.
I think the illogical nature of human beings relates most to Oryx and Crake because it seems like the humans in the novel do not have their priorities straight. These people are living in these compounds where they alter animals to give them things they need, such as organs. The organs can help people immensely, but they also do other experiments such as create new species and create microbes to alter your skin to 'perfection'. In a world where you can't freely travel wherever you want, you would think that they would have bigger priorities. I think that has a lot to do about the novel, how humans easily lose their way and get too caught up in the material things in life. I think it is a message that we need to change our ways as to not end up with a world similar to the one in this novel.
The allusion in Oryx and Crake can definitively relate to the novel. I also predict there to be some sort of extraterrestrial involvement too.
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