Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. It is definitely an odd novel, but it is a very good read. I would love to ask the author about some of the themes in the novel, if she feels our would is heading down a similar path. I would also want to ask her about Crake, why he decided to wipe out humans. Another thing I am also confused about is Oryx's character. It did not seem like she had that big of a part in the novel, but she had such a huge and lasting impact on Jimmy. 

What I really liked about the novel is the writing style. I like how the time frame would jump all over the place and you would not really know where you are in Jimmy's life until the end. For example, in the middle of the book there would be chapters devoted to Jimmy talking with Oryx, yet Oryx was not introduced in the novel yet. We only truly meet her in the end, where we find out Jimmy was an adult.

I liked getting to know Jimmy and Snowman as two separate people until the time frame blurs and Jimmy becomes Snowman. I think that represents how much Jimmy changed in the short amount of time what the world was in chaos. He wanted to be a different person. He wanted to leave Jimmy behind in the compounds.

I would also have liked to know what happened to Jimmy's father. Most likely he also died with the infection, but it would have been interesting to have one last meetup with Jimmy and his dad because they have not seen each other in a long time.

The ending also kind of threw me off. Snowman is just about to meet the other humans, and it ends. Also with his foot infection. Does he meet the other humans, and then dies? Or does he outlive the infection? I would like to think he does, but maybe it is irony. Everyone else in the world dies from this horrible disease which Jimmy is immune to, but he ends up dying from a small cut on his foot.

Even though there are questions left to be answered, I really did enjoy the book. It is not as bad as I thought it would be to read between the lines and make up conclusions for myself.

New Beginning

I found it very interesting how the first paragraph of the novel,

        Snowman wakes up before dawn. He lies unmoving, listening to the tide coming in, wave after wave sloshing over the barricades, wish-wash, wish-wash, the rhythm of heartbeat. He would so like to believe he is still asleep. (Atwood 5)

and the first paragraph of the last chapter,

        Snowman wakes up before dawn. He lies unmoving, listening to the tide coming in, wish-wash, wish-wash, the rhythm of heartbeat. He would so like to believe he is still asleep. (Atwood 439)

are almost identical.

Since in both are him waking up, I think it represents a new beginning. In the first chapter, Snowman is starting his routine. He is living day by day barely surviving. We do not know anything about him yet. It not only starts his journey, but the readers journey as well.

In the first paragraph of the last chapter, we know Snowman. We know his story and how everything came to be, but he is about to start a new journey. He knows that there are more people around his vicinity. When he wakes up, he is starting his new journey to meet these people.

I really like how the author did this. To me, it feels like Snowman is starting a new life, and a brand new chapter, even though the book is soon coming to a close.

Chaos

Everything is coming together. I was very shocked to find out that Crake meant for everything to happen. He purposely planted the infection in his pills so that essentially the human race would be wiped out, except for Jimmy.

It is somewhat irritating how the book never fully explains why Crake did it, but I think that is because Jimmy never truly knows why he did. I think it is because Crake wanted the world to be run fully by his Crakers. I think he knew that humans would continue to destroy the world, so he decided to 'play god' and make the world a better place. If that was his logic, then I do not understand why he did not want to be there for himself instead of enlisting Jimmy with the Crakers.

Then this poses another question; did he expect Jimmy to shoot him? If he did, then he must of known about Oryx and Jimmy's affair. If he did not, then he must have thought Jimmy would not care if he killed Oryx in front of him.

When Jimmy is alone, playing over the events that have entailed in his mind, one of his thoughts really stuck out to me, "How long had he been planning this? Could it be that Uncle Pete, and possibly even Crake's own mother, had been trial runs? With so much at stake, was he afraid of failure, of being just one more incompetent nihilist?" (Atwood 409).

Nihilist: Someone who rejects theories of morality or religious beliefs.

It really stuck out to me because the doctors could never explain Crake's mothers death, and Uncle Pete suddenly dies too. If they both died from a mysterious infection, Crake could have used them as a trial to test out what his microbes were capable of.

But why his family? This is why another one of Jimmy's thoughts stuck out to me, "Had he been a lunatic or an intellectually honorable man who'd thought things through to their logical conclusion? And was there any difference?" (Atwood 409).

Maybe Crake was just a psychopath.

Crake's Plan

Crake's plan ties in with, what I think are, the main themes of the novel. That people will do anything for money, as well as people want to be perfect. These two can be combined with one major theme: Humans become caught up in the material things in life.

The first part of Crake's plan is a pill. A pill that he knows everyone will want. The benefits of the pill include,
     
        a)    would protect the user against all known sexually transmitted diseases, fatal, inconvenient, or merely unsightly;
        b)    would provide an unlimited supply of libido and sexual prowess, coupled with a generalized sense of energy and well-being, thus reducing the frustration and violence, and eliminating feelings of low self-worth;
        c)    would prolong youth. (Atwood 355)

And with these points only, everyone would be lining up to buy the pill because you could pretty well do what you want with little to no consequences, as well as staying younger longer. This is not the end of Crake's plan though. What he would not tell people is that upon consuming the pill, it sterilizes you.

Crake's logic is that it will reduce the population in a positive way, but I find it horrible. I do not think he is visualizing how this will effect people in their everyday lives. People will not be able to start families when they are ready. They will have to go through all the heartbreak knowing they never will be able to.

But this is where the Crakers come in. All these people who consume the pill and now cannot have children can purchase the next best thing. The ones who have enough money anyways. They can buy a 'child' made in a lab and pick out what features they want to to have and how it will look. One thing is for sure, every one of them will be the parents ideal of perfection.

I find this very sickening. Would anyone actually want to buy one? They are not even humans. They do not look like humans. The way Snowman describes them in the wasteland, they seem more alien then anything. So, if people were that desperate to have a baby, would they succumb to one of these Crakers? That is what Crake is hoping for.

If I could ask Crake some questions, I would ask him:

Do you expect everyone to take the pill?
Are you expecting no one to catch on that your pill makes them sterile?
Are you trying to make your Crakers the dominate species?
Are the Crakers supposed to take over the world?
Why do you feel that every child has to be perfect?

Things are Getting Worse

It seems like things are continually becoming worse in Jimmy's world. A quote that stuck out to me—and proves this—is,
        "He'd watch the news: more plagues, more famines, more floods, more insect or microbe or small-mammal outbreaks, more droughts... There were the usual political assassinations out there in the pleebs, the usual strange accidents, the unexplained disappearances. Or there were sex scandals: sex scandals always got the newscasters excited," (Atwood 307).

Yes, all of these things seem horrible, but what really stuck out to me is the way that Jimmy does not seem bothered by any of it. It seems like they happen so often that it does not effect anyone anymore. Especially when he says, "...the usual political assassinations," because it makes it sound like it is not breaking news, just a typical news story.

I am also kind of confused about what the 'pleeblands' are. It seems like it is the area that is not the compounds, but I do not know why it is referred to as the pleeblands. The pleeblands are viewed as quite negative, to the people in the compounds at least. They are said to be dangerous and you need to be tough to survive in them.

Though pleebland is not a real word, it means poor, crime-infested neighborhoods. Or where ordinary people live. I guess we are kind of living in a pleebland now. Maybe that is why they built the compounds; they tried to make this perfect world.

Their version of 'perfect' turned to chaos because of everyone's imperfect actions, such as creating new diseases and doing everything just for profit. I think one of the main focuses of the novel is how there can never be a perfect world. There will always be fault and greed and suffering.

Visualization

As Snowman is walking though the deserted compounds, he really explains his surroundings well. It is easy, as the reader, to picture this once booming compound as something that is slowly being taken over by nature. Objects that once held important value are strewn in the streets and are useless now. Everything the people have worked for, gone.

I find irony in this because the people of the compounds wanted nothing less then perfection. They wanted perfect looks, perfect lifestyles, and perfect families. Now it is just a place of the past with ugly memories of a horrible time.

Snowman decides to go to a residential area first in search of food and shelter. I find it very interesting that he feels like he is breaking in to the house, even though he is—might be—the last human alive. He takes caution though, and even yells out to see if anyone is home. It surprised me that people were in fact home, a mother and father, but they were both dead.

I thought that the people in the compounds had died from riots and wars, and maybe some did, but Snowman mentions a disease. Something that wiped them all out before they had a chance. I think this ties in with Heath Wyzer and how they are creating diseases. They could have created this horrible disease and it could have gotten out of control. They could have sent it out in the medication and people started dropping dead. They could have figured it out and started fighting. This could be why Snowman is still alive; he would not have taken any medication if he knew what Health Wyzer was doing.

A part that really stuck out to me is, "The back of his neck prickles again. Why does he have the feeling that it's his own house he's broken into? His own house from twenty-five years ago, himself the missing child." (Atwood 282). This stuck out to me because it reveals a lot about Snowman's character. It seems like at that moment he wants nothing more then to be able to go back into that house and have his family waiting for him. It shows a side of Snowman that longs for the past and even though things were not perfect, anything is better then what is it now. Snowman is alone now.

Seeing the state of the world, getting to know Snowman better, and getting a more in depth look on how everything became this way, makes me wonder one thing: How will this book conclude? I have a feeling it will end one of three ways,

One: Snowman will die. He will die and the world will stay, and repopulate with the Children of Crake.
Two: Snowman will find more humans. He will find these humans and they will restart the world with the help of the Children of Crake.
Three: Snowman will just keep living day by day. There will be no specific conclusion. The reader just makes their own ending that suits them best.
Or, of course, it could be something completely different.

Vertical Integration

While at the Watson-Crick Institute, Crake shares a secret with Jimmy. He talks about how Health Wyzer creates medication to cure people, but also things so they never have to be sick in the first place. To the citizens taking the drugs, this sounds wonderful, but because Health Wyzer is a business first, they cannot have this. 

If no one gets sick anymore, there is no need to buy any medication, so Health Wyzer is out of business. This is where vertical integration comes in. Health Wyzer is not just inventing new medication, but also new diseases that they plant in their medication so there is an endless cycle of profit.

When Crake is explaining this concept, he says, "The best diseases, from a business point of view, would be those that cause lingering illness. Ideally—that is, for maximum profit—the patient should either get well or die just before all of his or her money runs out. It's fine calculation." (Atwood 256). This stood out to me because it seems like Crake thinks it's more genius then evil. 

This could just be Crake covering up his feeling though, because he does explain how his father died because he knew about Health Wyzer's plans. His father added up all the information, but before he could tell anyone, he 'fell' over a bridge. 

I find it ironic how Health Wyzer would do this to innocent people because they have such high faith in Health Wyzer to make them better, when what they are actually doing is making them more sick. Health Wyzer's sole purpose is to produce medication; to heal, but all they care about is making money.

This could be a reason why the world is like what it is like for Snowman. People could have found out about Health Wyzer's secret and riots could have broke loose. Since Jimmy already knew, he could have avoided them and hid somewhere and that is why he is still alive.

Connection: I connected this section to an episode of 30 Rock called "Let's Stay Together," because they talk about vertical integration and that is why I know what it means. 

The Future

More and more things in the book are adding up. I am understanding more about the world Jimmy once lived in and the one Snowman lives in now. Information is given in small snippets that you have to piece together, which is kind of frustrating, but also really interesting and suspenseful.

I think that the book is set in the future for a couple of reasons. When Jimmy mentions his surroundings, he often mentions solar cars and how gasoline cars are few to come by. In our time period, it is the opposite. Even though we know that gasoline will not be around forever, we continue to use cars that are fueled by it. This could be a positive step in the future, replacing all the cars.

Another reason why I think this is set in the future is because of the fact that Jimmy considers books obsolete. When looking through the Martha Graham Academy Library, he says, "Better libraries, at institutions with more money, had long ago burned their actual books and kept everything on CD-ROM, but Martha Graham was behind the times in that, as in everything." (Atwood 237). I guess in today societies, books are being replaced by electronic devices, but actual books are still around and being produced. Maybe in the future all books will be electronic, which is pretty sad.

This also may be the future because of the advanced technology. When Crake takes Jimmy on a tour of the Watson-Crick institute, he shows him some of the things the students are working on. They include these fake rocks that absorb water, wallpaper that changes colour with your mood, and a chicken alternative that only supplies meat, but has no actual feeling. The rocks and wallpaper are made from altering the genetics of living microbes. They are able to change the DNA of living things to do pretty well whatever they want.

Also the way that Jimmy speaks makes me think that he is from some futuristic time. He talks about using outdated cultural references, but they are things that would not seem so out of place now.

I find it pretty interesting how he—if he is in fact from the future—still talks about Shakespeare. Jimmy talks about first seeing Macbeth as a live performance and about watching it on the internet. I think that is a statement of how somethings will never be outdated, how Shakespeare's plays will always be around in some form for all generations to study.

Old New York

Jimmy is attending a university called the Martha Graham Academy. I was surprised to find that it is an actual school of dance in New York that is very respected and praised among dancers in our world. When Jimmy goes to Martha Graham, it is falling apart and is not a respected school in the slightest.

Upon describing the school, Jimmy says, "The Academy had been set up by a clutch of now-dead rich liberal bleeding hearts from Old New York as an Arts-and-Humanities collage at some time in the last third of the twentieth century, with special emphasis on the Performing Arts—acting, singing, dancing, and so forth. To that had been added Film-making in the 1980s, and Video Arts after that." (Atwood 227)

The part that stuck out to me the most is, "Old New York," because it makes me think that the New York we know now has been relocated and this Old New York is what remains. This would explain why the Martha Graham Academy is so rundown. This once again would support my global warming theory if Old New York in its current state is unlivable.

The difference between Jimmy's school, and Crake's school is drastic. Crake goes to the Watson-Crick Institute which specializes in sciences such as genetic altering. His school is top of the line, all up to date, and has the best education you can receive. Jimmy's school is quite the opposite, it is falling apart, is very outdated, and is considered a poor academic school.

Seeing the difference between the Martha Graham Academy, which currently is a very respected school, and the Watson-Crick Institute, which is a new school, shows how the people of this time/reality do not respect the arts. All they seem to care about is genetic altering, and that is why their school is the best school out there and why the Martha Graham Academy is in ruins.

Allusion: Though the Watson-Crick Institute is not a real school, Watson and Crick are real people. Between 1951-1953 they worked together on DNA structures. They studied how genetic information might be stored in molecular form. That science talk may be over my head, but it does seem to tie in with the genetic altering and what Crake might be studying at the Watson-Crick Institute.

Francis Crick was born in 1919 in England and won a Nobel Prize. His fields of study are physics and molecular biology. He is known for DNA structure.

James Watson was born in 1928 in the United States and won a Nobel Prize as well. His fields of study are genetics. He is known for DNA structure and molecular biology. He is still alive today at the comfortable age of 83.

Some Questions Answered

It turns out that a lot of the questions I asked in my last post were answered in the next chapter.

The children of Crake are both the actual children and the adults, other then Snowman, living in the wasteland. Crake did make them by genetic alterations. He was trying to make a super race that did not have the problems that normal humans do, as well as many additional features. Crake added such things as a natural body odor that repels insects, urine that repels larger animals, and faster developing children.

I also found out that Jimmy did not help Crake with this vision. Crake went to university for genetic science, while Jimmy went to a different university for arts and literature. This explains a lot about Jimmy's character. In the wasteland he is constantly quoting Shakespeare and other novels that he wishes he could read again, but they are no where to be found. Though, Crake and Jimmy continued to stay friends, so Jimmy knew all about Crakes experiments.

It also reveals somethings about the world outside the compound. One quote in particular stuck out to me, "Crake was top of the class. The bidding for him by the rival EduCompounds at the Student Auction was brisk, and he was snatched up at a high price by the Watson-Crick Institute. Once a student there and your future was assured. It was like going to Harvard had been, back before it got drowned." (Atwood 211)

The way Jimmy thinks about how Harvard had been drowned makes me think of global warming and the estimated raising of the oceans because of the melting polar ice caps. Since Harvard is near the coast of the North Atlantic Ocean, it would make sense. This could be what happened to the word outside the compounds. Humans caused so much damage to the Earth that is was unusable. I also find it strange how they had their high school graduation in February, because unlike June it was not as wet and rainy. This could also be because of global warming because of the climate change.

Another strange thing is how schools bid for the graduates to go to their school. It does not seem like they have a choice, everything is decided by money once again.

What I don't understand...

I am quite confused about a lot of things in the novel so far, but one thing is on the top of my list; the people in the wasteland besides Snowman. There are the children of Crake, and there are these other adult beings. Snowman describes both as perfect, and alien like. So, who are these people, where did they come from, and why is there no other humans like Snowman?

Snowman gives little information about how he has become to living in a tree, but there are a few hints here and there. Whenever he thinks about exploring more of the land, he thinks about how there were a lot of raids at one point, and how people had to leave quickly, so there are some supplies left were people used to live, and nothing in others.

When Snowman thinks of the past, it has been about his childhood and adolescents, rarely about his adulthood. His frequent visits to the past could end up in the present at some point though.

I also find it strange how Snowman is the leader of these people. He is viewed as a sort of godly figure in their eyes. They are constantly asking him questions about their past, and Snowman makes up stories that they believe, but leaves the reader guessing on what is truth. Which must mean that these people have absolutely no prior knowledge to what the world was once like.

I do have some predictions though. When he talks about the world he is in now, he brings up Crake a lot. He talks about how they socialized these people together and seems to blame Crake for a lot that has happened. So, I predict that the world, or this part of the world that Snowman lives in, became a wasteland because of Crake. I think it has a lot to do with genetic altering too. That would explain why the people and the children of Crake are not human like. Maybe Crake was doing some wild experiments, that Jimmy was helping him with, but things got out of hand, and something terrible went wrong that caused something extreme to happen to the world they once knew. I also believe Oryx had something to do with it because Snowman tells the people that the animals are the children of Oryx, and that is why they must not kill or harm them.

I hope a lot of my questions are answered in the book, as to not leave me guessing for myself once I turn the final page.

Love

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Reader Response

"'It is the strict adherence to daily routine that tends towards the maintenance of good morale and the preservation of sanity,' he says out loud. He has the feeling he is quoting from a book, some obsolete, ponderous directive written in aid of European colonials running plantations of one kind or another. He can't recall ever having read such a thing, but that means nothing."

This passage stands out to me because it reminds me of when I have some sort of quote stuck in my head, whether it be from a television show or simply a song lyric. I recite it over and over in my head trying to recall where I got it from until I can find a computer to Google it and end my curiosity. For the character in this book, there is no way for him to find out where it's from. This also stands out to me because of the way he quotes the line to himself. Snowman is stuck in this endless routine for survival. He says it to himself to remind himself that he gets up everyday for a reason, and even though his circumstances are very extreme, I think we all need that reminder sometimes.

Allusion: I decided to look up the quote he says and it turns out it is from a book called Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. The novel was published in 1969.

Choosing a Book

Seeing the list of possible book choices, a few titles stood out to me. The Help and Water for Elephants first because I recently watched those movies. Even though the books are probably much better, I didn't think I would enjoy the book as much if I had already watched the movie. I started just picking out interesting titles in no particular order. This method turned out to be a horrible idea. Reading the descriptions and reviews I found them all to be very uninteresting to me. So, I thought I would try a new approach.

I started looking up titles that I did not entirely understand or that did not sound interesting. This proved to be quite successful. I soon had a modest list of four books. It included:

• The Robber Bride by Margret Atwood
• The Cure for Death by Lightning by Gail Anderson-Dargatz
• The Day the Falls Stood Still by Catherina Marie Buchanan
• Oryx and Crake by Margret Atwood

They are all very different books. The one I decided to choose in the end is Oryx and Crake by Margret Atwood. Though I am not one-hundred percent sure how to pronounce the title, it seems like a very interesting read. I am a sucker for a love story, but I find books that make you think and leave an impression on the way you see the world more fulfilling. Based on the reviews, I think this book has that. 

It was published on April 20, 2004. The book is (a mere) 443 pages. I personally really enjoy long books. I am not a fan when the book ends if I am truly enjoying it. As for a reading schedule, I am going to read at least 12 pages a day to finish it by the deadline. It will probably end up being a lot more a day though. I am looking forward to starting the book.